Characters in "The Grapes of Wrath": Tom

There were a number of characters in The Grapes of Wrath, so it is very hard to discuss them all in just a general overview. This blog will be about Tom. Tom's story begins the story of the Joads. He was on his way home from jail when the book starts. He was in jail because he had killed a man, but he only did it in self-defense. Tom was a very strong character in The Grapes of Wrath, but sometimes he was a little bit reckless and fearful. He was more knowledgeable since he had been in jail and had learned things there, but he was still mildly naive about some of the ways of the world. He had learned to be strong from his jail time, but he also learned to be strong throughout the story. He learned throughout the story because he was one of the two people in the family that knew how to drive and he was also one of the main providers for the family, so he learned to be strong through the responsibilities that he had to take on. He was somewhat reckless in that before he went to jail, because all he was worried about were the girls in his life and who he wanted to mess with at the moment. He did not worry very much, he just liked to have fun, like many teenage boys. The only difference was that one of the nights that he was having fun turned into a nightmare that got him sent to prison. He was fearful because he got out of prison on bail, and if he left Oklahoma, he would be breaking it. He family needed him, though, so he went with them to California. As long as he did nothing wrong and was not caught for three years, it would not matter, but until then, he needed to lie low. He was fearful that he would be caught and sent back to Oklahoma, away from his family, to finish his jail sentence. While Tom was pretty simple-minded, he was still a very central part of the Joad family.