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STUDYWORLD STUDYNOTES

The Grapes of Wrath

 

Summary and Review of Chapters 5-9

Summary:

When Tom and Casey reach the farm and see its state, Tom is surprised that his family has left. They see a neighbor, Muley Graves, poking about the farm. He tells them that the Joads have all moved in with Tom's Uncle John and are trying to earn enough money picking cotton to buy a car, in which to make the journey to California. Muley explains haltingly that a large company has bought all the land in the area and forced the tenant farmers away in order to cut their labor costs.

He continues to explain that when the landowners and the banks force the tenant farmers off their lands, they first inform the farmers that they must leave. Despite the farmers' protests that they have nowhere to go and nothing to eat and that the crops will be better next year, the landowners insist. On the appointed date, they send a giant tractor to plow a straight line across the farm, crushing anything in its path--often including the farmhouse. The tractors are often driven by the farmers' neighbors, who explain that their families have nothing to eat and that the banks pay several dollars a day for this work. Even though the farmers are furious, they are helpless and have no one to turn to for help.

As it is almost night time, Tom asks if he can stay at Muley's place for the night before going to his Uncle's house. Muley tells him that his family has also been forced off his land and that he has been reduced to fending for himself outdoors. Since they have nothing to eat, he shares a rabbit that he caught earlier in the day.

After dinner, the men are disturbed by headlights shining up the Joads' drive. They ascertain that it is a police car and hide because they are afraid that they will be arrested for trespassing. Tom is angry that he can't feel free on his own farm but is aware that there is no other way out. Muley then takes them to a cave where he sleeps. Tom decides to sleep in the open air outside the cave.

The following morning, Tom and Casey leave for Uncle John's place. There Tom meets his family again. Everyone is ovejoyed to see him since they were planning to leave the next day without Tom. Tom’s relatives are Granpa and Granma, Tom’s Grandparents, Ma and Pa (also named Tom Joad), Tom’s parents, Noah, Rose of Sharon, Al, Ruthie and Winfield, Tom’s brother’s and sisters, Connie, and Rose of Sharon’s husband.

At Uncle John's, Tom is reunited with his family, including Pa Joad, who is outside working on a car, and Ma Joad, who is in the kitchen. Both parents fail to recognize Tom at first, and both are worried that he has broken out of prison. Ma Joad fears that Tom has become cruel and insane, because she once knew a gangster, "Purty Boy Floyd," who went "mean-mad" after he was released from prison. He is finally able to convince them that he has been paroled and that he is all right. Tom also sees his grandparents and his brother Noah.

The family sits down for breakfast and the grandparents insist that Casy say a prayer, though he tells them that he is no longer a preacher. In place of a prayer, he simply comments on his realization that mankind is holy in itself, then says "amen" to placate the Joads.

His parents then tell him that they are about to leave for California and Pa Joad shows Tom the truck he has bought for the family. He says that Tom's younger brother Al, who knows a bit about cars, helped him pick it out. He also tells Tom how throughout the area, used-car salesman are selling cars as quickly as they can to farming families who want to migrate to California. Pa Joad describes how the dealers take advantage of them and are able to make quick sales. He says that the farmers are desperate, know nothing about cars and are willing to buy them at high interest rates.

When 16-year-old Al arrives, Tom learns that his two youngest siblings, Ruthie and Winfield, are in town with Uncle John and that Rose of Sharon, another sister, is married to Connie and expecting a child.

As the family prepares for their journey to California, they are forced to pawn most of their belongings. Under the circumstances, the farmers find that they are being taken advantage of by the brokers and that they are getting very poor deals.

Review:  

These chapters introduce the rest of the Joad family members. They also give a detailed account of the misery that the farmers are forced to endure as they are being uprooted from the land that has been their home for several generations.