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Date of publication: 1939, by Viking Penguin Inc.
Plot synopsis: After four years in prison for commiting homocide Tom Joad comes back to his home to find that his family has left, to go to California. They could no loger stay in Oklahoma, as the dust destroyed all the crops and tractor drivers replaced dozens of workers. Tom finds his family again, and moves on with them to the west. Also a former preacher, Jim Casey, follows the Joad family. On their journey, Granma and Granpa Joad die. In California the Oakies aren´t welcome. They have to live in Hoovervilles and state-camps. It is hard for them to find work, as there are hundreds of workers needed, but thousands of people who want to work. After comitting murder again Tom has to leave his family. As the rain starts people know that there will be no food or work too soon. Roes of Sharon, Tom Joad´s pregnant sister, goes into labor, and so the Joads can not leave the camp, allthough the place might be flooded. In a barn the Joads find a starving man, Rose of Sharon nurses the man, so that he can survive.
Main characters:
Tom Joad: He is the central figure in the Grapes of Wrath. Tom was in prison for four years for commiting homocide: he was at a dance drunk, and got into a fight with a man. The man cut Tom with a knife, so he hit him over the head with a shovel. But prison didn´t change him, he even enjoyed staying there. He was treated relatively well in McAlester. He ate regularly, got clean clothes and bathed. If he would meet Herb Turnbull, the man he killed, again he would kill him again. ´but if Herb or anybody else come for me, I´d do her again. Do her before I could figure her out. Specially if I was drunk. That sort of senselessness kind a worries a man.` (p 46) As his family sees him again, they fear that he broke out of Jail, but he was released out because of good behaviour. He is also the one who takes Jim Casey to the Joad´s farm and wants him to join them on their journey. As he is on parole, he would normally not be allowed to leave the state, but he decides to go with his family, as he would only be in danger if he comitts a crime. But his mother fears that if provoked he will do so, as she knows that he can´t keep his violent tendencies under control. As Casey knocks down a police officer Tom has to hide so that he won´t come into trouble. Casey is taken away with a pruod smile on his face. In Timothy and Wilkie Wallace Tom findes two people of the same kind as he is one. They want to build up an own administration in the camp. In California it is hard for him to find work. He has been there for one month and has only had five days of work. As ge goes for a walk at night he meets Casy again who is on strike with a group of men. As he get´s confronted with police officers during the strike he kills Casy´s murderer. As he tells Ma that he wants to leave, she makes a last try to keep the family together and decides, that they should go all together. But as Ruthie tells some other children about Tom´s being-on-the-run he has to leave his family, but promises to return, if things become better.
Ma Joad: She is the mother of Noah, Tom, Rose of Sharon, Ruthie and Winfield. The scene of the family meeting where they discuss their going to California shows that she is the real leader of the family and illustrates the family´s dynamic. The numerous relatives across three generations make it difficult to figure the real head. The Joad family has Grampa as the nominal head, yet he exerts no special influence. If any member of the family leads the others, it is Ma, who dominates by moral force. It is she who issues the final verdict allowing Casy to go with them to California. While Tom Joad is the main character in The Grapes of Wrath, it is Ma Joad who is the story\'s moral center, reminding everyone that they have greater concerns than just their own interests ¬ it would be wrong for them to refuse to give food or shelter to anyone. You can also see this in the last scene of the book. (look to Rose of Sharon´s characterisation ) During the whole novel it is her aim to bring the family to California and to keep it together (e.g. she doesn´t want to leave Tom, Casey and Al alone with the Wilson´s car for a day till it´s fixed again) . She also tells nobody that Granma is dead to get her family over the border. On the back of the truck My lay on the matress beside Granma, and she could not see with her eyes, but she could feel the struggling body and the struggling heart; and the sobbing breath was in her ear. And Ma said over and over,´All right. It´s gonna be all right.´ And she said hoarsely:´You knw the family got to get acrost. You know that.´ (p 196) ´I was afraid we wouldn´t get acrost,´she said. ´I tol´ Granma we couldn´t help her. The fambly had ta get acrost. I tol´ her, tol´ her when she was a-dyin´. We couldn´t stop in the desert. There was the young ones - an´ Rosasharn´s baby. I tol´ her.´ ...´The fambly hadda get acrost,´Ma said miserably. (p 199) But not just the death of Granpa and Granma split the family up, also the dissapperance of Noah is a shock for her. ´Family´s fallin` apart,` she said. ´Í don´t know. Seems like I can´t think no more. I jus´can´t think. They´s too much.` (p 187)
Pa Joad: Although Pa is the head of the Joad household, he is not a forceful presence. It is his wife who´s the real leader of the household. But he loves his family and his wife.
Rose of Sharon: She´s Tom Joad´s younger sister. At the beginning of the novel she´s married to Connie Rivers. They dream of buying a house of their own and their coming child, as Rosashan (= Rose of Sharon) is pregnant. Connie plans to work in a factory and take evening courses about the radio, to find a better job later. Rose of Sharon stands as a contrast to the rest of the characters in "The Grapes of Wrath". She is the only adult character who retains some sense of hope for their future; she believes in the possibility of living a decent life with her husband and child. The other characters expect little more from California than meager survival, while Rose of Sharon hopes to live the traditional American dream. She is the one beacon of hope within the Joad family. Frustraded of how things became Connie leaves his pregnant wife. `If I´d of knowed it would be like this I wouldn´t of came. I´d studied nights ´bout tractors back home an´ got me a three-dollar job. Fella can live awful nice on three dollars a day, an´ go to the pitcher show ever´ night, too.´ (p 219) After Connie leaves her Pa claims that Connie was too big for his overally, but Ma scolds him, telling him to act respectfully as if Connie was dead. Ma said: `Rosasharn gonna have a little fella an´ that baby is half Connie. It ain´t good for a baby to grow up with a folks a-sayin´ his pa ain´t no good.` `Better lyin´ about it,` said Pa. `No, it ain´t,´ Ma interrupted. `Make out like he´s dead.` (p 238) But Rose of Sharons baby is a stillborn baby. It is put into an apple box and floated down the stream. As they see a man starving after the flood in a refugee camp, she breast feeds the dying man. She moved slowly to the corner and stood looking down at the wasted face, into the wide, frightened eyes. Then slowly she lay down beside him. He shook his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon looses one side of the blanket and bared her breast. ´You got to,´ she said. She squirmed closer and pulled his head close. (p 399)
Reverend Jim Casy: He was a preacher, but he has lost his belief in God, because he doesn´t believe in the absolute idea of sin.Throughout the novel, Casy must frequently perform the duties of a preacher. Despite his conviction that he no longer believes in preaching, he is forced into performing the role, whether praying for Grampa as he suffers his stroke or saying a few parting words at his burial. This seems to indicate that Casy is best suited for the role of a preacher, despite his disenchantment with religion. In his parting words for Grampa Joad, Casy does reiterate his belief that people are the source of holiness. In a fight he knocks down a police officer, and has to go to prison. Released from there he joins the strikers, and gets killed in another confrontation. I think that Steinbeck wanted to create a Jesus Christ of his time. Both have the same initials for example. And as Jesus, Jim dies as a martyr, somehow.
Grampa Joad: He is the one out of the Joad family who doesn´t want to go west. ´You go right on along. Me - I´m stayin´. I give her a goin´-over all night mostly. This here´s my country. I belong here. An´ I don´t give a goddamn if they´s oranges an´grapes crowdin´a fella outa bed even. I ain´t a-goin´. This country ain´t no good, but it´s my country. No, you all go ahead. I´ll jus´stay right here where I b´long.`
(p 95) After the family forcibily takes him on the journey he soon dies of a stroke. ´No,` said Pa. ´There ain´t a drop a´whisky in the house. An´ John got no whiskey. He never has one when he ain´t dinking.´ Ma said:`Tom, I got a half a bottle soothin´ syrup I got for Winfield when he had them ear-aches. Think that might work? Use ta put Winfiel´ ta sleep when his ear-ache was bad.´ `Might,´ said Tom. ´Get it, Ma. We´ll give her a try anyways.` (p 96) As the family realize that Granpa suffers from a stroke, Granma tells Casy to pray for Grampa, even if he is no longer a preacher. Suddenly Grampa starts twitching and slumps. He dies. The Joads face a choice: they can pay fifty dollars for a proper burial for him or have him buried a pauper. They decide to bury Grampa themselves and leave a note so that people don\'t assume he was murdered. They write a verse from scripture on the note on his grave. After burying Grampa, they have Casy say a few words. The reactions to the death are varied. Rose of Sharon comforts Granma, while Uncle John is curiously unmoved by the turn of events. Casy admits that he knew Grampa was dying, but didn\'t say anything because he couldn\'t have helped. He blames the separation from the land for Grampa\'s death. Casy said:´He was foolin´, all the time. I think he knowed it the minute you took him off the place.´ (p125)
Granma Joad: Granma Joad does not survive much longer than her husband. After Granpa´s death the old lady starts to go crazy, yelling and talking to herself, she also believes that she sees granpa. She dies as the family crosses the border to California. ´Was granma bad?` Ma looked down at her hands, lying together like tired lovers in her lap. ´I wisht I could wait an´ not tell you. I wisht it could be all - nice.` Pa said:´Then Granma´s bad.` Ma raised her eyes and looked over the valley. ´Granma´s dead.` (p 199)
Al Joad: He ist Tom Joad´s younger brother. He is 16 years old. The only things he is interested in are cars and girls. He is the one who has the most knowledge about cars, so he also fears, that if something won´t work he will be blamed for it. Al was one with his engine, every nerve listening for weaknesses, for the thumps or sequals, hums and chattering that indicate a change that may cause a breakdown. He had become the soul of the car. (p 104) He dreams of becoming a mechanic and wants to start his own life soon. By the end of the novel he becomes engaged to Aggie Wainwright. ´Well, me an´ Aggie Wainwright, we figgers to get married, an´ I´m gona git a job in a garage, an´ we´ll have a rent´ house for a while, an´-´ He looked up fiercely. ´Well, we are, an´ they ain´t nobody can stop us!´ (p 373)
Noah Joad: He is Tom Joad´s older brother. He suffers from mental disabilities that maybe occured during childbirth. But he also cares for his family as much as possible. He leaves the family to remain an outsider. He wants to support himself by catching fish in the nearby river. ´Tom, I ain´t a-goin´ on.´ Tom sat up. ´What you mean?´ ´Tom, I ain´t gonna leave this here water. (...) Get myself a piece a line. I´ll catch fish. Fella can´t starve beside a nice river. (....) You know how the folks are nice to me. But they don´t really care for me. (...) It ain´t no use,` Noah said. ´I´m sad, but I can´t he´p it. I got to go.` (p 180) After he is gone people don´t talk about him any more.
Interpretation: The story of the Joad family is told chronologically and in many details. To me this book is not a novel that wants to amuse and entertain, but a novel, that wants to teach you values for your life. Steinbeck wanted his readers to think about the Joad´s situation and the way how they acted in their greatest misfortune. They helped a complete stranger, even or perhaps because they were close to death themselves.
I also understand how it comes, that Christian fundamentalists put this book on to the index. A preacher who has lost his belief in God and becomes a communist. And the similarities between Jim and Jesus. (explained earlier) Also the scene as Uncle John puts the stillborn baby into an apple box and sends it down the river, reminds of Moses.
Personal comment: It is a book that only Steinbeck can write it. He was writing about the lower class he lived in. Of course he used the typical slang, which you get used to quite soon. Steinbeck used too many words to describe the surroundings, and sometimes he forgot that he should be telling a story. Parts of the should have better become the additional word to a picture book about Oklahoma, Arizona and California. I liked reading Tortillia Flat and Of Mice and Man as both were funny, but as I already said this book´s aim is not the one to entertain, but to turn the world into a better place.
Of course also the American Dream is a major theme of the book. Rose of Sharon and Connie and also Al are a symbol for that.
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