In chapter 8, pages 71-74, Tom Joad finally returns to his home after four years of imprisonment at McAlester, a state prison. Tom’s arrival causes his mother to react with happiness and surprise. Throughout the entire novel, Ma Joad is like a thread which holds the family together. She very rarely loses her composure, but her son’s arrival is one of the few occasions. In fact, “her hand sank slowly to her side and the fork clattered to the wooden floor” (Steinbeck 50), displaying her complete astonishment. Though she is elated at her son’s return, she quickly gathers herself and resumes cooking. Even though she is a woman, Ma is the center of the entire family and guides it in troubled times. She consistently acts rationally and advises her family to consider the ramifications of certain actions. Therefore it is unusual for her to display so much emotion. Ma knows her family members so well that she is able to predict when Tom is about to get angry and pacify him. …show more content…
He thinks about the fragility of one man versus the strength of unity and recites some of the Scripture that Jim Casy taught him. Tom is tired of seeing starving men needlessly suffer while avaricious landowners do nothing to alleviate their plight. He is angry that “people livin’ like pigs, an’ the good rich lan’ layin’ fallow, or maybe one fella with a million acres, while a hunderd thousan’ good farmers is starvin’”(Steinbeck 288) He decides he wants to fight back against the injustice and thievery. Tom changes significantly as a result of Casy’s death. At first he struggled to control his rage toward the men responsible while also feeling helpless because he felt that struggling was futile. However, he adopts Casy’s philosophies after Casy’s death to forge a more equitable society. Ma trusts Tom and allows him to leave since she knows he will do the right thing, and follow his