Setting: The book starts out in Oklahoma, during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. The ground is very dry and there is no work for the farmers. It seems nearly like a desert the way the author portrays it. The Joads find themselves in a Hooverville, or a run down shantytown, a government camp, which is nicer, and eventually a boxcar. They spend most of their time traveling across deserts and plains in their vehicle of choice, a Jalopy.
Description of Main Characters: Tom Joad, the first person we meet in the book, was put in the McAlester State Penitentiary for four years for the crime of manslaughter. At the beginning of the book he was the type that tried to stay out of other people's business, but that did not stay that way for long. As the family got less and less opportunities for good jobs, he got more agitated, and it finally came to a head. At the cotton farm, Tom realized he could not stay out of other peoples" business, and he started to help form workers" unions and better the lives of others.
Ma Joad, Tom's mother, was the one who kept the family together. Tom tired to leave at times early on in the story, but she kept him around. Even after Grandma and Grandpa Joad's death, she kept the family together. As Pa starts to dwell in a depression, she rises as the head of the family, and at the very end she makes some very important decisions for others.
Pa Joad, Tom's father, was the one who planned the trip to California. He was a thoughtful man who did not let any small detail go unnoticed. Unfortunately, not everything went to plan, and it had a major affect on Pa's attitude. As things get decidedly worse, Pa looks to Ma for strength and lets her become the head of the family, which later on he thinks of himself as weak.
Jim Casy, who formally was a preacher, gave up on it because he did some sexually immoral things. Jim thinks a lot of Tom because he took a fall for Tom.