Reading The Grapes of Wrath

Since reading the book, The Grapes of Wrath, I've thought about what it would have been like if I had lived in that time period. How would I have survived as an immigrant back then, and how would it have affected my family? The imagery of the book is very beautiful, and I think being a person living in those hard times with no food or money would give me so many reasons to keep going. The immigrants were despised back then, and even though the work that was given barely paid anything at all, they would do it in order to feed their children. It's admirable and such a touching story. But then I think, What if I didn't have family with me? What if there were people who would give up instead of being determined enough to survive?