Rosasharn's Pregnancy

I feel like something is going to happen to Rose of Sharon's baby before the end of the story. Maybe a miscarriage, or some sort of complication at birth. An infant-related tragedy would fit the tones of lost hope and regret very well, and she's so worried about her child that it almost seems like foreshadowing.

chapter 22

This chapter got me hopeful again. The joads have finally found a great community and are able to at least attempt at having a good stable life. They've found people of their own who are hospitable and despite Tom being the only one with a job, it seems like they might make it now

Chapter 20 ;)

It's beginning to feel more and more like the Joads aren't going to make it. The camp that Floyd mentioned is supposedly full, Noah and Connie ran off, Tom is in trouble with the law again and on the verge of losing it, Grangpa and Gramma are dead, and the sheriff is preparing to have the people in Hooverville run out. It really does seem pretty hopeless right now for them to continue because now they've reached California and it's not even all it's choked up to be. :'(

Sairy Wilson (Chapter 13 spoilers ahead!!! Beware!!!)

Does anyone else think something horrible is going to happen to Sairy? I mean, it's been stated in the text that she's been sick, plus Ma noted that there was something odd and pained about her appearance. Plus, Grampa's death may be foreshadowing other illnesses and/or deaths.

Chapter 8.

So I have finished Chapter eight, and I was flabbergasted of how Steinbeck had meticulously described Tom Joad's family and their reaction when his family saw hi, after four years in jail. What do you guys think?

chapter 1

What do you guys think of how Steinbeck describes the setting/uses imagery?

Grampa

I actually really like Grampa as a character so far. He's funny, lively, and mischievous without coming off as overly childish. Maybe he has some deeper character development down the road, but honestly, I'd still enjoy his character if he stayed the same.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 has to be my favorite chapter so far. This chapter really does a good job illuminating the greed and cold heartedness of business's. While the poor are in a rush to California they obviously need a vehicle to get there and buying a new car is just not in the picture. So what do they have ? They get a used car. These salesmen are only thinking of one thing: money. They sell whatever will run or look good to the desperate people. These salesmen don't care about the struggles of the families, only money. They stick wood chips in the cars motors to quiet the rattling sounds of the horrible conditioned motors to be able to sell them. They obviously know that eventually these cars will give out and breakdown but money, money money that's all that they care about. Chapter 7 does a fantastic job displaying the political vacuum: as the poor get more and more poor the wealthy only get more and more wealthy; as the poor need to head to California for jobs and are desperate for a car the salemen take advantage and sell whatever they can at the highest price they can.

McAlester Prison

Remember the prison Joad was kept in? I did some research, and it turns out there really is a McAlester prison, in a way. Oklahoma's state penitentiary is in McAlester, so most people just refer to it by the city name. Makes me wonder if there are other locations in the story that actually exist.

The Turtle, Chapter 3

What do you guys think the Turtle that Joad catches represents ?

So I read the first couple of chapters for The Grapes of Wrath, and it is already messing with my characterization thought process. I thought Joad was a normal guy, but turns our, he is delinquent because he commited homicide. WTF