... nicer, and eventually a boxcar. They spend most of their time traveling across deserts and plains in their vehicle of choice, a Jalopy. Description of Main Characters: Tom Joad, the first person we meet in the book, was put in the McAlester State Penitentiary for four years for the crime of manslaughter. At the beginning of the book ... the cotton farm, Tom realized he could not stay out of other peoples" business, and he started to help form workers" unions and better the lives of others. Ma Joad, Tom's mother, was the one who kept the family together. Tom tired to leave at times early ...

• Word Count: 2457
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... to no one in particular, but rather to all people as a general whole. In the next chapter, the book begins a narrative of the Tom Joad, an ex-convict searching for his family after a four-year sentence. This narrative also takes place in Oklahoma. This alternating pattern between passive historical chapters ... is always present in an unexplainable way. The novel consists of an account of the travels conducted by the Joad family, Tom Jr., Tom Senior, Rosasharn, Ruthie, Winfield, Connie, Granma, Granpa, Uncle John, and Ma; as well as their close friend Casy, an ex-reverend. The bank had b...

• Word Count: 1327
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... met anybody like them. They have strong feelings, and when you see all they have to endure, you end up admiring them. As the story begins, Tom Joad, a young man of about thirty, is hitch-hiking home to his parents" farm in Oklahoma. He is dressed in cheap new clothes, for he has just ... have one great soul of which each individual has a small bit for himself. Casy accompanies Tom to his parents" farm, but when the two men reach the Joad place they find it deserted, the house falling down and cotton planted in the dooryard. From a neighbour, Muley Graves, they learn that the Joads (Tom's...

• Word Count: 825
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... be broken, however, and will maintain their self-respect. Using colorful, unpolished language, the protagonists reveal who they really are -down to earth people of integrity and good-will. Tom Joad is not ashamed to admit where he has been the past four years because he paid for his crime, which he characterizes as something he would do again if the ... with the earth rather than with an intangible spiritual source. The people are, nevertheless, spiritual in their endeavors to do what is right and to maintain their humanity and dignity. Ma is portrayed as a loving, strong, calm and very...

• Word Count: 659
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School