At the turn of the century, American readers were interested only in stories with happy endings, where goodness was praised and evil was punished. They did not particularly care if that was a false interpretation of the way life really was. When men such as Frank Norris, the author of The Octopus, wrote angrily of the injustices and poverty to be found in America, readers turned away. The Octopus made them change their minds. The …showed first 75 words of 433 total…

…showed last 75 words of 433 total…was horrifically close to the truth, which greatly influenced the people of the state to unite against the Southern Pacific power. According to Chamberlain, ? In this vast drama or the growing of the wheat the novelist becomes, definitely, the moralist.? Thus, Frank Norris did not write The Octopus to simply entertain his readers, like most of his predecessors, but instead used his literary talent to raise awareness of the social and economical injustices in California..