FREE ESSAY ON GRAPES OF WRATH

GRAPES OF WRATH

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is a story about a family's epic 
Struggles of survival during the time of the depression. Tom, the eldest son of the Joad

Family, finds himself in a unique when he must leave his home and head out to 
California with his family. As Tom and his family headed West on their journey, he 
found himself as the leader of the family after his grandpa had died and his father 
was not thinking straight. Throughout the journey, Tom and his mother took care of the 
family and did the best they could to maintain order in the family.
Tom was a good, reasonable person. Sure he had been locked in Prison for four 
years, but that was only because he got in a drunken fight and killed a man with a 
shovel. But Tom was only defending himself, he didn't mean to kill the man, but he did. 
In prison, Tom kept to himself and didn't talk much. He probably figured that was the 
only way he was going to get out of prison sooner. And his patience paid off, because he

was released in four years, instead of seven. When Tom got home, he realized that 
nothing was left. All of the houses were torn down and everyone was gone. If Tom hadn't 
seen his old neighbor Muley, he might have never seen his family again. After Muley had 
told Tom that his family was with his Uncle John, he set out to his Uncle's house with 
his old friend, Casy. As soon as Tom's mother saw him standing in the doorway, she was 
so happy that "Her head sank slowly to her side" and the fork she was holding in her 
hand hit the floor (Steinbeck 80). After Tom had re-acquainted himself with everyone in 
his family, they all sat down and had breakfast. After breakfast, they all discussed and

planned their journey to California.
After Tom and his family decided when they were leaving, Tom had to give it 
some serious thinking before he decided to leave. Since he was out on parole, he could 
not leave the state, or else he would get sent back to jail for the remaining three years
of 
his sentence. But, Tom realized that his family needed him with them, so he decided to go

with them. Besides, Tom figured that if he just did not get into any trouble in
California, 
he would be fine. Tom and his family left the next morning at daylight. "They took 
Highway 66, the main migrant road" across the country (Steinbeck 127). The trip was a 
long one, But Tom and his family managed to get there. Unfortunately, Tom's family 
suffered many losses. Tom's grandpa died on the way to California, and Tom's grandma 
died in California, but she wasn't able to see the mountains and great valley's of 
California. Noah, Tom's brother, got left behind somewhere in the Mojave Desert because 
he just walked away down a river. Casy, made it to California, but he was taken into jail

for hitting a cop at one of the Hoovervilles. Once Tom and his family found work, times 
were not that bad. But when they could not find any work, things got bad. So Tom and 
his family had to leave the first couple of places they stayed at because they needed
food 
and money. Tom realized that his family needed someplace they could go to where they 
would be treated good and where they could be clean. He decided to take his family to 
one of the government camps that people had been talking about. So Tom took his family 
to a government camp and they lived pretty good, but only for a short while.
At the government camp, life was good. There were bathrooms, showers, and places 
to wash clothes. Tom and his family lived for only a month. They would have stayed 
longer, but the family could not find work. So Tom and his family set off. They had 
heard of some possible work not too far away. When they got to Hooper Ranch, the cops 
lined them up on the road and sent them in to the ranch. The work there wasn't so 
good. They were paid five cents for every box of peaches that they picked. Things would 
not have gotten so bad if Tom had not attacked a cop. But Tom only did it in self 
defense. Besides, the cop that he hurt had killed his old friend Casy, right in front of
his 
face. Tom had met up with Casy the night that he hurt the cop. It turns out that Casy 
had gotten to Hooper Ranch before Tom and his family. Casy said that when he arrived, 
they were offering only two and a half cents per box of peaches. So, Casy and his new 
friends protested. That's why the wage went up to five cents, because were needed to pick

the peaches. But as soon as the cops stopped the protest, the wage was going back down 
to two and a half cents. Well after Tom had been beaten for what he did, he went back 
to his shelter and told his family what had happened. They all decided that they should 
leave immediately. But Tom hesitated. He knew that if they left, the cops would be 
looking for him. But Tom's mother would not let him leave. She pleaded him to stay and 
finally Tom agreed. He probably realized that he would be better off with his family for

the time being. So the Joad family left Hooper Ranch and set off to someplace else. On 
the road, the Joad family found a place where there were many abandoned boxcars where 
they could live. They settled down there and began looking for a job. They found a job 
picking cotton, but that job soon was gone because of all the people that were picking. 
Tom on the other hand, was hiding. He had agreed with his mother to stay hidden at 
least until his wounds healed up. Tom didn't like the idea, he still preferred going off

somewhere in his own, but he agreed to stay. Tom's secrecy was soon broken when his 
sister Ruthie had threatened a girl that her big brother would beat up the other girl's 
brother. But also Ruthie also mentioned that he had already killed two men and was out 
hiding waiting to kill another. As soon as Mrs. Joad heard about this, she knew she had 
to tell her son to flee. Tom was not too happy about her offering him money to leave, 
but he knew it was for the best, so he took the money. After Mrs. Joad returned to the 
boxcars, it began to rain heavily and the cars became flooded. The Joad family knew they

had to leave, so they did. The family found "A rain-blackened barn" that was just across

the highway (Steinbeck 498). The family went there and received shelter from the heavy 
rain.
In conclusion, Tom was a person who took responsibility for his actions. He took 
care of his family when they needed him the most, but in the end, he did what was best 
for the family, he left them. He knew that if he had stayed, he would have only been a 
burden to them because the cops would have been looking for him. Besides, he knew that 
he would have put his family in danger if he had stayed.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books. 1967