Granma's health has worsened since Grampa's death, and now she is clinging
precariously to life. The Wilsons' car breaks down again; Tom and Casy want
to stay behind to repair it, but Ma Joad refuses to split the family up. Instead,
the whole group waits while Al and Tom go into town to find parts for the
car.
Al wants Tom to tell him about life in prison, but Tom remains
reticent. When they get back and fix the car, the family continues on their
way. That night, they arrive at a crowded camp and everyone there seems to
be talking about the handbills that are advertising work in California. Pa
Joad starts to talk to some of the other men who tell him that there were
more handbills printed than there are jobs. One of the men even says that
his family starved to death because there wasn't any work available.
Still, they push on. In Arizona, they stop by a river and wash
up. There, they are hassled by a policeman. Noah decides to stay at the river
and no one can change his mind. Mrs. Wilson became sick so they decided to
stay at the river while the Joad’s go on. Crossing California, Granma
dies and the family has to bury her a pauper since they are out of money.
In California, they stop at a camp filled with other migrants.
There they meet Floyd Knowles to explains to them that there is no work and
the wages are down. He says that the police will arrest anyone they don’t
like. Connie and Rose talk about their future. Later, Connie leaves the tent
and never comes back leaving his pregnant wife. During the evening, an employer
comes to the camp promising work. Floyd, however, knows the system and that
the employer is trying to get a lot of workers so he can lower the wages.
The employer came prepared with a cop who tries to arrest Floyd but Floyd
punches him and runs. As the cop runs after Floyd, Tom trips him and the cop
shoot toward Floyd’s direction hitting a bystander and shooting off her
fingers. Casy them comes along and kicks the cop in the neck knocking him
out. Everyone runs except Casy who turns himself in as the troublemaker. The
cop threatens that he will burn down the camp at night
Review:
The desperate plight of the "Okie" is vividly described
and the Joads are beginning to lose their optimism about the glory of California.
They encounter horrendous living conditions, hardly any work, and police brutality.
The elder Joads are now both gone and neither of them had a decent family
funeral. In addition, Noah and Connie have left and this reduces the family
even further.
The chapters begin to elude to the beginning movement of a worker's organization
with the scene with Knowles, Tom and Casy.
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