The Role Of Tom Joad In The Grapes Of Wrath

In the 1930s, drought and horrific dust storms turned the

once-fertile agricultural lands of mid-America into virtual

dust bowls and wastelands. Thousands of destitute farmers

packed their families and belongings into and onto their cars

and left their homes in search of agricultural work in central

California. Their plight and the politics of that day are told in

the novel "The Grapes of Wrath." Published in 1939 by

California writer John Steinbeck, the book won the 1940

Pulitzer Prize. In his book, Steinbeck champions the

downtrodden migrants, as he follows the Joad family from

Oklahoma to California. Tom Joad, eldest son, is the book's

protagonist and his efforts to save his family are the core of

the book's story. As Steinbeck