Family In The Grapes Of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck has many themes that most readers can relate to. The importance of the “fambly” or family, the group, is always stressed throughout the book. Staying together and suffering together in these rough times is certainly better than suffering alone.

The Joad family used to own a farm in Oklahoma, but because of the dust bowl they fled to California in hopes that they could start over again. They didn’t have much money or supplies, just themselves what they could fit in the truck with them. They all had dreams of eating peaches and grapes right off the vine. Grandpa Joad never got to feel the sweet juice drip down his chin, because died from a stroke on the side of the road. Two people also moving west, the Wilsons,

I ain’t felt so--safe in a long time. People needs--to help” (Steinbeck 141) They would ask the Joads to help repair their car. Al Joad discovered that they would need to replace the connecting rod. Mr. Joad suggests that the group should split up while the car gets fixed. Mrs. Joad, the mother of the protagonist, threatened him with a jack handle saying the group can’t split up. Mrs. Joad is the cornerstone of the family. “Ma’s strength is what allows the family to hold up as long as they do.” (Monika 1) Both of these actions, one of kindness and one of desperation, show the bonds between these people. The Wilsons were strangers on the side of the road. They didn’t have to help each other, treating to a dying man or fixing a car, but they did because we’re all people. They realized that they had more in common than they thought and stuck together for a while. Much later in the book after a shopkeeper gives Mrs Joad a little more than she can afford, she says,“Learnin' it all a time, ever' day. If you're in trouble or hurt or need--go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help--the only ones.” (Steinbeck 376) We can only assume that she is referring back to the Wilsons and all the other people in other

Casey told Tom that he was leading a strike because workers wage rates dropped too low to feed a family. Casey was killed by people who wanted to break the strike, prevent these workers from living good lives.“Ma’s worst fears came true when Tom kills a man and has to go into hiding…” (Brooks 1) Tom had to run away for the safety of his family. He tells his mom about what Casey had told him. “But now I been thinkin' what he said, an' I can remember—all of it. Says… But I know now a fella ain't no good alone.” (Steinbeck 418) He understands that everyone is struggling to be getting these jobs that the Joads have luckily been able to get. “At first, Tom is intensely individualistic, interested mainly in making his own way.” (Mazzeno 1) When Mrs. Joad tells her son that she’ll miss him, he tells her he will be with her in all of the struggling people. He leaves to continue the work Casey started uniting all the “reds” or strikers to fight