Character Sketches

Ma Joad

"Tommy, don't you go fightin' 'em alone. They'll hunt you down like a coyote. Tommy, I got to thinkin' and dreamin' and wonderin'. They say there's a hun'erd thousand of us shoved out. If we was all mad the same way, Tommy-they wouldn't hunt nobody down."

“Tommy, I got to ask you— you ain’t mad?”

Both of these quotes shows Ma’s compassion for the family. She thinks things through, and her worry is what lets her compassion and thought process show. She doesn’t want any trouble, because it only makes things harder.

"Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta - well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream - little eddies and waterfalls - but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way."

Ma is a bit of a feminist. Sure, she cooks, and cleans, but she does it in a way that’s tough, and more because she wants everyone to keep up their strength. She’s proud to be a woman, and finds it the best way to live, which wasn’t very common back then.

“It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?”

This is another quote that shows Ma’s compassion, but this time, it’s her compassion for others, including strangers. When it comes to helping someone, she believes it’s a choice, rather than something a person has to do. And when it comes to Ma, she often chooses to help others. It show’s just how tough a house wife can be. And Ma is exactly that.

-She’s thick from child baring, but not fat.

A piece of evidence that shows she’s a mother, I suppose.

-She has strong arms.

Shows that she’s a hard worker, even if it mostly cooking and cleaning.

-She has sad eyes.

She’s been through a lot, but pushes through for others’ sakes.

-She seems to look off into the distance a lot.

Shows that she thinks to herself a lot.

A significant moment in Ma’s life: when her home was taken away.

This event got her thinking more about the world around her, and ended up making her have to become stronger, and work even harder to keep the family alive and together. She was tired, but determined.

-Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding

This is simply more proof that Ma hasd gone through a lot of hardship, but was strong enough to keep moving forward. Maybe even too strong to be human.

“She looks tar’d…like she’s sick tar’d.” –Casy

Clearly, it’s obvious that everyone saw that she was tired in an extreme way, but no one really noticed why until a little later. She was strong, but certainly struggling. I’m guessing that being her would be like going to school and doing chores all day with only 3 hours of sleep.

Pa turned his head to Ma. “You’ll lay ‘im out?”

Even for tasks such as burying a man, people turned to Ma. Apparently, Ma could do anything without it affecting her too much. She could skin a pig, cook it, and give it a proper burial if she wanted to.

Tom Joad

-"It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothin' else you can do."

This quote shows Tom’s nonchalant attitude. It’s sort of like he’s saying ‘I do what I have to, and it’s as simple as that’. With this state of mind, he got a lot of things done, but also made a lot of rash decisions. He doesn’t neccisarily always think things all the way through, which got into a bit of trouble throughout the book.

-“Homicide. That’s a big word—means I killed a guy. Seven years. I’m sprung in four for keepin’ my nose clean.”

Tom is a sarcastic and teasing character. His sense of humor is a little cruel, but in the smart way that sarcasm brings to a conversation, even if it is a bit hurtful. The other thing about this quote is that he is saying this little insult to the man who went out of his way to give him a ride. Plus, giving people a ride was against the rules, so the driver had stuck his neck out for Tom, and in repayment, Tom basically called him stupid. It’s not as if Tom as a deep compassion for others—at least not strangers. This also shows that Tom is not ashamed of what he did. In fact, it’s like he’s proud of it since he got out so early, and it gives him the ability to intimidate others. In a way, it also shows his immaturity because it’s like he’s always playing a game, and his past is one of his favorite weapons.

“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

This simply shows Tom’s compassion and gratitude towards Casy. In short, it shows that Tom holds the same or similar beliefs to Casy.

"Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one."

This was a very clever quote to me, thus showing more of Tom’s witty side. He has a good point here, and it’s the kind of thing that one would make up on the spot, because it’s so simple, but so true to the moment.

-Has broad fingers and nails.

I guess this shows that he uses his hands a lot.

-He’s pretty sarcastic, and has a way of making fun of people.

Shows his sense of humor.

-He doesn’t hesitate to say that he killed a man and why.

Shows that he’s not ashamed of it.

-He’s not very patient, especially when it comes to food.

Shows that he likes food, or didn’t always have it readily available, I suppose.

A significant moment in Tom’s life: killing a man (the first time).

By doing this, he was sent to jail, and was therefore hidden from the outside world for four years. He got off on good behavior, and he wasn’t ashamed to tell anyone. This showed Tom just what he can do, and how far his limits expand. His morals and sense of being seemed to come into more acceptance after he did this, and he ended up doing it again.

-And now Al, moving humbly near, saw that his brother was not a swaggerer as he had supposed.

It looks like a lot of people assumed that Tom was pretty tough and cool because he had killed a man and done time. But, to Al’s disappointment, he didn’t have that kind of walk. It was just a regular walk, because he was just a regular guy who happened to kill someone in self defense.

-Al knew he had inspired some admiration because his brother had killed a man.

Tom was admired throughout the town precisely because he killed someone. He was praised rather than looked down upon.

-“I wisht you didn’ do it”

However, even though Tom was admired by younger boys throughout the town, those who knew him personally, did regret that he had done that. They didn’t hate him because of it, and loved him just the same, but Tom’s arrest and current parole made life a lot harder for him and the family.

-His voice was teasing.

Jim Casy

“Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice, and that's all any man's got a right to say.”

“I figgered, ‘Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus?’ I figgered, Maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit—the human sperit—the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s part of’‘’

Both of the previous quotes show Casy’s philosophy on life, and is evidence of just how much he thinks, and what he often thinks about. Most of what he seems to think about is how he plans to live his life, and why he thinks it’s most logical to live that way. As you can see, his thoughts hold a lot of logic, so now, rather than thinking religiously, he thought critically. He broke from thinking by the book (the bible), and gained a mind of his own, so-to-speak.

“I ain’t a preacher no more.”

He says this frequently throughout the book, and it takes most of the characters a while to accept this fact. He’s not a preacher, and he wanted to make sure everyone understood this. However, no matter how many times he said this, people still referred to him as the preacher, even though he had given up on that life path a long time ago, and for many reasons. He made up his beliefs through thought and logic, and he wasn’t going to return to his old way of thinking. He didn’t want to.

“I wouldn't pray just for an old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.”

I think this quote shows a lot about Casy. It shows us his compassion, sense, and honesty. Casy was a very honest man, and he wasn’t afraid to show and tell his beliefs, because they were what made the most sense to him. He still had a sort of faith, but, as I said before, they aren’t by the book. His compassion really shows through here too because he is talking about all of mankind rather than the afterlife, as many religions focus on.

-Wanders off a lot by himself.
Shows that he’s independent.

-Stares off into space a lot.

Evidence that he does a lot of thinking.

-He’s cautious/shy.

Shows the classic worrisome habit that many firm religious people have. I guess he couldn’t shake it. He’s very humble and polite, and doesn’t want to offend anyone.

-Really tries to make people understand that he’s not a preacher anymore.

This is proof of his honesty and his loyalty to his beliefs.

A significant moment in Casy’s life: when he started laying with women.

It was these ongoing events that got him to go through an identity struggle. In doing so, he questioned his beliefs, and ended up finding a very interesting and sensible answer. Through this struggle, he became more accepting towards others, and what seemed to be a happier, and more laid back and independent man.

-“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

-“Talks a little wild sometimes, but he talks sensible.”

-Ma watched the preacher as he ate and her eyes were questioning, probing, and understanding.

All three of these quotes show how he inspired those around. He had an odd way of explaining his beliefs, and thinking, but eventually, everyone he knew came to understand him. They accepted him from the beginning but they were skeptical. Nonetheless, he had been an interesting character to all.

“I seen him walking down the road. He don’t like to pray no more.”

Casy often wandered off to think, which was an alternative to praying, supposed. I’m guessing that Steinbeck made this clear as a way to say that praying doesn’t do much for people’s minds. It’s more of ritual, rather than a thought process that might actually get them somewhere, much like Casy.