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At the beginning, Tom Joad is a kind man, but he gets angry quickly and is very selfish. When we first meet Tom, he has just been released from prison after serving four years for manslaughter. He was imprisoned for killing a man with a shovel during a fight.
Where did Tom Joad go to jail?
The narrative begins just after Tom Joad is paroled from McAlester prison, where he had been incarcerated after being convicted of homicide in self-defense. While hitchhiking to his home near Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Tom meets former preacher Jim Casy, whom he remembers from his childhood, and the two travel together.
Why did Tom Joad commit homicide?
After Casy reveals his newfound beliefs—“maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of”—Tom explains how he came to commit murder (24). Drunk at a dance, Tom got stabbed during a fight with another drunk man.
How long has Tom Joad been in jail?
four years
Although Tom Joad has spent four years in prison, he soon emerges as a kind of moral authority in the book. A straight-talking man, Tom begins his trek home by putting a nosy truck driver in his place—having served the lawful punishment for his crime, he owns up to his past without indulging in regret or shame.
What happened Tom Joad?
Released from an Oklahoma state prison after serving four years for a manslaughter conviction, Tom Joad makes his way back to his family’s farm in Oklahoma.
What was Tom Joad’s dream?
The Joads dream of owning a nice white house and being overwhelmed with fruit was quickly put to end after their first night in California.
What does the turtle symbolize in Grapes of Wrath?
The turtle story in The Grapes of Wrath is a metaphor for the constant struggle and frequent obstacles that face the Joad family and other migrants.
Who killed Casey in Grapes of Wrath?
As Casy protests that the men are only helping to starve children, one of them crushes his skull with a pick handle. Tom flies into a rage and wields the pick handle on Casy’s murderer, killing him before receiving a blow to his own head.
How did Grapes of Wrath end?
In Grapes of Wrath, the novel ends quite unexpectedly with the Joad family sheltering in a barn against the flooding rains with a boy and his starving father. Rose of Sharon then has the family and the boy leave the barn and proceeds to feed the starving father her breast milk to keep him alive — and the book ends.