Sara DePoverAmerican LitLearning ProjectMarch 3, 2014The Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckIn the book Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, a man, Tom Joad is released from a prison in State of Oklahoma after being there for four years for involuntary manslaughter. A former preacher he meets, Jim Casy, has come to believe that he has abandoned his vocation as a preacher to believe that all life is holy. He helps Tom get home and finds that it is now deserted. Tom's former neighbor, Muley Graves, meets the men and tells them that everyone has been "towed" or asked to leave the land. He tells them that most of the families went to California looking for work. The next morning, Tom and his new friend Jim go on a trip to Uncle John's, who is Tom's uncle. They go looking for Uncle John because Muley is pretty sure they'll find the whole Joad family. When they finally arrive, Tom finds Pa and Ma Joad gathering up the last of the family's belongings. In California there were advertisements for fruit picking jobs and they all wanted to travel to California in the hopes that fruit picking would allow them to get their lives back together. On their trip to California, they take an old used truck in which we meet Grandpa Joad. He is an angry old man who does not want to leave his land. Grandpa's life sadly ends shortly after their trip to California begins. After Grandpa dies, they meet Ivy and Sairy Wilson, who are having car problems. The Joads invite them to continue their journey with their family. Sairy grew up near the California border and told the Joads she couldn't continue the trip. As the Joads move closer and closer to California, they hear many rumors that there are no more jobs open... middle of paper. ....r all other family members, and they suffered a lot of loss throughout their journey to California. They are related by blood, but through the text you can tell that their dependability and commitment to everyone else in the family is what made them all so close. As a reader, I noticed something truly wonderful when the Joads finally met the Wilsons, another family in need. Before long, the two families become very close, almost as if they were all already a family. All Joan and Wilson care about each other's problems and each other's lives. I really enjoyed this book because of all the emotion. All the people who died and the way John Steinbeck portrayed the people who were dying made you think you were right with the family. I also liked this book because I didn't know that so many people traveled to find work and would honestly do anything to earn a job and money for their family..