in' but set aroun'.' Al said, 'Ain't no reason for -' Casy said softly, 'If you mess in this your whole fambly, all your folks, gonna get in trouble. I don' care about you. But your ma and your pa, they'll get in trouble. Maybe they'll send Tom back to McAlester.'" (Page 342) Casy further strengthens his morals by becoming a rebel against the authorities. He leads a strike against a pay decrease out of a peach farm, and when men come to do him in, he doesn't step away, but simply pleads his case. "'Listen,' he said. 'You fellas don' know what you're doin'. You're helpin' to starve kids.' 'Shut up, you red son-of-a-bitch.' A short heavy man stepped into the light. He carried a new white pick handle. Casy went on, 'You don' know what you're a-doin'.'"(page 495) Even as he sees the man means to do him harm, he stands his ground. He goes from a man who felt he had no role to play in life to a martyr for the poor and hungry. His journey is one of courage and light. Tom is a rough edged man at the beginning of the novel. He has killed a man, and yet, seems to feel no remorse. His reasoning behind the slaying is also less than dignified. "'I been in McAlester them four years.' 'Ain't wanting to talk about it, huh?' (Casy asked) 'I won't ask you no questions, if you done something bad -' 'I'd do what I done - again,' said Joad. 'I killed a guy in a fight. We was drunk at a dance. He got a knife in me, an' I killed him with a shovel that was layin' there. Knocked his head plumb to squash.' Casy's eyebrows resumed their normal level. 'You ain't ashamed of nothin' then?' 'No,' said Joad. 'I ain't. I got seven years, account of he had a knife in me. Hot out in four - parole.'" (Page 33) He seems to perceive his misconduct as a ritual of life everyone must undergo, and this lack of conscience shows one with little character or worthiness. However, when he finds his family at his Uncle John's place, he dedicates his life to helping out the family and...
