The Grapes of Wrath

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The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film directed by

John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's 1939
Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The
screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the
executive producer was Darryl F. Zanuck. The film
tells the story of the Joads, an Oklahoma family, who,
after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the
1930s, become migrant workers and end up in California. The
motion picture details their arduous journey across the
United States as they travel to California in search of
work and opportunities for the family members. In
1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for
preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant."
The film opens with Tom Joad, released from prison and hitchhiking his way back to his
parents' family farm in Oklahoma. Tom finds an itinerant ex-preacher named Jim Casy
sitting under a tree by the side of the road. Casy was the preacher who baptized Tom,
but now Casy has "lost the spirit" and his faith predicting his imminent conversion to
communism. Casy goes with Tom to the Joad property only to find it deserted. There,
they meet Muley Graves who is hiding out. In a flashback, he describes how farmers all
over the area were forced from their farms by the deed holders of the land. A local boy,
hired for the purpose, is shown knocking down Muley's house with a Caterpillar tractor.
Following this, Tom and Casy move on to find the Joad family at Tom's Uncle John's
place. His family is happy to see Tom and explain they have made plans to head for
California in search of employment, as their farm has been foreclosed on by the bank.
The large Joad family of twelve leaves at daybreak, along with Casy who decides to
accompany them. They pack everything into a dilapidated 1926 Hudson "Super Six"
sedan adapted to serve as a truck in order to make the long journey to the promised
land of California.
The trip along Highway 66 is arduous, and it soon takes a toll on the Joad family. The
elderly Grandpa dies along the way. Tom writes the circumstances surrounding the
death on a page from the family Bible and places it on the body before they bury it so
that if his remains were found, his death would not be investigated as a possible
homicide. They park in a camp and meet a man, a migrant returning from California,
who laughs at Pa's optimism about conditions in California. He speaks bitterly about his
experiences in the West. The family arrives at the first transient migrant campground for
workers and finds the camp is crowded with other starving, jobless and desperate
travelers. Their truck slowly makes its way through the dirt road between the shanty
houses and around the camp's hungry-faced inhabitants. Tom says, "Sure don't look
none too prosperous."

After some trouble with a so-called "agitator", the Joads leave the camp in a hurry. The
Joads make their way to another migrant camp, the Keene Ranch. After doing some
work in the fields, they discover the high food prices in the company store for meat and
other products. The store is the only one in the area, by a long shot. Later they find a
group of migrant workers are striking, and Tom wants to find out all about it. He goes to
a secret meeting in the dark woods. When the meeting is discovered, Casy is killed by
one of the camp guards. Tom tries to defend Casy from the attack, and he kills the
guard.
Tom suffers a serious wound on his cheek, and the camp guards realize it will not be
difficult to identify him. That evening the family hides Tom under the mattresses of the
truck just as guards arrive to question them; they are searching for the man who killed
the guard. Tom avoids being spotted and the family leaves the Keene Ranch without
further incident. After driving for a while, they have to stop at the top of a hill when the
engine overheats due to a broken fan belt; they have little gas, but decide to try coasting
down the hill to some lights. The lights are from a third type of camp: Farmworkers'
Wheat Patch Camp, a clean camp run by the Department of Agriculture, complete with
indoor toilets and showers, which the Joad children had never seen before.
Tom is moved to work for change by what he has witnessed in the various camps. He
tells his family that he plans to carry on Casy's mission in the world by fighting for social
reform. He leaves to seek a new world and to fight for social justice.
Tom Joad says:
I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever
there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up
a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids
laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are
eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too.
As the family moves on again, they discuss the fear and difficulties they have had. Ma
Joad concludes the film, saying:
I ain't never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though
we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide
world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and
scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared.... Rich fellas come up and they die, and
their kids ain't no good and they die out, but we keep a-coming. We're the people that
live. They can't wipe us out, they can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, cos we're the
people.
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The Depression Years prompted escapism in the arts. Radio and film offered
escapist stories for Americans who sought to forget their troubles. Yet, there were those
who rejected this approach and chose to reveal the Depression in ugly, gritty terms

the way it was! Through the Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck illustrates the harshness
of the Great Depression.
Historical Setting:
The crash of 1929 brought the "Roaring Twenties" to an end. Spurred by an economic
boom, a bull market, and a desire for wealth, Americans had purchased stocks on
margin. Stock prices had risen to dizzying figures and experts foretold disaster. The
Depression proved democratic - few were spared. Those at every socioeconomic level
were shattered. People lost their jobs, their homes, and worst, their hopes. For those
who had little before the crash, life proved devastating. Technology also proved an
enemy causing thousands to lose jobs. In a merciless display of timing, it was during
the
Depression that the Dust Bowl dried up and blew away. Throwing the farmers to the
wind.
On a separate sheet of paper answer the following questions in complete sentences.
What was the family searching for?

Why do you suppose the preacher lost the "spirit"?

Why is land so important to these people?

What are your feelings as the Caterpillar so easily demolishes the house?

How many start for California?

Grandpa dies of a stroke, but what really killed him?

Who does the Preacher say is better off, the dead or the living?

Why did Mr. Joad insist on paying for the bread, even after the cook says to give it to him?

Does this trait still exist today?

What do the gas station attendants say that shows they don't know what it's like to be
homeless, jobless, and hopeless?

How does this promote prejudice?

Why do you suppose the locals want to burn down the transient camp?

Why were the men striking?

How was business leeching off the poor?

What is the importance of family to the Joads?

How is the government camp different from the transient camp?

What is a "Red"? Why are they afraid of them?

Why is there prejudice against the "Okies"?

How does Tommy's "I will be there" speech symbolize the American spirit?

To depict misery and hopelessness, the picture is done in shadows. How does the last
scene, the sky, characterize the American spirit?