Chapters 20-22

After Connie and Rose were done talking, Connie ran off and nobody has seen him since. Where did he go and why did he leave? I think that the purpose of Connie within the novel was to show that sometimes women are stronger than men because Connie ran away from the problem. I don't think that was the true purpose of Connie, but I can't figure out what it is.
Also, I don't understand why exactly Jim Casy "took the wrap" for something that he didn't do. Did he just feel like he had to because they took him along and fed him? Or did he really feel that he was no use and it would be better for the family if he was the one to go? Personally, I think that Casy, being a preacher at one time, knew the right to do and was compelled to do it, even though he may not have wanted to. I think that since Casy was a preacher, it shaped him into the man he is now, and even though he says that he doesn't know who he is praying to, deep down I think he knows exactly who he is praying to. He just may have been mislead at one time because he felt that sin was weighing him down like he was talking about at the beginning of the book.
Now Uncle John is a different story. Ever since Uncle John's wife died, he feels like his sins will never go aways because he think that it was his fault. So even when the children are all crowded around the campfire hoping that they will get some food, he can't eat because he feels bad for them. And then after Casy turned himself in for something that he didn't do, Uncle John felt like he had to tell the family his sin of keeping five dollars to himself so he could get drunk. Pa told him that it wasn't anymore sin than anything that they'd done. So Uncle John gave Pa the five dollars and told Pa to give him back two dollars because he said that it would be enough. So Uncle John went across the street and bought some whiskey and walked down the river while drinking. Tom had to go find him, so they could move to the nicer government place because the camp that they were at was going to get burned.

Chapters 18-20

As the book continues with chapter 18, the two families are just getting through the mountains and travel through the desert without any unusual or noticeable problems. When they get through the desert successfully, they enter a greener area and find a river to camp beside. After unpacking the tents and cooking supplies, the men walk down stream and bath in the river. I found this rather funny, how they were so open with themselves and took off their clothes. We would call this "skinny-dipping," and most people wouldn't do that anymore. The men found this very relaxing. Then a man and his son come along and join them. They speak of how they are going back home because they can't find work, and how it would be better to die at home. The Joads seem to shrug off this comment that the man made, and still go on thinking that they have a better life ahead of them. The men leave the river, and as they are going to take naps, Noah tells Tom that he is going to stay behind. Tom tells him that he can't, and Noah says that he is going to find a line and catch fish on the river because nobody really wants him around anyways. Tom realizes that it is no use arguing with him, so Tom watches Noah walk further downstream until he can't see him anymore. During this part, I didn't understand why Tom didn't go with him. He probably knows that Noah will be better off than they will be because of what everyone has said. What is the point of going on if you aren't going to find anything better?
Back at the tents, Granma's health is getting worse and worse, but Ma is in complete denial and claims that she is just really tired, and if she gets some sleep she will be fine. Not long after, a policeman arrives at the tent and tells Ma that they have to be gone by tomorrow. All the men return, except Noah, and they begin to pack up. Mr. Wilson comes to speak to Casy because his wife wants to talk to him in their tent. Sairy tells Casy, the ex-preacher, to pray for him because she knows that they can't travel on with them, and it won't be long before she dies. The Joads leave the Wilsons behind with some money and head for the valleys. At this point, I really realized that if there were more people like the Joads on this earth at this time, then they would be better off, and I think that they would be happy even if they didn't have everything or even close to everything that they need.
On their night drive, they are stop for an inspection, but Ma tells them that Granma is in desperate need of medical attention. The policeman looks at her and allows them to move on. At the time, Ma knew that Granma was already dead, but she did not want the policeman to find out. So when they arrive at Hooverville she tells the rest of the family, and since they don't have a lot of money left, they drop Granma's body off at the coroner's office.
Also in Hooverville, they find a camp to stay for the night. Many other hungry families are staying here and they speak about how they can't get any work. One man talks to Tom and tells him that when the police are around he should act "bull-simple" so as not to be suspected of anything. Tom does not understand why people just don't rebel, and the man tells him that anyone caught doing this would be drug off by the police. Other men who attempt to are put on a list so that they will never be able to find work.
In one of the tents, Connie and Rosasharn are talking, and Connie tells her that they should have stayed in Oklahoma where he could have studies tractors. She tells him that he is planning on studying radios, and that she won't have the baby in a tent. Connie leaves the tent, and Rose of Sharon puts her thumb in her mouth, using it as a gag, and cries. Outside of the tent, Ma cooks stew while many hungry children crowd around it. Ruth gets jealous of another older girl and keeps eyeing her.

The Devil's Temptations

As quoted by an anonymous source, “We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.” For me, this was particularly true of my presently fifteen year old cousin and best friend. I have learned an immense amount from her, and she has definitely taken a different path that no one thought she would. Because of that, she has been an amazing influence on my life. Indirectly, she has unquestionably been the best teacher of life lessons to me.

She has been through a lot for being only fifteen, from cutting to drugs to alcohol to prostitution, and through all of her inner battles and current struggles she has taught me a lot. Although she is a year younger than me, I have learned, in my opinion, the most important life lessons from her just by watching everything that she has gone through and is currently going through. Ever since I can remember, I have looked up to my cousin, but at the time I didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She was popular and friendly; I couldn’t understand how she could be doing those things to herself.

I just recently found out how bad she had gotten. I did not know anything that had been going on for the past couple months; and who would’ve known that so much can happen in such little time? It was just a year ago that she was cheerful all the time and everyone loved to be around her. Now she is high a majority of the time, and she has become a completely different person; someone that no one wants to be around. It still baffles me; how my best friend could be purposely hurting herself? Wow! I can’t believe it. She went from cutting at the age of ten to piercing herself. Then she began going to parties, drinking, and doing drugs, until she became addicted. A drug addict? My cousin? No way!! But sadly, it was all true. She had every kind of drug imaginable… meth, acid, pot, cocaine, ecstasy, and at one point she even tried to snort her mother’s ADD medication in an effort to get high. She was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors were astonished that she lived. After that she had to find a way to get money to pay for her own drugs, therefore she lowered herself all the way to prostitution.

Cutting, piercing, drugs, prostitution, …this went on for many months, and her mother didn’t do anything to get her help. She was in total denial that her own daughter could be doing such horrid things. Finally, her mother began sending her to a psychologist once a week. After a few sessions, the psychologist came to the conclusion that she would have to be put into an inpatient treatment center to overcome the drugs and addictions.

At the present time, she is in a lock down facility in Minnesota getting detox and rehab, and surprisingly she went without a fight because she realized that she needed help. She knew that defeating something like this by herself would be much too difficult.

Now, after seeing and hearing everything that she has gone through and is still going to face, I now know that drugs don’t just kill a person; they kill an entire family and their relationships. I know this from first-hand experience, and as much as it has hurt and tore us all apart to see everything that she has done and gone through, I understand that it was, in some instances, a good thing because it has definitely strengthened my bond with the rest of my family. This past year has been such an emotional time for the whole family, and now our relationships are so much better. Even though we have learned the hard way, we now know that we can’t hide anything from each other without someone getting hurt. My cousin saved her own life and part of mine because she knew that she couldn’t keep living like that. She realized what it was doing to her family and friends and that we truly care about her, but when she began doing drugs she didn’t believe that. Now she knows of all of the love that her family has for her and will soon be back to herself, the person that I loved before any of this happened because drugs changed her into “something” that none of her true friend wanted to be around. She has taught me the most important life lesson that I believe I will ever learn. She taught me that “love conquers all,” and it is completely true.

Chapters 16-17

This section only consists of two chapters because they were so long, yet nothing extraordinary happened. The Joads and Wilsons are now travelling together. During the drive, Al is driving the Wilsons' car, and Ma and Rose of Sharon are sitting next to him. Rose of Sharon begins to talk about what it will be like in California, and she says how she wants to live in town where Connie, her husband, can study nights, something like radio. They can have their baby in a hospital, have their own house, and everything will be picture perfect.
Then, as they are driving down the highway, the Wilsons' car breaks down for the second time. Tom has the idea that him and Al can stay behind and fix it while the rest of the family keeps heading west to California, and they will meet them there. Ma does not like this idea at all and refuses to do this. So instead, the family, except for Al, Tom, and Casy, travel to a small campsite that is 50 cents a day and has water. Tom and Al go to the nearest town to find a bearing and other needed supplies, while Casy stays back with the car. They reach a sort of shed building, and a man with only one eyes walks out. Tom tells the man about how they need to find parts for their car so they can keep going, and the man tells them that they can take anything that they want because his boss is a "son-of-a-bitch." He uses this phrase repetitively to describe his boss. Tom and Al get the parts that they need and drive back to the car where Casy is waiting patiently.
Back at the camp, Pa talks to a somewhat friendly man and tells him that he is heading to California with his family to look for work. The man laughs at him and tells him that he will never find work in California. Pa worries about what the man says, but Casy calms him and tells him that he shouldn't worry.

Chapters 11-15

Chapter 11 begins by telling us about how the relationship between farmers and their land is becoming less and less because the farmers don't actually live on the land. They no longer have a deep understanding of it. With everyone moving to California, there aren't many people left to take care of the land like it should be. Many of these farmers and there families struggle to make it from gas station to gas station and begin to worry that the land ahead of them is not really what it is said to be. Multiple people tell the travelling families that the country is not large enough to support everyone's need and to go back where they came from, yet the families move onward.
In Chapter 13, the Joads stop at a service station where a fat man harrasses them about not having money to pay for gas, and he says that everyone who stops there begs him to trade a gallon of gas for something that they have such as shoes, mattresses, dolls, etc. While they are getting water and resting at this service station, their dog is hit by a car and the only people that seem to show any emotion for it is Rose of Sharon and the kids. Rose worries that seeing a sight that is so horrifying will harm her baby, but Ma and Connie reassure her. The fat man agrees to bury the dog, and the family begins on there journey again.
As it gets dark, they stop on the side of the road next to the Wilsons. Grampa starts acting strange so the Wilsons let him rest in their tent. Before long, he passes away of a stroke. So they bury him there with a letter that says who he is and how he died, and Jim Casy says a few words in his honor.

Chapters 7-10

These chapters helped to put more of the pieces together. It made it easier to relate one thing to another, and we got to know a lot more of the characters, like all of Tom's family. My favorite character thus far is Grampa because he is stubborn and has an odd way of being funny, even though he doesn't mean to be. Ma said that he was swearing more, and she thought it was because he wanted to show off. I did not particularly like the way that the women seemed to be placed so much lower than men because from the way I saw it women did just as much work, if not more, than men did. Yet they always seemed to be the last to give their opinion about certain matters, or they wouldn't speak at all like during the family meeting the only woman to talk was Ma and that was not until the end of the meeting. Another thing that I noticed was that the automobile salesmen basically cheated other folks out of their money. I know that it is probably the only way that they get money, but I think it is rude that they try to get every penny out of someone even if it is for a piece of junk, and in most cases it was. Altogether, I am beginning to like this book a lot better, but some of the chapters that jump around tend to confuse me at times.