Tom Joad- The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad was basically the supporter in the whole Joad family. Even though he was in jail for four years for killing a man, he still gained the trust of his family. Whenever you hear the quote, "when life gives you lemons you make lemonade" that quote is basically what sums up Tom Joad. When the Tom realized his family were not a his farm he decided to take the chance to head to California in order find work. When Steinbeck says, "The squatting men raised their eyes to understand. Can't we just hang on? Maybe next year will be a good year. God knows how much cotton next year. And with all the wars -- God knows what price cotton will bring. Don't they make explosives out of cotton? And uniforms? Get enough wars and cotton'll hit the ceiling. Next year maybe. They looked up questioningly. We can't depend on it. The bank -- the monster has to have profits all the time. It can't wait. It'll die. No, taxes go on. When the monster stops growing, it dies. It can't stay one size" (Steinbeck 32). This quote is showing farmers who are getting their land getting token away from them by the landowners and the banks. These are just other farmers, but this is what Tom Joad had to deal with when he got "home". He had to deal with it and move on. This is what every farmer back in the Great Depression had to do. Whenever Tom and his family got laid off from a job in California it was always his turn to find a job that would fit him and his family. His family trusted him even after being in jail for killing a man. It takes a lot of guts in order to let a man back into your family after killing someone, but it takes more guts in order to trust him. Although Tom Joad did kill a man, he showed himself as a respected, well-rounded man for helping his family make it to California in order to live.

Bibliography

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.