Name______Period______
Grapes of Wrath Alternate Assignment
The film opens with Tom Joad released from prison and hitchhiking his way back to his parents' family farm in Oklahoma. Tom finds an ex-preacher named Jim Casy sitting under a tree by the side of the road. Casy goes with Tom to the Joad property only to find it deserted. There, they meet Muley Graves who is hiding out. In a flashback, he describes how farmers all over the area were forced from their farms by the deed holders of the land. Due to the dust storms, they can’t grow much land and can’t make enough to pay off their mortgage. A local boy hired to knock down Muley's house with a Caterpillartractor and now Muley see’s himself as a ghost with nothing left. Following this, Tom and Casy move on to find the Joad family at Tom's Uncle John's place. His family is happy to see Tom and explain they have made plans to head for California since they received handbill claiming to be hiring 800 fruit pickers, as their Uncle’s farm has been foreclosed on by the bank. The large Joad family of twelve leaves at daybreak, along with Casy who decides to accompany them. They pack everything into a dilapidated 1926 Hudsonsedan adapted to serve as a truck in order to make the long journey to the promised land of California.
They park in a camp and meet a man, a migrant returning from California, who laughs at Pa's optimism about the jobs in California. He speaks bitterly about he believed there were jobs but employers have printed thousands of handbills promoting these jobs, but there are very few jobs available.
At the next camp, a businessman is trying to take advantage of many of the workers by not offering written contracts or guaranteed pay When a migrant worker questions the business practices of the businessman, he is promptly arrested on a false charge. After some trouble the Joads leave the camp in a hurry, hearing the local townspeople may burn down the camp. The Joads make their way to another migrant camp, the Keene Ranch. After doing some work in the fields, they discover the high food prices in the company store for meat and other products. The store is the only one in the area, by a long shot. They also find out that locals are accusing them of being communists and are planning on starting a fight at their Saturday night dance, so the police can raid the camp. The migrants in the camp thwart the staged fight and the corrupt police cannot arrest anyone.
Questions (answer on back or separate paper)
1. Why were so many people having to leave their farms?
2. Why is Muley’s family losing their home?
3. What happens to Muley’s family farm? What has become of Muley?
4. Where were job opportunities located at and what type of jobs were they?
5. What is happening to the Uncle's home?
6. What disturbing information about California jobs does the Joad family find out about?
7. How is the businessman trying to take advantage of "Okie" workers in California? What happens when you question those methods?
8. Why does the Joad family have to leave the camp?
9. Explain if the Joads are making enough to support the family? How do the police treat the people in the camps?
10. What are the Okies accused of being? What warning do they receive? What happens at the dance?