Dignity and Gender both. A man is put in charge to maintain order. Also, even through all that they've been through they still choose to elect a person of power to maintain their dignity throughout the situation.

Dignity--"serfs" implies not only a lower/working class, but also people of less worth; they are either too weak to go on, or they lose their fight

Dignity was often stolen from those of other races

Although cooking is typically a female role, here we see the male taking on this job as it is the main function of the work place.

Character development -- Jim switches roles with Mac, and becomes the "teacher" in this situation, chastising him for acting impulsively and emotionally when he should be thinking rationally. Interesting because at the beginning of the novel, Jim's attachment to the Party is primarily emotional, and is heavily influenced by his passion for the working man, his desire to "feel" or be a part of something, and his intense empathy (directed at workers, esp. Dan).

The moment we last see Doc--just after the fire. The voice of reason (Doc) disappears just as the violence of the strike is truly beginning to escalate; that is, before the violence begins to negatively affect innocent bystanders (ie Anderson). What does the timing of Doc's disappearance imply for the group, if anything? If we argue that Doc stands in for Steinbeck himself, why does "Steinbeck" step back from (and avoid interfering with) the narrative at this particular moment?

Up until this chapter, Doc has acted as the impartial, unbiased, nonteleological voice of the novel. Here, however, he has what seems like a sudden change of heart--he is now adamant in challenging the notion of "means justifying the ends" and the idea of violence (ie, violent means only beget violent ends). *After Doc's odd change, he disappears--what does this erasure of the nonteleological voice imply about the progression of the party, the strike, and the group mentality?