The Grapes of Wrath Character Analysis

Tom Joad

Tom Joad is the novel’s protagonist. At the beginning of the novel, he has just been paroled after serving a four-year prison sentence for killing a man in self-defense. He is strong, stoic, principled, and… read analysis of Tom Joad

Ma Joad

Ma Joad is the ferociously dedicated matron of the Joad family. Throughout the novel she makes countless sacrifices for the good of her family, and is remarkably committed to keeping the family moving forward. Her… read analysis of Ma Joad

Jim Casy

Jim Casy is an ex-preacher who knew the Joads as far back as Tom’s childhood. Casy has since given up his religion, because he is afflicted by guilt for having had relations with some of… read analysis of Jim Casy

Pa Joad

Pa is the easygoing head of the Joad family. He often feels responsible for taking care of the entire family, even when this task far exceeds his abilities, and he works tirelessly for the Joads’… read analysis of Pa Joad

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon, also referred to as Rosasharn, is a sister of Tom’s. She is pregnant, and married to Connie Rivers. Rosasharn often falls victim to superstitious concerns about the health of… read analysis of Rose of Sharon

Uncle John

Uncle John is Pa Joad’s brother. John is wracked with guilt over the long-past death of his young wife, whose complaints of pain he dismissed as harmless whining. He tries to atone for his… read analysis of Uncle John

Muley Graves

A neighbor of the Joads in Oklahoma, Muley Graves compulsively refuses to leave his land despite having been evicted. He hides on his former land, sleeping wherever he can, hunting for food, and remembering his… read analysis of Muley Graves

Minor Characters

Grampa Joad

Grampa is a curmudgeonly and somewhat depraved old man. He is reluctant to leave his home in Oklahoma, and dies shortly after the Joads begin their travels.

Granma Joad

Granma is devoutly religious. During the journey west, her health declines, and she passes away as the Joads cross the desert into California.

Al Joad

Al is Tom’s younger brother. He greatly looks up to Tom. Al is a skilled mechanic and a prodigious flirt, and towards the end of the novel he becomes engaged to Agnes Wainwright.

Ivy and Sairy Wilson

Ivy and Sairy Wilson are a migrant couple whom the Joads encounter on the road to California. They hospitably help the Joads cope with Grampa’s death. The two families travel together until they reach the California border, where Sairy falls too ill to continue.

Connie Rivers

Connie is Rose of Sharon’s immature, selfish husband. He grows frustrated during the Joads arduous journey, and abandons the family and his young wife.

Noah Joad

Noah is the oldest Joad child. He is aloof and cold; Pa suspects that his strange personality came as a result of Pa mishandling him at birth. Noah abandons the family to live on his own when they reach the Colorado River.

Ruthie Joad

Ruthie isTom’s kid sister. Her immature and boastful nature gets her into trouble when, to impress her peers, she reveals that Tom is on the lam.

Winfield Joad

Winfield is the youngest Joad. He is often treated cruelly by his sister Ruthie, and he takes every opportunity to tattle on her. Towards the end of the book, he grows very ill.

Floyd Knowles

Floyd is a young man whom befriends in the first Hooverville. Floyd tries to stand up to a contractor but is arrested on a bogus charge, and hides after an altercation with police.

Mr. Thomas

Mr. Thomas hires Tom and the Wallaces to do pipe-laying work. He informs them of the Farmers’ Association’s plans to start a riot at the dance.

Timothy and Wilkie Wallace

Tom meets this father-and-son pair at the government camp. They help find him a job.

Agnes Wainwright

Agnes’s family shares a boxcar with the Joads when they live on a cotton plantation. She becomes Al’s fiancée.

The Mayor

The Mayor is a haggard man who runs the first Hooverville the Joads stay in. He has been beaten down by the systematic oppression of the cops and other cruel institutional powers, and can no longer bring himself to resist.

Jim Rawley

Jim Rawley is the manager of the government camp. He treats the Joads with kindness and caring.

Lisbeth Sandry

Mrs. Sandry is a Jehovite (Jehova's Witness) zealot from the government camp who terrorizes Rose of Sharon to make her fear sin.

Ezra Huston

Ezra Huston is the chairman of the government camp committee.

Willie Eaton

Willie Eaton is the chairman of the government camp’s entertainment committee.

Mae the Waitress and Al the Cook

Mae and Al give a migrant family a special deal on food in their roadside restaurant.

The One-Eyed Junkyard Attendant

The one-eyed man does nothing but complain bitterly about his lonely, pathetic life. Tom urges him to get in control of his life.