The Grapes of Wrath: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

The family takes Granma’s body to the coroner’s office. Pa and Uncle John are ashamed to be unable to afford a proper funeral ceremony.

Tom meets another young man, Floyd Knowles. Floyd tells Tom that the large farms operate by widely distributing handbills, which creates a huge supply of workers. Since they are so desperate to work, these laborers accept rates like 15¢ per hour. Tom suggests that men try to strike, and Floyd tells him that anyone who tries to coordinate such action will be labeled a “red” and be placed on a “blacklist,” which guarantees they won’t be hired. Floyd then explains that the police are corrupt and unsympathetic. He encourages Tom to act “bull-simple” around cops; that is, play dumb to avoid confrontation.

Rosasharn and Connie argue about their future. Connie remarks that if he had known things would be as bad as they are, he would have become a tractor man and gotten paid three dollars a day.

Hungry children walk around the camp and watch Ma Joad prepare dinner. One of them tells Ma about a government camp that offers comfortable amenities to migrants; it is hard to find vacancies in these camps. Ma saves a small amount to give to the children, even though the Joads don’t have enough for themselves.

Floyd tells Tom and Al that he’s heard of work up north in Santa Clara Valley. As the men debate the benefits of driving two hundred miles to the worksite, a contractor drives into the town in a new Chevrolet. The contractor offers the men work, but refuses to give a firm price when Floyd pressures him. The contractor, sensing the threat Floyd poses, gets the deputies that arrived with him to arrest Floyd. As a deputy leads Floyd to a car, Floyd attacks him. The deputy tries to pursue Floyd, but is tripped by Tom. The deputy tries to shoot Floyd, but hits a woman instead, crippling her hand. Casy then knocks the deputy unconscious. Casy urges Tom to run away, which Tom does. When reinforcements arrive, Casy takes the blame for the crime, and is taken off by the police.

Seeing Casy give himself up to protect Tom causes Uncle John anguish, and John needs to get drunk to cope with it. Ma and Pa give him permission to go.

Tom returns to his family. He tells Pa that they need to leave, because the camp will likely be burned tonight. Rosasharn cannot find Connie, and Al reveals that he saw him walking south along the river—he has abandoned the family. Pa denounces Connie as arrogant, but Ma urges the family not to speak ill of Connie, since he is still the father of Rosasharn’s child.

Tom goes to look for Uncle John. Tom discovers his uncle singing hymns off the side of a road. John doesn’t want to leave with the family, so Tom knocks him out as gently as possible and brings him back to the camp.

On their way out of the camp, the family warns the “mayor” of the camp to leave. The mayor shamefully says he won’t be able to get his things together in time. After the family leaves him behind, Tom says that the mayor has become subservient after being oppressed by the police; he is “cop-happy” and “bull simple.”

As the Joads drive to a nearby town, they reach a blockade of men carrying pick handles and shotguns and wearing old military helmets. One of the men comes up to the window of the family’s car and tells them to turn around, saying that they don’t want to see Okies in their town. Tom smells alcohol on his breath. Tom turns the car around and tries to stop himself from crying. Tom drives around the town and continues south, deciding to look for the government camp.