Blog 28

Tom starts the novel as rubbing me the wrong way. He seems kind of cocky and very interested in himself. He has just got out of four years in a prison for commiting manslaughter. So right off the bat as a reader you are kind of like mad at him because he is a murderer but Tom Joad certainly grows on you throught the famous Grapes of Wrath. He claims that prison has changed him(Steinbeck 12). He says that he is now living for the moment and spending all his energy for what is going on now in the present moment. He feels why spend energy and time on the future when you do not ever even know if it is going to get here or if it is worth it. The future is too out of reach for Tom Joad. He just is not concerned about what is going to happen. I feel he developed this thought about how to live life in prison because going in there knowing you will be in the same building for four years, then you kind of have to change how you look at life in order to get out of there. Otherwise you will drive yourself mad overthinking things that are way out of your control and you can not help what is going to happen. He is a day to day surviver which actually ends up helping him I believe in the journey to California. He lives in the moment instead of for anyone else or in the future, and i kind of like that.

When they begin their journey to the west, Tom sort of becomes a disciple to Jim Casey. Jim Casey has sort of the same way of living. They both believe when acting alone, you can not have effect on the world, but if you work together you can achieve a lot more. By doing so Tom Joad becomes a family man and he is involved with his family in their trek across the country. The Joad family gets a lot more accomplished by working together than i think they would of if they had gone alone on the journey. Pa Joad and Uncle John are the only other male figures that help lead when they go on the trip, but i think that Tom is a lot more effective.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.