Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Author: John Steinbeck 

Published: 1939
Novel.

The story begins with Tom Joad being paroled from McAlester prison for homicide. On his return to his home, near Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Tom meets former preacher Jim Casy, whom he remembers from his childhood, and the two travel together. When they arrive at Tom's childhood farm home, they find it deserted. Disconcerted and confused, Tom and Casy meet their old neighbor, Muley Graves, who tells him the family has gone to stay at Uncle John Joad's home nearby. Graves tells them that the banks have evicted all the farmers, but he refuses to leave.

The next morning, Tom and Casy go to Uncle John's.

Tom finds his family loading their remaining possessions into a Hudson Motor Car Company saloon converted to a truck; with their crops destroyed by the Dust Bowl, the family has defaulted on their bank loans, and their farm has been repossessed. 

The Joads have no option but to seek work in California, putting everything they have into making the journey. Although leaving would violate his parole, Tom decides it is worth the risk, and invites Casy to join him and his family.  

Reaching California, they find the state oversupplied with labor, so wages are low, and workers are taken advantage of. 

In response to the exploitation, Casy becomes a labor organizer and tries to recruit for a labor union. The remaining Joads work as strikebreakers in a peach orchard, where Casy is involved in a strike that eventually turns violent; when Tom witnesses Casy's fatal beating, he kills the attacker and flees as a fugitive. 

Characters:
Tom Joad
Ma Joad
Pa Joad
Uncle John Joad
Jim Casy
Al Joad
Rose of Sharon Joad Rivers
Connie Rivers
Noah Joad
Grampa Joad
Granma Joad
Ruthie Joad
Muley Graves