The Grpaes of Wrath

This marking period I read a realistic fiction novel called The Grapes of Wrath. This novel takes place in the late 1930's, when a farming family, the Joads, have to migrate from their farm in Oklahoma to California in order to find work. They move from camp to camp in search for work and survival. The main character, Tom Joad, gets into trouble after killing a cop who murdered his friend, Jim Casy. He goes into hiding for a while and then departs from the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Rose of Sharon, his sister, gives birth to a stillborn and then saves a man by allowing him to have her breast milk.

Tom Joad is the main character of this novel. He is a kind and nice, short-tempered and fiercely independent. Tom is a man that is more into the present than anything else. He tends to worry less about what will happen next and more on what is happening now. After being released from prison, he heads home. He meets up with a Jim Casy, a preacher. Jim ends up staying with Tom through out most of the novel until he dies. Tom learns a lot about humanity through Jim and his own development in the novel and in the end becomes a man of the people.

Jim Casy is another significant character. His beliefs are significant to the stories theme and concepts. He has a significant effect on Jim with these beliefs he expresses to him. He believes that life is holy no matter what, and that organized religion isn't the only way to be sinless and holy. Jim organizes migrant workers to stand up for themselves and against the bosses, who are beginning to lower wages and making life more difficult for them. His purpose in the novel was to help Tom develop into a social activist.

A third significant character is Ma Joad. She is not much different than any other mother. She is caring, loving, and protects her family. She is the backbone of the family. At the story progresses she is capable of keeping her family and herself together. She becomes more of a provider than Pa Joad. She is a strong person and has a strong composure, that she able to keep up. Ma Joad represent the true meaning of togetherness or she is the reason the Joad family survives and remains together as best as possible.

The novel starts off with Tom Joad getting released from an Oklahoma state prison after serving four years for a manslaughter conviction. Tom makes his way back to his family's farm in Oklahoma. He meets a man named Jim Casy, a former preacher, along the way. Jim goes with Tom to his home, only to find it deserted, along with all the surrounding homes. A man named Muley informs them that everyone has been kicked off their land by the banks. He also tells them that most families have headed to California to find work. The next morning, Tom and Jim go to Tom's Uncle John's house, where Muley said Tom's family would be. When they get there, Ma and Pa Joad are packing up their possession to leave. They were going to California to find work. They all get into a truck and leave for California. Not to long after leaving, Grandpa Joad dies. They eventually run into this couple, Ivy and Sairy Wilson, who were having car trouble. They invite them to travel with the family. Sairy Wilson is sick and, near the California border, is unable to continue the journey. As soon as they arrive in California, Grandma Joad dies. The remaining family members move from camp to camp looking for work, struggling to find food, and trying to hold their family together. Noah, the oldest child, abandons the family, along with Connie, who is married to Rose of Sharon, Tom's sister.