The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck
Feb 09, 2016
The Grapes of Wrath
By John Steinbeck
Characters
Tom Joad
Protagonist of the story.
The Joad family's second son
Plainspoken, forthright and direct man.
Good-natured and thoughtful
He served four years on a manslaughter
conviction.
He takes leadership of the family even
though he is young.
Ma Joad
The mother of the Joad family.
a woman who knowingly and gladly
fulfills her role as “the citadel of the
family.”
Practical and warm-spirited,
she tries to hold the family together.
Pa Joad
Ma Joad’s husband and Tom’s father.
An Oklahoma tenant farmer who has
been evicted from his farm.
A plainspoken, good-hearted man
Hardworking sharecropper and
family man
Al Joad
the third Joad son
younger than Noah and Tom
fond of cars and girls.
He assumes a greater position in the family
He helps drive the family to California.
He wants to leave the family and go on his
own
-A former preacher
-A staunch friend of Tom Joad,
-Casy goes to prison in Tom’s stead for
a fight
-He emerges a determined organizer of
the migrant workers.
-He is honest, compassionate, and
courageous.Jim Casy
Grampa Joad
Grampa Joad is rowdy and vigorous,
refuses to leave the family's farm in
Oklahoma
dies on the first night of the trip.
Grampa's stroke is caused in part by the
"medicine" that Ma and Tom give him.
Gramma Joad
deeply religious and energetic
unable to adapt to a new way of life
lose her husband.
dies as the family crosses the Mojave
Desert,
Muley Graves
the Joads’ Oklahoma neighbors.
lets his wife and children move to California
the stubborn man
refuses to leave Oklahoma.
He is homeless
Noah Joad
•Tom’s older brother.
•Slow and quiet
•Noah leaves his family
•suffers from mental disabilities
occurred during childbirth.
a prisoner of his guilt over his wife's death
years before.
become an alcoholic.
sense of guilt is transformed into anger
Uncle John Joad
Summary
A poor immigrant family called the Joads who are forced to give up their farm because of bad economic circumstances and drought. They decide to move to California where they hope to be able to make a brand new start. Unfortunately thousands of other families think the same and life out there turns out to be even harder than it was back in Oklahoma.
The narrative begins as Tom Joad go back to his parents' forty-acre farm. Tom has just been paroled after serving four years in prison for manslaughter. He has to move to California with his family. During the way to go there his grandpa and grandma are dead. Moreover, he and his family have to confront with many problems and find the good way to live for the better life.
Themes
Poverty Displaced people Importance of family and home
Poverty
Living conditions and overt
exploitation by famers.
Ex. The joads force to leave their
permanent home to become
migrant workers.
Displaced people
Moving around
Trying to find a sense of place
Searching for a place to put down
new roots.
EX. The joads have to move to
California because they believe that
they will find a better future and
have a better condition life there.
Importance of family and home
The Joads move to California together.
Ex. Tom Joad who just come back to his farm and he has to move with his family to find a better life. Even his grampa and gramma do not want to leave the farm because they born with this farm. However, they have to move together because they are family.