Character Sketches

One: Tom Joad

Two:

-Tom Joad

Three:

-His upper lip was long, and since his teeth protruded, the lip stretched to cover them, for this man kept his lips closed.

-“Sure – I seen it. But sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.”

-“Now look-a-here, fella. You got that eye wide open. An’ ya dirty, ya stink. Ya jus’ askin’ for it. Ya like it. Lets ya feel sorry for yaself. ‘Course ya can’t get no woman with that empty eye flappin’ aroun’. Put somepin over it an’ wash ya face.”

-“It don’t take no nerve to do somepin’ when there ain’t nothin’ else you can do.”

Four:

-The first quote gives us an idea of what Tom looks like. The second quote shows that he is willing to manipulate people in order to get what he wants/. This could be used as an asset in the future, but it could be a problem if he uses it incorrectly. The third quote shows a bit of his personal beliefs. By reading this quote, we learn that Tom is upfront and unafraid to speak his mind. We also learn that he probably tries to keep himself fairly clean if possible. The last quote probably says the most about who Tom is as a person. It shows that he doesn’t think twice when he’s about to do something, (which might have led to his time in prison). He’s very go-for-it and believes in action rather than words.

Five:

-“Why, Tom – us people will go on livin’ when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we’re the people that live. They ain’t gonna wipe us out. Why, we’re the people – we go on.

-“I'm a-gonna tell you somepin about bein' in the pen. You can't go thinkin' when you're gonna be out. You'd go nuts. You got to think about that day, an' then the nex' day, about the ball game Sat'dy. That's what you got to do. Ol'timers does that. A new young fella gets buttin' his head on the cell door. He's thinkin' how long it's gonna be. Whyn't you do that? Jus' take ever'day.”

“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.”

-“Thank god,” she said. “Oh, thank god!” And suddenly her face was worried. “Tommy, you ain’t wanted? You didn’ bust loose?”

Six:

-These quotes say a lot about what other people think of Tom. It seems that his time spent in jail really affected his family and friends. They all are worried that he is going to do something stupid or irresponsible that will get him thrown back in prison and they will never see him again. Also, since Tom would constantly talk about how he didn’t feel guilty for killing someone, I think that his family is now worried that he might kill someone again.

Seven:

-Protruding teeth

-Long, thin lips

-Broken nose/face

-New gray suit and boots

Eight:

The protruding teeth and long thin lips were mentioned mainly to show what Tom looks like, but I think it says a bit more about his character than one may think. Often, long thin lips are associated with snakes. When I first read the description of Tom Joad, I didn’t trust him because he had a sly, menacing look to him like that of a snake’s/ The broken nose/face is definitely important. Since Tom got his nose broken during a fight while on parole, he decided that he had to go into hiding until his face healed. As for the new suit and booths, that was important because a lot of the second chapter revolved around Tom’s new outfit. The outfit came from the prison that he had just gotten let out of.

Nine:

I think that the most significant moment in Tom Joad’s life was when he got into the fight that sent him into hiding. Even though his first fight sent him to prison, the second one had even more bad outcomes than the first one did. The first fight, (where he killed a man) sent him to prison and put him on parole which he barely cares about anyway. The second fight however, he broke parole, temporarily destroyed his face, got separated from his family, had to go into hiding, watched his best friend die, and multiple other problems. This moment was definitely the most important in his life, and not in a good way.

Ten:

I think that Tom is a little bit menacing and keeps falling into bad luck. He doesn’t really seem to care about what happens to him all that much, but it’s obvious that he cares about his family and wants to help them as much as he can. His religious views are similar to Jim Casy’s, (thanks to his influence0. I think that Tom is the type of person that will use people in order to get what he wants. He isn’t a bad person, but he does make bad decisions and doesn’t carry much guilt.

One: Ma Joad

Two:

-Ma Joad

Three:

-“Thank god,” she said. “Oh, thank god!” And suddenly her face was worried. “Tommy, you ain’t wanted? You didn’ bust loose?”

-“On’y way you gonna get me to go is whup me.” She moved the jack handle gently again. “An’ I’ll shame you, Pa. I won’t take no whuppin’, cryin’ an’ a-beggin’. I’ll light into you. An’ you ain’t so sure you can whup me anyways. An’ if ya do get me, I swear to God I’ll wait till you got your back turned, or you’re settin’ down, an’ I’ll knock you belly-up with a bucket. I swear to Holy Jesus I will.”

-“Use’ ta be the fambly was fust. It ain’t so now. It’s anybody. Worse off we get, the more we got to do.”

-“If—if Tom comes—tell him we’ll be back. Tell him to be careful.”

Four:

-These quotes show that Ma Joad is a very head-strong, family oriented woman. The first quote shows how relieved she was when her son got out of prison. When she asked if he had broken out, I think she was probably thinking, “he missed me so much he broke out of prison!”. The second quote truly shows her devotion to her family. She believes so much in family values and keeping the family together that she would risk her family getting angry with her in order to keep them all together. The third quote shows how her values had been torn down a bit towards the end, since the chaos of the American economy had destroyed most people’s sense of self. The last quote shows how much she loves her son. For some reason, from the way she talks about Tom, I feel that Tom is probably Ma’s “favorite” child.

Five:

-“She sassy.”

-"Well, this fella don' want no hangin', 'cause he'd do it again. An' same time, he don't aim to bring trouble down on his folks. Ma - I got to go."

-“An’ she ain’t young, neither.”

-The whole group watched the revolt. They watched Pa, waiting for him to break into fury. They watched his lax hands to see the fists form. And Pa’s anger did not rise, and his hands hung limply at his sides. And in a moments the group knew that Ma had won. And Ma knew it too.

Six:

These quotes both back up how family oriented Ma is, but they also show what other people think of her, (she is the one that makes the decisions in the family). Rather than yelling at her or doing anything to try and make her cooperate, when Ma is swinging a car jack around Pa just said, “She’s bein’ sassy,” since he knew that he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it. And Tom had to convince her to let him go into hiding.

Seven:

-Heavy, but not fat; she is thick.

-Steel-gray hair.

-Chubby, girl like hands.

-Full, concentrated face.

Eight:

-These characteristics say to me that Ma is a strong older woman who has seen a lot in her life. Her graying hair shows her age, but her thick form shows that she can handle a lot. She seems like the type that probably got strong from carrying multiple children around at once. Her concentrated face seems like she is almost a matriarch type figure. Her chubby girlish hands seem to show that while she is older and has lived through a lot, she still has the spirit and energy of a young child.

Nine:

-I think that her most significant moment had to be when she started swinging the jack handle in the air, yelling about keeping the family together. I feel that this was the moment that we saw the true Ma. When she yelled at her own husband for the sake of keeping the family together, that was where we first really saw what Ma’s values were. She believed in nothing but family and keeping the family together. I felt like I got to know Ma during this scene, which is why I thought that this scene was so critical to her character

Ten:

-I think that Ma is the true head of the Joad household. Even though Pa is supposed to be the “man” of the family, I think that all of his decisions go through Ma first. I think that Ma is going to be a critical part in keeping the family together and somewhat sane. I think that Ma is a strong, independent woman who has strong beliefs in family values and the saying, “Family comes first”.

One: Al Joad

Two:

-Al Joad

Three:

-“Me work for Connie? How about Connie comes a-workin’ for me? He thinks he’s the on’y son-of-a-bitch can study at night?”

-“Say, Tom. You heard Connie talkin’ how he’s gonna study nights? I been thinkin’ maybe I’d study nights too. You know, radio or television or Diesel engines. Fella might get started that-a-way.”

-“Well, we could get a couple of beers, can’t we? Im jus’s a-ravin’ for a beer.”

-And randy Al, seeing he was being noticed, threw back his shoulders, and he came into the yard with a swaying strut like that of a rooster about to crow.

Four:

-The quotes really show what Al’s personality is. He’s a bit full of himself and thinks that he is more grown up than he really is. These quotes show how young he really is, since he is acting like the coolest person around, when really he is just a poor farm kid from Oklahoma.

Five:

-“He worked for a company. Drove truck last year. He knows quite a little."

-“You can’t, Al. The truck—We ain’t fit to drive that truck.”

-“Smart aleck like he is. He knows. He can tinker an engine, Al can.”

-“What’s he know? He’s just a squirt.”

Six:

-These quotes show two things. One thing that it shows is that Al’s family thinks that he is still very young and a bit too full of himself. The other thing that it shows is that they could make it without him. They realized that if he weren’t there to drive the truck, they would all be in big trouble. He is truly an asset to the family.

Seven:

-Young, sixteen

-Good at driving the truck

-Good at fixing the truck

-Cocky, (struts)

Eight:

-Al’s ability to drive and fix the truck became vital for the Joad’s survival. They had to travel from place to place so often, not to mention going from Oklahoma to California, that their old truck would brake down fairly often. If Al didn’t know how to work with it then the family would have been stranded on some roadside in Arizona. Al being young and a bit cocky might go hand in hand as well. Every time he fixes the truck I think his cockiness goes up a little bit more.

Nine:

-I think that the most significant moment in Al’s life was when he jumped into the truck in the last chapter and realized that he couldn’t get it to turn on. I think that this was the moment that he realized that he was being too much of a kid with his cockiness and needed to be a man. This led to him figuring out how to make a platform to save everybody’s things and to finally part ways with his family to stay with the woman he loved.

Ten:

-I think that Al is the type to start off as the sort of insignificant younger brother that aspires to be like his big brother Tom. As time goes on though, I think that Al starts to become his own person, and actually becomes one of the key supporting characters in the story. I think that Al is a good person, a little bit thick at times, but he is starting to grow out of that as he grows.