The Grapes of Wrath Study Guide

Summary and Analysis of Chapters 6-10

Chapter Six: Casy and Tom approached the Joad home. The house was mashed at one corner and appeared deserted. Casy says that it looks like the arm of the Lord had struck. Tom can tell that Ma isn't there, for she would have never left the gate unhooked. They only see one resident (the cat), but Tom wonders why the cat didn't go to find another family if his family had moved, or why the neighbors hadn't taken the rest of the belongings in the house. Muley Graves approaches, a short, lean old man with the truculent look of an ornery child. Muley tells Tom that his mother was worrying about him. His family was evicted, and had to move in with his Uncle John. They were forced to chop cotton to make enough money to go west. Casy suggests going west to pick grapes in California. Muley tells Tom and Casy that the loss of the farm broke up his family ­ his wife and kids went off to California, while Muley chose to stay. He has been forced to eat wild game. He muses about how angry he was when he was told he had to get off the land. First he wanted to kill people, but then his family left and Muley was left alone and wandering. He realized that he is used to the place, even if he has to wander the land like a ghost. Tom tells them that he can't go to California, for it would mean breaking parole. According to Tom, prison has not changed him significantly. He thinks that if he saw Herb Turnbull, the man he killed, coming after him with a knife again, he would still hit him with the shovel. Tom tells them that there was a man in McAlester that read a great deal about prisons and told him that they started a long time ago and now cannot be stopped, despite the fact that they do not actually rehabilitate people. Muley tells them that they have to hide, for they are trespassing on the land. They have to hide in a cave for the night.

Analysis:

When Tom and Casy return to the Joad home, it appears foreign and unfriendly. The home is empty, but for Tom the situation is unnatural. There are signs that the family has left, but suspiciously everyone seems to have left as well.

Muley Graves echoes the previous chapter's idea that no matter who a man might kill, he cannot stop the banks. Eventually Muley enters a state of resignation, forced to accept his fate. The character is essentially a ghost, living on the outskirts of society and wandering the land, bereft of his wife and children. He demonstrates the dehumanizing quality of the banks' intrusion. He is a man without any impetus for living.

When Tom tells Muley and Casy that he has not been rehabilitated by his jail term, it is a warning that, despite his calm demeanor he is still a man capable of violence. This foreshadows later developments; if Tom is provoked, there is still the possibility that he could react viciously. Neither Tom nor Muley believe in the rehabilitating power of prisons. According to Muley, the only type of government force that can manipulate human behavior is the capitalist system, the idea of the Œsafe margin of profit.' This reinforces the idea that the corporate system is the real controlling force of society, now more powerful than any citizen or group of citizens yet without concern for them.

Even spending the night on the property places Tom, Casy and Muley in danger. They are trespassing, and must hide in a cave in order to protect themselves from patrolling deputies. Muley makes the apt comparison of them to hunted animals, forced into subterfuge and unable to even show themselves in the open.

Chapter Seven: The car dealership owners look at their customers. They watch for weaknesses, such as a woman who wants an expensive car and can push her husband into buying one. They attempt to make the customers feel obliged. The profits come from selling jalopies, not from new and dependable cars. There are no guarantees, hidden costs and obvious flaws.

Analysis:

This chapter critiques yet another part of the business system. The owners of the car dealerships mean solely to exploit impoverished buyers. They do not profit from selling cars that will last, but rather from finding the most ill-used vehicle, giving it the appearance of reliability, and pawning it off on desperate farmers wishing to get to California. There is no compassion in the car sales, but rather a perpetual cycle of exploitation. This indicates what the Joad family must certainly have experienced to get their car to go west, yet places it in a larger context. The chapter makes it clear that they are not the only family to experience this.

Chapter Eight: Tom and Casy reach Uncle John's farm. They remark that Muley's lonely and covert lifestyle has obviously driven him insane. According to Tom, his Uncle John is equally crazy, and wasn't expected to live long, yet is older than his father. Still, he is tougher and meaner than even Grampa, hardened by losing his young wife years ago. They see Pa Joad fixing the truck. When he sees Tom, he assumes that he broke out of jail. They go in the house and see Ma Joad, a heavy woman thick with child-bearing and work. Her face was controlled and kindly. She worries that Tom went mad in prison. This chapter also introduces Grampa and Granma Joad. She is as tough as he is, once shooting her husband while she was speaking in tongues. Noah Joad, Tom's older brother, is a strange man, slow and withdrawn, with little pride and few urges. He may have been brain damaged at childbirth. The family has dinner, and Casy says grace. He talks about how Jesus went off into the wilderness alone, and how he did the same. Yet what Casy concluded was that mankind was holy. Pa tells Tom about Al, his sixteen-year old brother, who is concerned with little more than girls and cars. He hasn't been at home at night for a week. His sister Rosasharn has married Connie Rivers, and is several months pregnant. They have two hundred dollars for their journey.

Analysis:

The members of the Joad family are tough people, crude and hardened by life experience. Uncle John has gone nearly mad from losing his wife to illness, Pa Joad is sullen and withdrawn, and Grampa is too angry and bitter to even stay in the house. Only Ma Joad retains some level of warmth and compassion. She worries that Tom may have gone insane in prison. However, even she has changed, as Tom remarks, for until recently she never had her house pushed over or had to sell everything she owned. Even Granma and Grampa Joad are mean, tough people.

Casy's speech at dinner is yet another example of Steinbeck's glorification of the common person. For him, the population as a whole exemplifies what is holy. It is only when people diverge from the common good that they become unholy. This is further bolstered by Ma Joad's musings that there might be hope if everybody became angry enough to rise up against the moneyed interests. Steinbeck takes a largely socialist viewpoint, championing the common good over individual interests.

Chapter Nine: This chapter describes the process of selling belongings. The items pile up in the yard, selling for ridiculously low prices. Whatever is not sold must be burned, even items of sentimental value that simply cannot be taken on the journey for lack of space.

Analysis:

The sale of the items is a demeaning process, for the farmers must accept ridiculously low prices for their now outdated possessions. Steinbeck is explicit about the meaning of the sales: he states that "you're not buying only junk, you're buying junked lives." This is yet another example of the dehumanizing effects of the Depression foreclosures. The situation is hopeless: there is no possibility for starting over, for the people who are leaving are now imbued with bitterness and loss. They must even give up those objects that have sentimental value out of simply necessity, yet another example of the loss of human characteristics.

Chapter Ten: Ma Joad tells Tom that she is concerned about going to California, worried that it won't turn out well, for the only information they have is from flyers they read. Casy asks to accompany them to California. He wants to work in the fields, where he can listen to people rather than preach to them. Tom says that preaching is a tone of voice and a style, being good to people when they don't respond to it. Pa and Uncle John return with the truck, and prepare to leave. The two children, twelve-year old Ruthie and ten-year old Winfield are there with their older sister, Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn) and her husband. They discuss how Tom can't leave the state because of his parole. They have a family conference that night and discuss a number of issues: they decide to allow Casy to go with them, since it's the only right thing for them to do. They continue with preparations, killing the pigs to have food to take with them. While Casy helps out Ma Joad with food preparation, he remarks to Tom that she looks tired, as if she is sick. Ma Joad looks through her belongings, going through old letters and clippings she had saved. She has to place them in the fire. Before they leave, Muley Graves stops to say goodbye. Noah tells him that he's going to die out in the field if he stays, but Muley accepts his fate. Grampa refuses to leave, so they decide to give him medicine that will knock him out and take him with them.

Analysis:

This chapter illustrates the Joad family dynamic. The numerous relatives across three generations make any order difficult, as the family meeting demonstrates. The Joad family has Grampa as the nominal head, yet he exerts no special influence. If any member of the family leads the others, it is Ma Joad, who dominates by moral force. It is she who issues the final verdict allowing Casy to go with them to California. While Tom Joad is the main character in The Grapes of Wrath, it is Ma Joad who is the story's moral center, reminding everyone that they have greater concerns than just their own interests ­ it would be wrong if them to refuse food or shelter to anyone.

Ma Joad appears to be the principal victim of the move to California. Casy notices that she looks ill from the recent events, and only she is the only one who appears to have regrets. For the others, it is an unfortunate move, yet she must leave behind the memories that she treasures. Even Grampa, when he refuses to leave, does so out of bitter energy. Ma Joad, in contrast, has a Œgreat weariness.'

Grampa's refusal to leave highlights how important the land is for these people. For him, it is unimaginable to leave the area where he was born and raised. Yet he has no option. If he were to remain, he would essentially cease to exist as a human, like Muley Graves.