Setting: 1930's, Oklahoma and California.
Characters: In this story, Tom Joad is the protagonist; he is Ma and Pa Joad's favorite son. He is thoughtful, friendly, and makes use of every opportunity. Tom has killed a man and has not seen his family for four years, but does not regret anything. In the story, he receives respect from his family and workers that he puts into unions. Poverty is considered the antagonist. Poverty is what makes many of the people in Tom Joad's hometown to migrate into California to get jobs.
3. Plot: In the beginning of the "The Grapes of Wrath," Tom Joad gets released from prison after four years for killing another man. He gets picked up by a driver who asks Tom about himself. Tom explains that he is going back to his Father's farm. The driver is surprised that his family has not been driven off by a "cat " (a large tractor sent by landowners and bankers to force poor farmers off the land). He goes back to his hometown in Oklahoma to see his family. He meets a former priest, Jim Casy. He explains to Tom how he had a habit of taking girls "out into the grass," after prayer meetings and later he decided to stop preaching." Tom tells Jim how he got into a drunken fight with another man "the man stabbed him so Jim killed him with a shovel. Jim accompanies Tom to his home. When they get there they find that his hometown is deserted. The landowners and the banks weren't able to make a high profit from tenant farming so they evicted all the farmers. An old neighbor, Muley Graves, walks up to Tom and Jim. He tells Tom that his family moved in with his Uncle John. He also tells Tom that his family went to work picking cotton in order to earn enough money to buy a car to go to California. When Tom and Jim ask Muley if they can sleep at his farm for the night, he tells them that he's been evicted too and he is on his way to California. When a police car shows up, all of them hide because they are worried about being arrested.