Themes
The Joads demonstrate this theme by celebrating Al's engagement to Aggie Wainwright with food, coffee, and even Cracker Jacks, all shared between the two families in their boxcar home.
What is "poor helping the poor"?
This symbol represents the place where a character confronts his isolation and prepares to embrace a larger social mission.
What is the cave?
Al Joad plans to marry Aggie Wainwright.
True.
How does Al show maturity in Chapter 28?
He commits to marrying Aggie and building a stable future.
“Aggie’s a growed-up woman-girl. She’s a good girl-jes’ as nice an’ good.”
Mr. Wainwright
Tom's epiphany in the cave, where he realizes individual souls are just small pieces of a greater whole, embodies this theme.
What is "oversoul" and "I to we"?
This symbol mirrors Tom Joad’s persistence and determination as he faces obstacles imposed by both society and circumstance.
What is the turtle?
Ma Joad is angry at Tom for what he did and forces him to leave to protect the rest of the family.
False. Tom willingly chose to leave the family to protect them and pursue his new spiritual calling, continuing Casey's work.
What does Ma’s reaction to Tom leaving show?
She puts the greater good above her own feelings.
"Stuff settin' out there, you jus' feel like buyin' it whether you need it or not."
uncle john
This theme is symbolized by Tom hiding in a dark, narrow cave, which many critics view as a symbolic womb before he emerges as a new man committed to the collective good.
What is "rebirth/revival"?
This symbol reflects the migrant families’ relentless pursuit of opportunity and the tension between hope and harsh reality.
What is Route 66?
Their life in the boxcar provided the family with more safety and stability, proving that the American Dream is attainable through cooperative labor.
False. The boxcar life offers an unstable income, and the corrupt capitalist system makes the American Dream impossible for migrants.
What does Pa’s work on the sanitary project reveal?
He regains confidence and takes leadership in the community.
“I ain’t no good any more. Spen’ all my time a-thinkin’ how it use’ta be. Spen’ all my time thinkin’ of home, an’ I ain’t never gonna see it no more.”
Pa Joad
When Tom tells Ma, "I'll be ever'where -- wherever you look" to describe his new mission to fight injustice, his words highlight this major theme in the novel's final section.
This symbol represents the impersonal, consuming force that drives the Joads off their land and limits their freedom.
What is the Bank/Monster?
Tom reflects on Casy's teachings while in the cave, demonstrating a clear rejection of his violent past and his transformation into a state of holiness.
False. Tom adopted Casey's philosophy and shifted his focus from individual survival to collective human action and unity.
What does this quote say about Tom's final understanding of the wide unity between all the worker collective?
"I'll be ever'where - wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there [etc.]"
It shows how he now sees the workers as one unit.
"I'll be ever'where-wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there."
Tom Joad
In Chapter 28, this broad theme is shown when Tom is forced to leave for the family’s safety and Al prepares to start a new life with Aggie, signaling major changes to the Joads’ structure.
What is "reshaping the family unit"?
This symbol represents societal decay, death, and the destruction of the American Dream, forcing migration.
What is dust/drought?
The Joads were considered "aristocrats" in their new community.
True.
What does this quote represent in terms of Tom's mentality?
"But I know now a fella ain't no good alone."
He is now decisive.
“I wanta touch ya again, Tom. It’s like I’m blin’, it’s so dark. I wanta remember, even if it’s on’y my fingers that remember. You got to go away, Tom.”
Ma Joad