Plot of "The Grapes of Wrath"

The Grapes of Wrath is a pretty long book, so many things happen through the course of it. The main thing John Steinbeck is trying to convey is how difficult it was for the poor people during the Great Depression. He describes how the Joads, a poor farming family, are kicked off their land in Oklahoma because they did not have a big enough crop to pay the bank, whom they had mortgaged their house to. They had received handbills saying that there was work out west, so they decided to head to California to find work. There were thirteen people going west: Ma, Pa, Granma, Grampa, Uncle John, Casy, a preacher, Noah, Tom, Rose of Sharon, who was pregnant, Connie, her husband, Al, Ruthie, and Winfield. They sell most of their possessions so they can buy a car and still have more money for gas and supplies on the way. They get the supplies they need, hurriedly pack up, and head out. They run into car troubles along the way, and Grampa dies, because he is heartbroken about leaving the farm. They camp on the side of the road wherever they find someone else. The night before they reach California, Ganma dies. She had been sick and delirious since Grampa died, and she had no chance of getting better. Noah, who Pa had dropped on his head as a child, left them right before they reached California, because he believed he could make the most of his life by staying in the wilderness. When they get there, there is no work, so they get to a Hooversville and stay there until the Hooversville gets burnt down. While there, there was an incident with a sheriff that Casy took the blame for, so he went to jail. Connie left at that point, because the pressure was too much for him. After that Hooversville was burnt down, the Joads moved to a government camp. They had work for a few days, but quickly ran out of food and money, so they had to leave to find work. They found work picking cotton, but soon all that cotton was gone. They stayed living in the boxcar that they had been in, but found more work. Tom left then, because he had found Casy. Someone killed Casy, so he killed that man, and had to disappear. Rose of Sharon worked, which made her sick, so she had her baby early and it was stillborn. Al got engaged to Aggie, the girl whose family shared the other end of their boxcar. It started pouring, and did not stop until it overflowed the bottom of the boxcar. Everyone went to find shelter except for Al. They found a barn, and when they got there, they found a boy and his starving father. He could not have any solid food, so Rose of Sharon and Ma kicked everyone out, and Rose of Sharon breast-fed him. That is how the book ends.