| what does Steinbeck describe in chapter 1 | planned a trip around the highways of the U.S. from Oklahoma to California. It starts with a family huddled around in there home and considering the options |
| Where was Tom Joed coming from and where was he going to when he hitched a ride with the road | he was just released from prison after killing a man in self defense with a shovel. he is on his way to find his Ma and Pa at the family farm to catch them prior to the departure west. (Truck driver picked him up, was very inquisitive) |
| What is the turtles most outstanding characteristic | his determination to reach his destination |
| describe Jim Casey | a small man covered in sinewed muscles. He was previous a preacher before his excursion into the woods. He used his role as preacher to sleep with little girls saying he was “giving them the spirit” |
| what idea did Jim Casey come up with during his thinking time | there is something that all men and woman love; maybe thats the holy spirit–the human spirit is the holy spirit. all souls are linked to an oversoul |
| why was tom in jail and what was his attitude toward his crime | he was in jail for killing a man in self defense using a shovel. He said he would do it again if someone was attacking him |
| what was the monster and why couldn’t men control it | the monster was the bank and men couldn’t control the bank because it wasn’t human. the men working for the bank existed but the bank itself was its own entity |
| Describe Muley Graves | a nervous feller who refused to get of the land when he was evicted by the bank. Sends his family west alone while he stayed behind to raise hell for the policemen who patrol the fields now controlled by the bank |
| what does John feel guilty about | he feels guilty about letting his wife die with a burst appendix. he blames himself because his wife asked for a doctor and he simply said she “done et’ to much” |
| what is the first thing each of the Joed’s wish’s to know from Tom the moment he returns home | they wanted to know if he had broken out of prison |
| describe the relationship between grandma and grandpa | one is incredibly religious while one is not. both go back and forth torturing each other like children. both are tough as nails |
| what happened to Noah at his birth | Papa Joed used calipers to pull him out of the womb and ended up stretching his body out of proportion. examples are his eyes being to far apart and a form of autism |
| what does Steinbeck show about the relationship between merchants and the farmers in the chapter | the merchants were sly and used the farmers desperate situations against them to gain a greater profit. The merchants did not care how they got paid, so long as they could make a quick buck from the ‘ignorant’ farmers , that they are monsters that need profits. They are also considered monsters and require profits |
| what advice did Tom give Ma about worrying about the future | “take it one day at a time and don’t get her hopes to high” |
| What does pa say about Jim Casey’s coming along with the family? what does ma say? does Casey go? | Pa was uncertain if they had substantial resources to feed another mouth. ma says they are Joeds and it doesn’t matter because they always help those in need. Casey does end up going with the family to California |
| How did Tom and Ma get Granpa into the truck when he said he did not wish to go with the family | they put medicine into his coffee and drugged him. while asleep they placed him at the top of the pile of household equipment |
| who all headed west on the Joed truck | granma, granpa, pa, ma, casey, al, uncle john, Tom, Noah, Ruthie, Winfield, Rose of Sharon, connie |
| what does Steinbeck describe in chapter 11 | intercalary chapter describing the land after the Joed’s leave. How the corporate farmer uses the tractor but does not know the land. How he leaves the tractor in its aluminum home, how the monster sucks the life from the land, etc. |
| which of the passengers of the Joad truck was first to be left behind | Grampa (died) |
| who were the Wilson’s | a family that was camping on the side of the road when the Joad’s needed a place to stop and camp. their names were Ivy and Sairy. The Joads offer to help them and the Wilson’s helped bury gramps |
| what plans have Connie and Rose of Sharon made | Connie is going to study to be a radio man/how to run his own store and they are going to live in a little white house and all of this will be achieved before Rose of Sharon has the baby (nope). Later connie then says he should of stayed home and studied how to drive the tractor |
| what is Al’s attitude problem | he blamed himself for all the problems with the car and was being OCD about perfection. |
| why does ma revolt | because she does not want the family to split up after the one car broke down. She threatens pa with a tool and says he won’t be able to sleep safe at night if he splits up the family |
| what discouraging news did the ragged man at the camp give pa | that there is no work in California. the rich farmers print off 5000 orange pamphlets saying they need 800 men and end up getting 20000 men. The ragged man’s family starved to death because he couldn’t get any work in the west |
| what did Pa and Tom learn from the men in the river | the people of California hate the new migrants and call them Okies as a way of insulting them. The police constantly harass new comers and jobs are non existent |
| to what decision did noah come to standing by the river | noah told tom he was going to live on the river and catch fish and just travel along the bank. Tom and the Joad family let him go because they could no longer take the strain of caring for him |
| why don’t the Wilson’s cross the river with the Joads | because Sairy has cancer? She knows she will be dead in a couple days and tells Ma to go on without them. Ivy doesn’t realize this and simply says they need to rest for a day. |
| why was ma so feisty at the agricultural inspection station | granma was dead and ma showed the guards her face and they took a step back startled and let the Joads drive on through |
| how did casey help tom out of trouble with the deputy sheriff | Casey took the fall for Tom tripping the Deputy. Tom and Floyd attacked a police officer who had been harassing them. Floyd took a swing a Tom tripped him |
| where and why did Connie go | he went south, he wanted to go study how to use a tractor so he could make two dollars a day farming back home |
| why did Mr. Thomas lower the wages from thirty cents to twenty five cents per hour | the the Farmers Association said he could not pay more than twenty five an hour and he uses it as a excuse to pay them less rather than fighting it |
| what tip did Mr. Thomas give Timothy | that there are a group of people who are going to start a riot to get the police to raid the government camp |
| compare the Hoovervilles to the government camps | Hoovervilles don’t have hot water or toilets, Government camps have both. Hoovervilles are constantly harassed by the police, Government camps are not. Both are semi self govern |
| what does Steinbeck show in chapter 23 | He uses the chapter to tell a story through the migrant workers. the story goes that a brave indian stood stark naked proud as soldiers took aim to shoot him. they could not shoot him and when they began to begrudgingly aim the indian took his own life. He was described as proud and pure and the soldiers felt awful for his death.people pursuing what they want, preachers giving fire and brimstone speech |
| how did the camp guards ruin the farmer association’s plot to invade the government camp | they caught the 3 perpetrators who attempted to start a riot during the saturday night dance. pulled them from the crowded and booted them out over the fence. police did show up but did not find the riot they were expecting and were forced to leave |
| what moral crime was committed in chapter 25 | how evil capitalism is by the burning and killing of produce and meats simply because a profit can not be made off of it. emphasizes that the elitists are willing to let the poor starve in an effort to make a profit. |
| why did the Joad family leave the government camp | Tom had 5 days of work and they only had a days left worth of grease. Ma says they have to leave to find work. they find out there is work north and begin the process of leaving. |
| how was the flat tire good luck for the Joad’s | they were offered a job by some sleazy scum bag with no class, wearing a gold football neckless and big gold ring-scum |
| where did tom go after dinner on the first day of peach pickin’? why? | he went to figger out why them fellers outside the labor camp (I mean farm) was a’ causin’ a ruckus. He went to the fence edge and crept out under the barb wire |
| who did tom meet again on his evening walk? what was he doing there outside the peach orchard? | He finds Jim Casey and discovers he was leading the strike against the orchard because they was gettin’ paid 2 and a half cents compared to their original offer of 5 cents |
| how did tom get into trouble with the law again | after Jim Casey got his skull bashed in Tom went bonkers and started mercilessly beating the skull of the office in with a pick handle–done killed ‘im |
| what happened to Winfield | he air too many peaches and got the skitters (seizure?) and someone says he has worms. Ma gives him some milk and somehow that makes him all better? |
| why did the Joads leave the peach orchard? Where did they go | they left because in order to keep the fambly from a’breakin’ up they needed to sneak Tom out so he didn’t get Lynched. They come across a cotton picking job and park the truck in front of some rail cars and sleep until the morning to take the job? |
| why did ma risk going to Tom’s hiding place | Ruthie got in a fight and told the other child that her brother Tom killed two men and Ma fears that Tom is on the verge of being found out |
| what did tom decide to do | leave the family |
| who is Aggie Wainwright | a girl that Al falls in love with and they plan to get married |
| Why could the Joads not move when the rains came | because Rose of Sharon was too weak to move and the rail car was the driest place to be, the rain ruined the cars |
| what was Pa’s solution to the problem of flooding? was he successful | he planned to put up mud dikes to keep back the flood waters, a tree collapses and crushes the dam causing the flood water to rise up into the rail car, platforms only worked for a while |
| what happened to Rose of Sharon’s baby | it died and Uncle John puts it in a crate and floats it down the rushing water outside the rail car |
| where do the Joads go after they leave the box car | they flee to a barn on a hill to take shelter from the rain |
| who do the Joads find in the barn and how do they help them | an old man and his son, old man was starving to death and Rose of Sharon breast feeds him back to health |
The Grapes of Wrath study guide
June 9, 2020