Chapters 19-21

At the beginning of chapter 19, it says that California belonged to Mexico and that a horde of tattered Americans poured in. Is this our greed for land that we have to take the Mexicans? They were weak, and the Americans succeeded. Now, the oakies are coming to California in search of money and ownership of land. The natives know that they are a threat to their land and to their crops. The oakies even try to hide secret gardens in the Jimson weeds. The cops end up finding them and kick up all of the plants.
The family is still cramped in their truck going further into California. The family stumbles across a place where all of the oakies "camp out". I think it is a good place for the oakies to be because the cops don't do checks there. To goes and meets up with a group of men sitting in a circle and says that there are people coming through with handbills to work the crops. They say that every family has seen them though. Tom and Al meet a man named Floyd Knowles. He is fixing his car for the rest of their journey. He tells them that if they meet up with a police officer, to act dumb so they wont think you are a threat. Connie is starting to have doubts about going west and wishes he would have stayed home and learned how to run a tractor. He thought a person could live off 3 dollars a day pretty easily. During their stay at Hooverville, Ma Joad makes a stew for the family. It attracts kids from different tents and they gather around it. She tries to get them to leave and they finally do. A mother of the kid that was sitting next to Ma Joads stew came over and told her not to boast about having food that is better than the others that only have fried bread, which in reality, it was that kid who was bragging because they had better food than the Joads. I thought that was kind of ironic. Later on, a contractor comes to Hooverville to recruit new workers for picking fruit. Floyd had to put his two sense in and demanded that he showed them his lisence and give a set wage before any accepted the job. They get in a fight and Floyd, the one who started it all runs off. The cop shoots at him and shoots a woman's hand instead. Tom kicks him in the neck and knocks him unconsious. Casy takes the blame because Tom is not supposed to be there. I guess this show what a family will do for each other in a tough situation. Now with casy gone, John can't bear his sin any more and gets two silver dollars to go and get drunk. The family is packing up once again because they are going to burn Hooverville.

Chapters 16-18

The Joads are keeping up the pace on their journey to the west coast. They consider they highway as their medium of expression, since they have become so accustom to traveling by now. Connie wants to study at night and live in a town where he can do so. Ma doesn't really like that idea. Then, the car starts to rattle. They find that a con-rod is snapped and needs to be fixed before they can continue. The rest of the family waits as Al and Tom go and get the part. They meet a character, who is missing an eye, has what you could say is a "self pity problem," and he hates his boss so much, he wouldn't care if Tom would burn the place! Tom and him get into an argument on how he likes to feel sorry for himself and that he needs to pull himself together. They get the part and get it fixed and are able to move on and stop at a camp. They already made them pay 50 cents for everyone else but them, and they want another 50 for the extra car! I guess that shows just how desperate they are to get a couple of extra dollars. The man who owns it explains to Pa that there is nothing for them in California. He tells them how they need 800 workers, but they print 5000 handbills and 20000 people see them! It seems unfair for him to tell them that there is nothing in California for them, but it is only fair to give them fair warning. Pa is getting nervous about the trip. Casy tells him to push forward because anything is possible and they could have a different experience then he did.
Chapter 17 just shows how tightly knit that the families traveling need to be in order to survive the trip. I think this is significant in the way that they can all help each other in California if they need it and they wont hesitate to do it.
After traveling a great distance, they come to Arizona. the state officials ask is they have any foreign plants on board and decline. The desert is obviously going to be a great obstacle to the Joads. The desert is the only thing in the way of them to get to the beautiful orchards where they are heading to. They stop to camp and all the men went to the river and bathe. Noah decides to stay behind and live off the fish. A cop comes by and tells them they can't stay there and if they are there in the morning, they will be run out, which is very unfair. I understand that they don't want the "oakies" staying there, but wouldn't they want them there rather than staying in their cities or the nicer part of California? They are stopped for inspection again and are nearly forced to be searched, but they convince them that grandma is very sick and needs a doctor right away. They let them pass without the inspection. The family makes it across the desert, but not without another fatality. Grandma Joad has died in the long trip, and ma notifies them that she was not alive before the inspection. She lied there all night with the dead corpse.

Chapters 11-15

The farmers have now left their homes and are going to leave for California. Their houses shortly after they leave are either damaged or are invaded by animals. They travel along highway 66 which is packed with other farmers making their way to California to find work. They listen closely to the car the entire way to hear even the slightest difference in the motor. If it breaks down where they are, all it is is lost time. When they try to buy some parts for the car, the person selling tries to cheat them again. People at the stations suggest that there is not enough room in California for all the poor people and the rich people.
Al is the guy who is guiding the Joads to California. He asked Ma if she thinks that Cali. will live up to her expectations. She says, "I cannot account for what might be, i can only account for what is. They stop at a gas station and the attendant basically tells them they have no money, which is not true. Al and the attendant argue and the kids and the rest of the family drinks from a hose that only has warm water. The dog is running around and gets on the road. He gets run over on accident and the attendant agrees to bury the dog for them. After a long day of travel, they stop alongside the road next to another family that is camping because their car does not run anymore. Grampa Joad is sick and has a stroke and dies. They bury him near where they are camping and invite the Wilson's, they family they are camping next to, to join them on their way to California.
In chapter 15, we are in a coffee shop type thing. We meet a waitress named Mae and a cook named Al. They often discuss the migration and heard rumors that the farmers were thieves. A man then walks in and wants to buy a loaf of bread for 10 cents. He gets it after a long discussion and also gets two 5 cent pieces of candy for a cent.

Chapters 7-10

In chapter 7, we are at a car dealership where extremely high prices are demanded by the dealer. They are taking advantage of the customers and are forcing them to pay the high prices or to go without a car which they couldn't do, because if they didn't, they would have no way to get to California. The dealership was so desperate, they changed the new batteries for old and cracked ones.
In Chapter 8, we meet the rest of the Joad family. When Tom approaches the house, he notices his father working in the back of some old truck that they will be packing all of their things for the trip to California. His dad and mom do not recognize him at first and thought that he broke out, but he explains that he was out on parole. Toms mom thinks that jail drove him insane like Purty Boy Floyd, but is not insane. Grandma asked Casy to say a prayer and does, even though he is not religious anymore. Tom then hears that his two youngest siblings are in town and Rose, is expecting a child.
Later on, farmers are forced to sell everything that they can to get as much money that they can for the trip out west to California. Most people will only pay very low prices, but they have no choice but to take all the money they can. It really shows how desperate the people of the 30's really were. They had barely anything, and what they did have, they had to pawn off to other people just to get some extra money.