Grapes of Wrath Assignment 3: Chapters 17-20

"If he needs a million acres to make him feel rich, seems to me he needs it 'cause he feels awful poor inside hisself, and if he's poor in hisself, there ain't no million acres gonna make feel rich, an' maybe he's disappointed that nothin' he can do'll make him feel rich" -Casy (The Preacher) p. 207.
That is by far my favorite quote from the book so far, and it is something that I agree with strongly. He is talking about people looking for happiness in material items, and is saying that happiness isn't found in the things we own.

As I've read this book, I find myself often relating the Preacher in this story to Pangloss from Voltaire's Candide. Not that what the Preacher says is particularly Panglossian (vocab!), but in the sense that he seems to be the philosophical leader in the story. Both of these characters brought philosophical aspects into the story, and put them in the forefront of what was going on. The more I think of it, the less they seem to have in common, but it was a recurring connection that I was making, so I thought I should mention it.

Another portion of the reading that I found particularly interesting was the entirety of chapter 19. Chapter 19 was a short chapter that was intended to show the harsh treatment of the people who had migrated into the state, and very thoroughly and powerfully described the anger that was building inside all of these people. It talks about uprisings, and explains how people cannot live in the state that they are forever. This chapter is beautifully written, and is in my opinion the most powerful chapter in the novel so far. It starts off slow, and throughout the course of it's ten pages, builds in intensity, showing how the repeated wrongdoings of the land owners are slowly adding up, and how the people can't take this sort of treatment forever. It makes the reader side with the people and against the sheriffs and landowners, who are the cause for all the trouble. At one point it says " The changing economy was ignored, plans for the change ignored; and only means to destroy revolt were considered, while the causes of revolt went on." This quote in particular hints towards a potential revolution. A potential violent struggle. It may be foreshadowing something later in the book, but I'm not exactly sure yet.

Speaking of foreshadowing, in the last chapter Tom talks about losing it and killing a cop. He mentions going mad, and this isn't the first time that this has been brought up in the book. I am wondering if being in prison actually did make him mad, and he just is trying not to show it to his family. Thinking back, he was unusually hostile with the truck driver in the very beginning of the book, and has shown some hostility toward authority figures. Also, when Al asks him about prison, Tom avoids the question. I'm starting to think that Tom has suffered some sort of emotional damage while in prison, and I predict that this will become more prevalent as he deals with more authority figures later in the novel. I think that he will end up doing something terrible, and ending up back in prison. Could this be the violent struggle that was foreshadowed in chapter 19? I am very eager to find out.

Another turning point in this chapter; Granma's death. Well, I wouldn't exactly describe it as a turning point, but it deserves to be mentioned. I honestly was not surprised by this death at all. I actually had a feeling back when Granpa died that Granma would follow shortly after. Even though it wasn't shown in the novel, I feel that they loved each other greatly, and once Granpa died, she simply lost her will to survive. This, combined with the physical stresses of the constant traveling, are what I think actually killed her.

Chapter 20 was also very important to the storyline of the novel. In this chapter, they arrived in their first "Hooversville", which is a camp where all of the jobless migrants live. In this chapter the Joads get their first taste at what life is actually like in California. Not too much happens other than a fight with the sheriff, an altercation with locals, and some examples of what life is like for the people who have been in the camp for awhile. Although not much happens, I believe this is a turning point in the story. At this point in the book, it shifts from them trying to get to California, to them trying to survive now that they are in California. It is almost like the story could have been split into two parts, and now I feel we have started the second part. I'm very excited to see what happens next.