"The Joads step right out of the pages of the novel that has shocked millions!"
The Grapes of Wrath - Characters & Cast
Character Analysis
Tom Joad
Henry Fonda
Motivation
Initially motivated by a desire for quiet survival and family reunion; later driven by a quest for justice and collective action.
Character Arc
Tom begins as a self-interested parolee concerned only with returning home. Through the deaths of Casy and his own experiences with injustice, he evolves into a transcendent social revolutionary who embraces a communal soul.
Ma Joad
Jane Darwell
Motivation
To keep the family together at all costs and to ensure their physical and spiritual survival through a period of absolute scarcity.
Character Arc
Ma moves from being the domestic heart of the home to being the dominant leader of the family. She becomes the voice of the film's concluding optimism, representing the eternal nature of 'the people.'
Jim Casy
John Carradine
Motivation
To find the 'truth' about why people suffer and to discover a way to serve the 'one big soul' of humanity without a pulpit.
Character Arc
A former preacher who lost his faith in traditional religion, Casy finds a new 'holiness' in the labor movement. He sacrifices his life to protect Tom and the strikers, becoming a martyr for the cause.