In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Tom Joad begins as a selfish character and evolves into one that will devote himself to the needs of others. He is introduced in the novel as a fugitive and is established to the reader as a negative, selfish character in his new, prison issued clothes. As the novel goes on Tom experiences changes due to the influential conversations with his mother and long hours talking and learning from Jim Casy. At first, Tom doesn’t think about the future or worry about what his actions mean to himself and others. Tom only worries about today and being on the family farm and isn’t prepared for the hardships that may be ahead of him. His family and Jim Casy teach him about commitment and work and by the end of the novel, Tom Joad changed into a positive character that is a great team player and willing to do whatever he can …show more content…
He will not back down and allow anyone to mistreat him or his family. When the family reaches the gas station to fill up, they are automatically stereotyped as beggars that don’t intend to pay. Tom is furious with the treatment and speaks up to defend the family, ““Tom dropped angrily to the ground and moved toward the fat man. “We’re payin our way,” he said fiercely. “ You got no call to give us a goin’-over. We ain’t asked you for nothin’.”” (Steinbeck 126) This section of the novel shows the reader how poorly migrants were treated and how people formed opinions before they knew anything about them. The migrants were looked down on by everyone and Tom wanted to let people know that they were good people who wanted to earn their own way. He earns the respect of the workers and leads them to form a union to stand up for their rights. Tom Joad’s actions showed that he would fight for what he believed in and for social justice for everyone. Tom became a symbol of the migrant poor that had to fight for