21-25

Later in the evening the Joads enter Weedpatch camp. Because it is a government run facility, the migrants are free to govern themselves without fear from local law enforcement. The cost of living at the camp is one dollar a week which can be worked off by performing tasks around the camp. Ma is thrilled to discover that the camp has working hot-water and toilets.

In the morning, Tom eats breakfast with Timothy and Wilkie Wallace. They invite Tom to come to the ranch they’ve been working at and offer to help Tom get a job there. Upon arriving, the property owner, Mr. Thomas, tells the men that the farmer association asked him to not pay anymore than $0.25. Mr. Thomas also reveals that the farmer’s association is planning to start a riot at the dance planned for Saturday night. If a riot is started, then the police will have the right to enter the camp.

Back at the Joad tent, as the men go out in search of work, Ma is visited by the camp manager who lets her know that the women’s group will be coming to visit Ma. Ma complains that the family isn’t clean yet, but the manager reassures her that it’s no problem citing that the women’s group were in the exact same position Ma was when they first arrived.

Later, a woman comes to visit Rose of Sharon. She warns Rose of Sharon of the dangers on sin claiming that any sinner who gives birth to a baby will give a stillborn birth, upsetting Rose of Sharon. The manager of the camp, however, comes and comforts her.

Afterwards, the ladies committee comes and explains the rules and regulations of the camp to the family. The men return, unable to find work, but Tom got a job working for Mr. Thomas.

That Saturday, the night of the dance, Ezra Huston, chairmen of camp committees, finds twenty men (one of them Tom) to keep a eye out for troublemakers and stop the riot before it can begin. When the dance begins, Tom and the others hired quickly notice three suspicious looking men. When the men try to pick a fight by stealing another man’s girl, Tom and the others step in and take the three troublemakers into custody, evicting them from the camp. When asked why the men would turn on their own kind, they confess and say it was because of the money.

Two Questions to Ponder

Casy’s death and the final chapter with Rose of Sharon epitomize the entire theme of the novel: mankind should help one-another for the interest of the common good. Casy gives his life while trying to get higher wages for workers on strike, and Rose of Sharon breast feeds the starving boy in the barn. These are powerful symbols. They show that self-sacrifice benefits the common-wealth.

I believe one of the most important facts I have learned about people in this book deals with discrimination. Everyone discriminates (not only in a racial sense, but also in a geographical sense). In the book, this is most prevalent in the Californian’s treatment of the migrants. They call them slang names such as “Okies” and treat them with bias and hostility. At one point, a gas station attendant even makes the claim that “Okies” aren’t humans.

The sad truth is though, everyone discriminates. Like the Californians presented in The Grapes of Wrath, when we hear someone with a foreign accent or see a homeless man on the street, we have preconceived notions about those people.

Jon's Memorable Scene

One of my favorite moments in The Grapes of Wrath thus far would have to be all of chapter 15, the chapter detailing the story about Mae. Mae, at waitress at a local diner, waits for truck drivers to come into the diner knowing that they pay the greatest tips. When a ragged Okie man and his two children come enter asking for bread, Mae treats them with hostility saying “ ‘F we sell bread we gonna run out.” However, Al, the cook, pushes Mae to sell the bread, and she does. Right when he is about to leave, the man, wanting to buy candy for his children, asks Mae if the “stripy” candy behind the counter is penny candy. Mae sells them two pieces for a penny, when in actuality each piece is worth five cents. Two truck drivers, noticing Mae’s act of generosity, leave her an extra large tip and leave.

The almost parable-like story of Mae the waitress in the middle of Steinbeck’s novel plays on key themes to the story, most notably, the idea that generosity and self-sacrifice offer greater rewards than self-centeredness. In addition, as the Joad’s begin their journey west, the inclusion of this chapter helps to lighten the mood in what would otherwise be a depressing and bleak portion of the novel.

Chapters 17-20

As the migrant families travel west, a union occurs in which all of the families bond to become one. According to the narrator, “[T]he children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.” Unwritten laws and codes come into effect as leaders in the camps emerge. As the migrants journey on, the men change. They are no longer farmers, but migrant men.

The Joads travel along the highway crossing into Arizona. At the state border, a border patrol officer stops and questions them asking if they have any plants. The guard lets them through, and the Joads plow along through the state. At last, the Joads cross the state lines and enter into California.

Meanwhile, Tom, who crawls into a cave to sleep for the night, is confronted by Noah. Noah claims that, although Pa and Ma show love toward him, he is really a burden on the family. He says that he will live off fish from the river and asks Tom to tell Ma. Tom tries to convince Noah to stay, but to no avail.

At camp that night, Granma, who has become deathly ill and delirious, is visited by a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses who ask to pray over Granma as she dies. Ma, in denial over Granma’s death, refuses to let the Jehovites into the tent say that Granma is only “tar’d.” The woman says they will go to their own tent and “forgives” Ma for her “hard heart.” From another tent, Ma and Rose of Sharon can hear the Jehovites worshipping and shouting. Ma’s behavior and attitude toward the Jehovites bothers her.

A short while later, a police man storms the tent and rudely informs the Joads and Wilsons that they have a day to leave the area. However, Sairy Wilson, whose health has been failing, is unable to make the journey. In a poignant scene in the novel, Sairy asks Casy to visit her and say a prayer over her. She enjoys his company. As the Joads pack up to leave, Pa gives Ivy two bills and some food.

Later that night, the Joads are stopped by police to be inspected for produce. Before they have a chance to search the behicle, Ma comes out from the back saying that Granma is deathly ill and desperately needs of medical assistance. The guards, upon seeing Granma, let her pass. The Joads travel all night. In the morning, Ma lets it known that Granma died before the checkpoint. In order to ensure the family get across safely, she lay with the body all night.

Because the family is low on money, the Joads do not properly bury Granma’s body but leave it with the local coroner. At the next Hooverville, Tom meets Floyd and asks him why, despite mistreatment, low wages, and a shortage of jobs, they men don’t organize. Floyd explains that the police are quick to put a stop to any attempt at unions and any man who attempts to form one is blacklisted and is unable to find work.

In the tent, Connie expresses his displeasure with California to Rose of Sharon claiming that he should have stayed in California. As Ma cooks stew for the family, a group of hungry children gather around the tent asking for food. Ma tells them she has to look after her own family first but agrees to let them lick the leftovers from the pot. Afterwards, a tattered woman from another tent visits Ma and complains to her for feeding the children the stew claiming that by doing so she started up trouble.

A man arrives at the camp saying that he is looking for new workers. Floyd, disgruntled and having fallen for a similar trick in the past, demands to know the wage the contractor will set. The contractor calls on a police deputy who accuses Floyd of robbing a used car lot. Floyd punches the deputy and begins to run. The deputy pulls a firearm and shoots carelessly hitting a woman in the hand, severing her fingers. Tom trips the deputy with his foot and Casy knocks him out. As other police arrive, Casy tells Tom to flee and not get caught as it will be in violation of his parole. Tom flees, and Casy sacrifices himself claiming that he was the one responsible for knocking the guard out.

Uncle John, distraught over an earlier discussion he had with Casy and the preacher’s subsequent sacrifice, requests money to go and get drunk. The family grants his request. Meanwhile, Al reports that Connie took off, grieving Rose of Sharon. Tom comes into the tent and reports that the camp will be burnt down. He goes out to search for Uncle John and is forced to knock him out to get him on the truck.

As the family heads to another city, they run across a group of picketers who have assembled to keep the “Okies” out. This angers Tom, and just as Tom is about to beat one of them with a jack handle, Ma stops him. The Joads turn the truck around and head the opposite direction.

Chapters 8-16

Chapter eight begins with Tom, Casy, and Muley traveling to Uncle John’s house to regroup with the family. At first, upon arrival, Tom’s Pa fails to recognize him, and when Tom reveals that it is him, Pa asks if he broke out of prison. Pa leads Tom into the house where he reunites with Ma. She asks him if prisons life turned him “mad.” She tells the tale of a boy she knew who went insane after a prison sentence. Tom reassures her that he is fine.

Tom asks about his grandparents. Pa tells him that they sleep in the barn son Grampa won’t wake up the family in the middle of the night. Tom eventually reunites with his grandparents and his brother, Noah.

As the family prepares to eat breakfast, Granma, a devoutly spiritual person, asks Casy to say a prayer before breakfast. Instead, however, he explains to the group of his new outlook on life, how all life is holy and pure. After his prayer, the family eats breakfast in silence.

In chapter nine, the narrator explains how families in general prepare to travel across the country. In most cases, the farmers are required to sell their property and goods for outrageously low prices. However, having no leverage in the bargaining process, they must accept the money offered to them if they have any hope of traveling to California.

Chapter ten shifts its focus back onto the Joads. As Pa goes in to town to try and pawn some of the family’s possessions, Tom and Ma discuss California. Ma is worried that the jobs and wages advertised on the handbills may be too good to be true. However, she puts her fears aside and reassures herself that the handbills she saw are accurate. Casy enters the room and asks the family if he can go with them. He can’t stand seeing the land empty and devoid of people. Ma agrees to take him along.

Meanwhile, Pa returns from town, discouraged as he was only able to get a measly $18 for the items he pawned. Despite this, the family begins the load the truck, and Ma and Casy salt pork for the journey ahead. Rose of Sharon (one of Tom’s other siblings) and her husband, Connie, arrive, and the family piles into the truck. However, right as they are about to leave, Grampa comes out and says that he isn’t going. His desire is to stay on the land he was raised on. Knowing that Grampa will not be able to survive by himself, the family decides to lace his coffee with “soothing syrup”. When he finally passes out, the family load him into the truck and drive take off.

The narrator then takes on the persona of migrant farmers traveling along Route 66. As they travel, fan belts break and tires go flat. The salesmen the migrants encounter along the way try to scam the migrants out of money, taking them for every penny.

As the Joads travel along Route 66, they stop at a service station to get gas and rest. However, the family dog is tragically run over by a car. The gas station attendant agrees to bury the dog for the Joads and they continue their journey passing through Oklahoma City. While they drive, Ma expresses concern to Tom over him crossing the state line and violating his parole. Tom tries to sooth her saying that he won’t commit any crimes in California so she shouldn’t worry. Despite this, Ma still shows concern.

At the end of the day’s travel, the Joads set up camp at the side of the road. There, they meet Ivy and Sairy Wilson, migrants from Kansas whose car has broken down. Soon, the Joads realize Grampa has become sick. Before they are able to do anything for him, however, he dies from a stroke. The Joads hold an improvised funeral and bury Grampa, despite it being illegal. The Joads later convince the Wilsons to join them and travel together, citing that both families can benefit. The Wilsons agree.

After a chapter in which the narrator talks about the abundance of migrant farms in the Midwest and their fear of a revolt, the narrator shifts focus in chapter fifteen to tell an almost parable-like about a waitress named Mae who works at a coffee shop along Route 66. Mae waits for the trucks drivers to come into the shop knowing that they leave the biggest tips. One day, two truck drivers whom Mae knows enter the shop. Shortly afterward, a man and his two boys enter asking to buy a loaf of bread for a dime. Although reluctant at first, the cook, Al, tells Mae to give the man some bread, and she softens. Mae then notices the two boys looking at some candy, and Mae offers it to the father for a discount price. On their way out, for her generosity, the truck drivers leave Mae an extra tip.

In chapter sixteen, the Joads and Wilsons travel for a few days. Rose of Sharon declares that when they reach California, Connie will study to prepare to manage a store of his own. Ma takes note of this with great displeasure worried that this may tear the family apart. Along the way, the Wilson’s car breaks down again. Tom and Al go into town to try and find the needed parts. While at the car lot, Al and Tom find the part they need, but encounter a bitter one-eyed attendant who uses his disability as an excuse not to find work. Tom and Al tell the attendant not to feel sorry for himself because of his injury.

Later that night at the camp, Pa tells a ragged man that the family is traveling to California for work. The ragged man laughs at him, however, saying that farmers print 5,000 handbills for every 800 jobs needed. Just then, the proprietor of the camp accuses the ragged man of being a “troublemaker.” The ragged man says that he lost his wife and children to hunger. This worries Pa, but Casy suggests that their family may have a better outcome than the ragged man.