The Grapes of Wrath

The story of the Joad family is told, they, poor Oklahoma sharecroppers, who, like all others in their situation, are pushed off the land by the wealthy landowners, many large corporations, during the Great Depression, and, as a result, they, again like many others in their situation, making the decision for the dozen or so of the family members, with another one on the way, to migrate to what is seen as the land of opportunity, California, where jobs, specifically as fruit pickers, are purported to be plentiful. Not only because of the jalopy of a truck they could afford to buy to make the trek and their remaining limited funds which they calculate should just be enough to get them to California where they will once again start to earn money, their trip is not without incident from unforeseen circumstances. Arriving in California, they discover that the land of opportunity is not all it was advertised to be, with they and all others like them facing different challenges to survive, where, if there are jobs to be had, they are more often than not for wages on which a family cannot survive, and with security on site with guns and clubs to control labor unrest. Often, they will have to make some difficult decisions on whether to accept work in unacceptable conditions in even attempting to survive, or hold out, like some others are doing, but who are considered "agitators" who the owners will do anything to eliminate, for good if need be. While Ma Joad believes that the family unit is the most important thing that has always gotten them through the bad times, oldest son Tom Joad may have the most holistically consequential decisions as the one on parole, he just released from prison after four years of a seven year sentence for killing a man in a bar brawl.