Chapter Notes
The Grapes of Wrath
Ch. 20- Hooverville
 Granma Joad’s body is left at a Coroner’s office to be buried.
 The family lacks the money to bury her appropriately.
 Tom speaks with Floyd Knowles concerning “unionizing”
 Labeled as “Reds” and “blacklisted”
 Man comes to Hooverville with offer of jobs and brings a police officer with
him.
 Floyd asks for a contract, which would provide assurance of a job and
fair wage.
 They frame Floyd and attempt to arrest him.
 As Floyd runs from the officer, the officer fires his weapon, trips over
Tom’s purposely placed foot, and shoots an innocent woman in the
hand.
 Rev. Casy protects Tom by knocking out the officer and taking the
blame for the incident. He is arrested.
 Uncle John bewails the loss of Rev. Jim Casy
 Casy was helping John deal with the loss of his wife. He now turns to
alcohol.
 Connie leaves the family on his own.
 He leaves out to better his life without Rose of Sharon and without
telling anyone he is leaving.
Ch. 22- Weedpatch (Government Camp)
 Many differences between Hoovervilles and Government Camps.
o Cops need warrants to enter Gov’t camp
o Running water and tubs
o Less crowded
o Organized and ran by other migrant farmers
 Mr. Thomas is an atypical landowner
o Treats migrant workers with respect
o Pays workers the fairest wage he can while still abiding by the rules of
the Farmer’s Association
o Warns the migrant workers of the plan to destroy Weedpatch
 Landowners have planned to incite a riot at the Weedpatch
dance.
Ch. 24- Weedpatch Dance
 Weedpatch migrants attempt to prevent riot by observing the dance for
potential rioters.
o Tom and the others manage to prevent the riot, so the cops are unable
to enter the camp.
 Afterwards the men discuss unionization
o The story of the Mountainmen of Akron, Ohio
 They worked at a rubber factory

To assure a fair wage, they schedule a “turkey shoot” and walk
through the town with their rifles and shotguns.
 Gain fair wage: Through the display of strength and unity.
Ch. 25- Meaning of the Title: The Grapes of Wrath
 “There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here
that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our
success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe
fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken
from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates--died of
malnutrition--because the food must rot, must be forced to rot.
The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards
hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the
kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by,
listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with
quicklime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze;
and in the eyes of the people there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry
there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are
filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
 How is Steinbeck employing the image of the grapes of wrath? Consider the
following biblical verse:
o "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw
them into the great winepress of God's wrath" (Revelation 14:19).
Ch. 26- The Strike
 Family must move on from the Government Camp (Weedpatch)- lack of work
 Ma preparing Rose of Sharon to be the matriarch of the family- Earrings (354)
 Joads find work on a Peach Farm (Hooper’s Ranch)
 Workers are taken advantage off while picking and in the farm store
o (376) Ma- only poor people are willing to help others.
 Casy’s Return- Unionizing workers (The Strike)
o Christ figure? (381)
 Discussion of Government camps (383)
o Political stance of Steinbeck?
 Workers “getting mean” (403)
 Casy’s death (386)
Ch. 28- The Boxcar
 Tom’s secret is revealed by Ruthie
 Tom departs
o Disciple of J.C. (Jim Casy)
o Scripture Passages- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
 9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
o Matthew 26: 11
 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not
always have me.
o Deuteronomy 15:11
 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I
command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites
who are poor and needy in your land.
o What do these scripture passages reveal about Steinbeck’s intentions/
purpose for his novel?
 Tom’s calling – 419
o “I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where--wherever you look.
Wherever they'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. if Casy knowed,
why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'--I'll be in the
way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An'
when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build-why, I'll be there. See? God, I'm talking like Casy. Comes of thinkin'
about him so much. Seems like I can see him sometimes.”
o Biblical allusion?
Ch. 30- La Pieta
 Rose of Sharon still birth
 Uncle John sends child down the river
o Why? (448)
o Biblical Allusion
 The Flood- Symbolic of what?
 Rose of Sharon’s act of mercy – La Pieta (Italian for Pity)
o Biblical allusion
o Michelangelo’s Pieta
11