The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Book Summary) - Minute Book Report

[0:02]This is a story about a man named Tom Joed, an ex-convict recently released from prison for killing a man with a shovel while being stabbed. While hitchhiking to his father's cotton farm in Oklahoma, Tom meets Casey, his childhood preacher who has since left the church. When they arrive at the farm, they see that it is abandoned and that the land has been worked over by a tractor. A man named Mully, a local man who knew Tom when he was younger, approaches and explains that most of the families in the area have been forced out by the banks and that Tom's family has gone to live with his uncle John. Tom and Casey walked to Uncle John's farm, and Tom is reunited with his father, mother, grandparents, and siblings. Over breakfast, Tom's father explains that they are planning on moving to California. The family packs in the truck, which includes Grandpa, Grandma, Casey, Uncle John, Connie, Rosa, Sharon, Al, Noah, Ruthie, Winfield, and Tom. They begin their journey on the road to California on Highway 66. As the family continues on their journey, they stop on the side of the road to rest and meet the Wilsons, a husband and wife whose car has stopped working. Grandpa Joed feels sick and dies of a stroke. As they exit Oklahoma and enter Texas, the car breaks down and needs a new engine part. The rest of the family goes ahead in the truck and rests at a stop, while Tom and his brother Al look for a service station. They find a car parts dealer and the one-eyed man sells them the part they need for cheap. They return to the vehicle and fix it, eventually catching up to the family at the stop. However, at the stop, a man returning from California tells them that workers arriving in California are being taken advantage of because of their desperation. Still, the Joed and Wilson families continue on their journey. The family drives through Arizona and finally arrives in California, but they still must cross the desert. At a local encampment, Tom's brother Noah decides to stay and the Wilsons urge the Joeds to continue without them because Mrs. Wilson is near death. With Grandma Joed nearly dead, the family packs up and makes the final push into California. However, Grandma Joed never sees the orchards and the city lights of California as she dies in the back of the truck. After burying Grandma Joed, the family settles in an encampment called Hooverville. The collection of tents is full of poor workers and their families, all of which are struggling to eat. Tom meets a man named Floyd who tells him that there is no work in the area and describes how the workers are being taken advantage of because of so few jobs. After Al helps Floyd fix his car, Floyd tells Tom that there is work 200 miles to the north. However, Tom is apprehensive about moving north since the work isn't guaranteed. A man from the south seeking workers appears in the camp with a deputy sheriff. Floyd demands to see his license since the man seems shady. When the man refuses, the deputy tries to arrest Floyd. Floyd runs away and Tom trips the deputy. As the deputy fires his gun at Floyd, Casey knocks out the deputy and turns himself in when more deputies arrive. Tom decides that Hooverville is not safe and so they pack up their belongings. After Tom's brother-in-law Connie runs away and Uncle John gets drunk, the family heads north. They are forced to turn around by a pack of angry people, but Tom waits them out as he watches as they burn Hooverville. Angry, Tom turns the truck toward a government camp called Weed Patch in the south that is rumored to have nice amenities and no sheriffs. The family arrives at Weed Patch, a little self-governing community with their own showers and laws. A recent vacancy allows the Joeds to move in. They are welcomed to the camp and the rules are explained to them. Tom finds a job digging a ditch, while the rest of the family becomes accustomed to the camp. The camp prepares for their weekly Saturday evening dance, but there is a rumor that a fight will be started which will allow the sheriffs to shut down the camp. As visitors from outside the camp enter for the dance, a group of men, including Tom, try to screen them to see who might cause trouble. The band plays as people dance and just as a fight is about to escalate, the men stop it. Eventually, the Joeds can't find work and must move out of Weed Patch. The Joeds find work at Hooper Ranch and are escorted past a line of picketers. After picking peaches for a day, they barely have enough money for dinner. That night, Tom investigates the picket line and reunites with Casey, who is leading the picket. Casey tells Tom that he's learned about the strength of a union and how they keep lowering the wages. However, a group of men attacked them, leaving Casey dead. In response, Tom kills one of the men, but gets hit in the face. Tom returns home and can't return to work because of the injuries to his face. The wages are lowered just as Casey predicted, and as suspicions grow about the killing at the picket line, the Joeds decide to leave the camp. On the road, they see a sign for cotton pickers. After finding residence in a boxcar, the family picks cotton and collects a fair amount of money to buy food. However, the cotton is running low and soon everyone will be looking for work. Ruthie gets into a fight with another girl and accidentally says that Tom recently killed a man. Ma gets worried and gives Tom money to run away. Tom accepts the money and leaves, saying that he's going to try to continue the work that Casey started, trying to set up unions and organize people. It begins to rain, indicating that field work has stopped. Al meets a girl named Agnes and they want to get married. Ma doesn't want Al to leave because he's the only one who can drive the truck. Rose of Sharon, Tom's sister, begins feeling sick and starts to give birth during a rainstorm. As a nearby river begins to flood, Pa and some of the men begin digging a bank to stop the rising water. However, the water continues to rise and eventually floods their truck. Rose of Sharon gives birth, but the baby is born dead. Uncle John is told to bury it, but he lets it float downstream. The rainwater rises and begins to flood their boxcar. After trying to protect themselves from the rising waters, the Joes decide to leave and Al stays behind with Agnes. The family walks in the countryside and sees a barn in distance. In the barn, they meet a dying father and his son. In the end, Rose of Sharon breastfeeds the man so he can recover from his illness. If this video was helpful, please share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. 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