The Grapes of Wrath

Before leaving, the family hold a meeting to discuss final preparations for the trip. Pa brings up the issue of Casy joining them. He wonders about the lack of space and asks “kin we feed a extra mouth” (107)? Ma’s response is indignant. She says, “I never heerd tell of no Joads…ever refusin’ food an’ shelter or a lift on the road to anybody that asked” (107). For Ma it is an issue of pride that they help others when they can, and that extends to people beyond their immediate family. Since they still have food and are able to take Casy, they have an obligation to share and to make space. To do otherwise would be to become “mean” (107). “Mean” is the spiritually and morally impoverished state of only caring about one’s own narrow self-interest.

Such sentiments are not shared, however, by the businessmen and gas station owners they and the other migrants encounter at the start of their journeys. One begrudges the Joads access to water and aggressively questions them about whether they have money for gas. Another remarks, to an unnamed migrant family, “I ain’t in business for my health” (125), as he extracts maximum payment for a replacement tire. Yet it is not just that they have no concern for the situation of these other human beings; they also try to exploit their plight. The fact that the unnamed family urgently needs the tire to continue and cannot afford to wait is the very reason the gas station owner increases his price. Likewise, the Joads are swindled when they sell their possessions. Because they are forced to sell and know little about the tricks involved in sales negotiation, they are given a pittance for most of their worldly goods. Pa had heard how salespeople from elsewhere visited their town specifically to cash in on the newly dispossessed farmers and their desperate need for disposable money.

Furthermore, there is a meanness amongst such people which extends beyond economics or the individual. There is the meanness of the group which is invariably directed towards perceived “outsiders”. This is again expressed by an unnamed gas station owner. He says to the migrant family, when the father mentions that he’s going to California, and that it’s a big state that “ain’t big enough. There ain’t room enough for you an’ me, for your kind an’ my kind” (125). He implies that the migrants have no right to what is in California or to a life there. Everything belongs to the residents, who must aggressively protect what they have. It is this fear which also leads to prejudice. To justify this attitude the migrants must be stereotyped as unclean, as thieves, and, in the end, as not even fully human. Why or how they came to be on the road, and the injustice they have suffered, is never considered. The dispossessed farmers and other migrants are seen merely as a threat and a menace.

Such parochialism, however, is the opposite of the attitude adopted by the Joads. When they encounter a couple broken down by the side of the road and stop to rest with them, they become instantly friendly. This is despite the fact that the Wilsons are not from Oklahoma. Pa remarks to them, “You talk queer, kinda” (141). “Everybody says words different” (141), responds Ivy Wilson. What matters then is not the arbitrary factors of accent or birthplace, but their shared situation and needs. They are both struggling through a difficult time and are heading in a common direction.

Moreover, this openness and generosity is more than an ideal; it is necessary for the success of their journeys. This can be seen, in a practical sense, with regards to their vehicles. Al offers to help fix the Wilson’s car. Without this they would be stranded. The spreading of the equipment and people on the truck over two vehicles also ensures that the truck is less likely to break down. Their sharing of the journey is also an emotional necessity. This can be seen in the Wilsons allowing a dying Grampa to stay in their tent. The solidarity between the two groups, as well as the presence of the preacher, allows them to bear this loss more easily. This is especially true when the family is forced to bury Grampa themselves, rather than pay the 40 dollars that they cannot afford for a funeral. Finally, this bond is necessary so that the families can endure the burden of their loss of home and their anxiety about the future. This will be important given the hostility that they will face from many along the road to California.