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.