Grapes of Wrath. Each and every character has something to add to the book as a whole. Tom Joad is an assertive person who does not like to be pushed around. He served four years in prison for killing a man, who he insists was killed in self-defense. Tom is quite influential as demonstrated in his actions of hitching a ride with the trucker, as well as the fact that Al Joad tries to impersonate him. Al had gained much notoriety for the fact that he was the brother of a man who had killed another man. This influence makes Al walk with a swagger as if to show off. The fact that Tom had murdered someone only proved a hindrance to the family, as they often had to make appropriate accommodations for him throughout the trip. Ma Joad was an emotionally strong woman who kept the family united (her primary concern), through the difficulties they faced. Ma Joad never showed pain, nor fear, and greatly suppressed her emotions for the sake of the family. Ma Joad was a giving person who would do anything for someone in need as demonstrated in her giving up the soup to some of the starving children of the camp they were residing in, even though her family was in great need of the food. Grandpa Joad did not necessarily play an important role to the novel, but played a role in symbolizing an ideal that Steinbeck was trying to portray. Grandpa Joad was a man of his land as proved in his refusal to leave that which was his. Upon the families removal of the land, the house in which they lived, once filled with life, would succumb to the elements of nature and neglect. Just as the house dies when the Joad's are removed from the land, Grandpa dies as the house is removed from his life. The house and the land was all that he had to live for, it was all that he understood, and when it was taken from his life, he had nothing left to live for. Jim Casey is an interesting character from the novel that is struggling with himself with an internal conflict. Jim, a...
