" When'll you be back, Roy?" " In a couple of weeks." "Don't do nothing you wouldn't want me to hear about." " Well, so long." " So long." "How about a lift, mister?" " Can't you see that sticker?" " Sure, I see it." "But a good guy don't pay no attention to what some heel makes him stick on his truck." "Well, scrunch down on the running board till we get around the bend." " Going far?" " No, just a couple of miles." "I'd have walked her if my dogs wasn't pooped out." " Looking for a job?" " No." "My old man's got a place." "Forty acres." "He's a sharecropper, but we've been there a long while." " Been doing a job?" " Yeah." "I seen your hands." "You been swinging a pick or a sledge." "That's what makes them shiny." "I notice little things like that all the time." "Got a trade?" " Why don't you get at it, buddy?" " Get at what?" "You know." "You been going over me since I got in." "Why don't you ask where I've been?" "I don't stick my nose in nobody's business." "I stay in my own yard." "That big nose of yours been going over me like a sheep in a vegetable patch." "Well, I ain't keeping it a secret." "I've been in the penitentiary." "Been there four years." " Anything else?" " You ain't gotta get sore." " Ask me anything." " I didn't mean nothing." "Me neither." "I'm just trying to get along without shoving anybody, that's all." "See that road ahead?" "That's where I get out." "You're about to bust a gut to know what I done, ain't you?" "Well, I ain't a guy to let you down." "Homicide." "He's my savior" "My savior" "My savior now" " Howdy, friend." " Howdy." "Say ain't you young Tom Joad, old Tom's boy?" "Yeah." "I'm on my way home now." "Well, I do declare." "I baptized you, son." "Ain't you the preacher?" "Used to be." "Not no more." "I lost the call." "But, boy, I sure used to have it." "I used to get an irrigation ditch so full of repented sinners I'd pretty near drown half of them." "But not no more." "I lost the spirit." "I got nothing to preach about no more, that's all." "I ain't so sure of things." "I remember you preaching a sermon walking around on your hands, shouting your head off." "Yeah, I remember." "Went pretty good that way." "But that was nothing." "I preached a whole sermon once straddling the ridge pole of a barn." "Like this:" " Did you see that one?" " No." "You didn't?" "Well, it's all gone anyway." "You should have got yourself a wife." "Why, at my meetings, I used to get the girls glory-shouting till they about passed out." "Then I'd go to comfort them." "I'd always end up by loving them." "I'd feel bad and pray and pray, but it didn't do no good." "Next time, do it again." "I figured I just wasn't worth saving." "Yeah, Pa always says you was never cut out for no preacher." "I never let one get by me if I could catch her." "Have a snort?" "But you wasn't a preacher." "A girl was just a girl to you." "To me, they's holy vessels." "I was saving their souls." "I asked myself, what is this here called Holy Spirit?" "Maybe that's love." "Why, I love everybody so much I'm fit to burst sometimes." "So maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue." "It's just what people does." "Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice and that's all any man's got a right to say." "Of course, I'll say a grace if somebody sets out the food but my heart ain't in it." " Nice drinking liquor." " Ought to be." "That's factory liquor." "Cost me a buck." " You been out traveling around?" " Ain't you heard?" "It's been in the papers." " No, I never." "What?" " I've been in the penitentiary for four years." "Excuse me for asking." "I don't mind no more." "I'd do what I done again." "Killed a guy in a dance hall." "We was drunk." "He got a knife in me and I laid him out with a shovel." " Knocked his head plumb to squash." " You ain't ashamed?" "No." "He had a knife in me." "That's why they only gave me seven years." "I got out in four." "Parole." " Ain't seen your folks since?" " No, but I aim to before sundown and I'm getting excited about it too." " Which way are you going?" " It don't matter." "Ever since I lost the spirit, looks like I'd just as soon go one way as the other." "I'll go your way." "Maybe Ma will have pork for supper." "I ain't had pork but four times in four years." "Every Christmas." "I'll be glad to see your pa." "Last time I seen him was at a baptizing." "He had one of the biggest doses of the Holy Spirit I ever seen." "Got to jumping over bushes." "Howling like a dog-wolf at moon-time." "Finally, he picks himself out a bush big as a piano and he lets out a squawk and takes a run at that bush." "Well, he cleared her." "But he bust his leg snap in two doing it." "Ha." "There was a traveling dentist and he set her and I gave her a praying over, but there wasn't no more Holy Spirit left in your pa after that." " Listen." "That wind's fixing to do something." " Sure it is." "Always is this time of year." "Ma?" "Pa?" "Ma?" "Ain't nobody here." " Something's happened." " You got a match?" "They're all gone or dead." " They never wrote you nothing?" " No." "They wasn't people to write." "It's Ma's." "She had them for years." "Used to be mine." "I gave it to Grandpa when I went away." "You reckon they're dead?" "I never heard nothing about it." "Tommy?" "Muley." " Where's my folks, Muley?" " Why, they gone." "I know they're gone, but where are they gone?" "It's Muley Graves." "You remember the preacher, don't you?" " I ain't no preacher anymore." " All right." "You remember the man?" " Glad to see you again." " Now, where are my folks?" "They gone." "They gone to your Uncle John's." "The whole crowd of them." "Two weeks ago." "But they can't stay there, because John's got his notice to get off." "What happened?" "How come they gotta get off?" "We lived here 50 years, same place." "Everybody's gotta get off." "Everybody's leaving." "Going out to California." "Your folks, my folks, everybody's folks." "Everybody except me." "I ain't getting off." " Who done it?" " Listen." "That's some of what done it." "The dusters." "They started it, anyways." "Blowing like this year after year." "Blowing the land away." "Blowing the crops away." "Blowing us away now." "Are you crazy?" "Some say I am." "You wanna hear how it happened?" "That's what I'm asking you, ain't it?" "Well, the way it happens..." "The way it happened to me..." "A man come one day..." "After what them dusters done to the land, the tenant system don't work no more." "They don't even break even, much less show profit." "One man and a tractor can handle 12 or 14 of these places." "You just pay him a wage and take all the crop." "Yeah, but we couldn't do on any less than what our share is now." "The children ain't getting enough to eat as it is." "And they're so ragged we'd be ashamed if everybody else's children wasn't the same way." "I can't help that." "I got my orders." "They told me to tell you to get off." " That's what I'm telling you." " You mean get off my own land?" " Don't go to blaming me." "It ain't my fault." " Whose fault is it?" "You know who owns the land." "Shawnee Land and Cattle Company." " Who's Shawnee Land and Cattle Company?" " It ain't nobody." "It's a company." "They got a president, ain't they?" "They got somebody who knows what a shotgun's for!" "Son, it ain't his fault because the bank tells him what to do." " All right." "Where's the bank?" " Tulsa." "What's the use of picking on him?" "He ain't nothing but the manager." "He's half crazy trying to keep up with his orders." " Then who do we shoot?" " Brother, I don't know." "If I did, I'd tell you." "I just don't know who's to blame." "I'm right here to tell you, mister:" "There ain't nobody gonna push me off my land!" "My grandpa took up this land 70 years ago!" "My pa was born here." "We was all born on it!" "And some of us was killed on it!" "And some of us died on it." "That's what makes it our'n." "Being born on it and working on it and dying." "Dying on it!" "And not no piece of paper with writing on it." "Well, what happened?" "They come." "They come and pushed me off." " They come with the cats." " The what?" "The cats, the caterpillar tractors." "And for every one of them there was 10, 15 families thrown right out of their homes." "A hundred folks." "And no place to live but on the road." "The Rances, the Peterses, the Perrys, the Joadses." "One right after the other, they got thrown out." "Half the folks you and me know thrown right out into the road." "The one that got me come, about a month ago." "Go on back!" "Go on back!" "I'm warning you, go on back!" "You come any closer and I'm gonna blow you right out of that cat!" "I told you!" "Why, you're Joe Davis' boy." "I don't like for nobody to draw a bead on me." "Then what are you doing this for?" "Against your own people." "Three dollars a day, that's what I'm doing it for." "I got two little kids at home." "My wife, my wife's mother." "Them folks gotta eat." "First and only, I think about my folks." "What happens to others is their own lookout." "Yeah, but you don't understand, son." "This is my land!" "Used to be your land." "It's the company's now." "Have it your own way, son." "But just as sure as you touch my house with that cat I'm gonna blow you plumb to kingdom come!" "You ain't gonna blow nobody nowhere." "First place, they'd hang you and you know it." "It wouldn't be two days before they'd send a guy to take my place." "Now go on!" "Get out of the way!" "What was the use?" "He was right." "And there wasn't a thing in the world I could do about it." "It's just, it don't seem possible just getting throwed off like that." "The rest of my family set out for the West." "There wasn't nothing to eat, but I couldn't leave." "Something just wouldn't let me." "So now I just wander around and sleep wherever I am." "I used to tell myself that I was looking out for things so that when the folks come back, everything would be all right." "But I knowed it wasn't true." "There ain't nothing to look out for and there ain't nobody ever coming back." "They're gone!" "And me I'm just an old graveyard ghost." "That's all in the world I am." "Do you think I'm touched?" "No." "You're lonely, but you ain't touched." "Well, it don't matter." "If I'm touched, I'm touched and that's all there is to it." "The thing I don't understand is my folks taking it." "Like Ma." "I seen her nearly beat a peddler to death with a live chicken." "She aimed to go with an ax in the other hand got mixed up, forgot which was which." "When she got through with that peddler, all she had left was two chicken legs." "Just a..." "Just a plain old graveyard ghost." "That's all." "She's settling." "What do you figure on doing?" "It's hard to say." "Stay here till morning, go to Uncle John's, I reckon." "After that, I don't know." "Listen." "That's them." "Them lights." "Come on." "Come on." "We gotta hide out." "Hide out for what?" "We ain't doing nothing." "You're trespassing." "This ain't your land no more." "That's the superintendent with a gun." " Come on!" " Come on, Tom." "You're on parole." "Muley!" "All you gotta do is hide and watch." " Won't they come out here?" " I don't think so." " One came out once and I clipped him..." " Shh!" "From behind with a fence stake." "They ain't bothered since." "He ain't here." "Anybody ever told me I'd be hiding out at my own place..." "Lord, make us grateful for what we are about to receive for his sake." "Amen." "I seen you." "You ate during grace." "Just one little dab." "Just one teeny little old dab, that's all." " Ain't he messy though." " I seen him." "Gobbling away like an old pig." "Why don't you keep your eyes shut during grace, you old...?" "What's it say again, Uncle John?" "It says, "Plenty of work in California." "Eight hundred pickers wanted."" "Wait till I get to California." "I'm gonna reach up and pick me an orange whenever I want it." "Or some grapes." "Now, there's something I ain't never had enough of." "I'm gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush and I'm gonna squash them all over my face and let the juice drain down off of my chin." "Praise the Lord for victory!" "Maybe I'll get me a whole washtub full of grapes and just sit in them and scrounge around in them until they're all gone." "I sure would like that." "Yes, sir, I sure would like that." "Oh, thank God." "Thank God." "Tommy." "Ma." "You didn't bust out, did you?" "You ain't gotta hide?" "No, Ma." "I'm paroled." "I got my papers." "I was so scared we was going away without you and we'd never see each other again." "I'd have found you, Ma." "Muley told me what happened." "We going to California true?" "We've gotta go, Tommy, but it's gonna be all right." "I seen the handbills about how much work there is, and high wages too." "There's something I gotta find out first, Tommy." "Did they hurt you, son?" "Did they hurt you and make you mean mad?" "Mad, Ma?" " Sometimes they do." " No, Ma." "I was at first, but not no more." "Sometimes they do something to you." "They hurt you and you get mad and then you get mean." "And they hurt you again and you get meaner and meaner till you ain't no boy nor man anymore, just a walking chunk of mean mad." " Did they hurt you that way, son?" " No, Ma." "Don't worry about that." "Well, I..." "I don't want no mean son." " It's Tommy." "It's Tommy back!" " Tommy!" "What'd you do, son?" "Bust out?" "Tommy's out of jail!" "I knowed it!" "You couldn't keep him in." "You can't keep a Joad in jail." "I knowed it from the first." "Get out of my way!" "I told you so." "I told you Tom would come busting out of that jail just like a bull through a corral fence." "You can't keep a Joad in jail!" " I didn't bust out." "They paroled me." " I was that way myself." " How are you, Uncle John?" " Hello, Tommy." "I'm feeling fine." " How are you, Noah?" " Fine, Tommy." "Bust out?" "No, parole." " Hello." " Tommy!" "The jailbird's back!" "The jailbird's back!" "The jailbird's back." "The jailbird's back!" " Hi, Al." " Hello, Tom." " Did you bust out of jail?" " No, they paroled me." "Rosasharn." "Busted out." "That's Connie Rivers with her." "They're married now." "She's due now about three, four months." "She wasn't any more than a kid when I went up." " Hi, Rosasharn." " How are you, Tom?" "This is Connie, my husband." " Did you...?" " No, parole." "If this don't beat all." "I see I'm gonna be an uncle soon." "You do not see." "Look at her blush, I tell you." " Look at her blush." " Look at her blushing." "Hey, Joad!" "John Joad." " You ain't forgot, have you?" " We ain't forgot." " We'll be coming through here tomorrow." " I know." "We be out." "We be out by sunup." "How'd you get all this money?" "Sold things, chopped cotton." "Even Grandpa." "Got us about $200 all told." "Shucked out 75 for this here truck." "Still got nearly 150 to set out on." "I figure we ought to be able to make her on that." "Easy." "After all, they ain't but about 12 of us, is they?" "She'll probably ride like a bull calf, but she'll ride." "Well, I reckon we better begin rousting them out if we aim to get out by daylight." "How about it, John?" "How are you boys coming?" "Ma." "I'm ready." "Rosasharn, honey." "Wake up the children." "We're fixing to leave." "Ruthie." "Winfield." "Jump up now." "Where's Grandpa?" "Al, go get him." "I'm gonna get up front." "Somebody help me." "Wait." "Somebody help me." " Kids, you climb up on top first." " We're going to California!" "Al's gonna drive, Ma." "Sit with him and Grandma, and we'll swap around later." "Connie, help Rosasharn up there alongside the kids." " Where's Grandpa?" " Grandpa!" "Where he always is, probably." "Grandpa!" "Grandpa!" "Well, save him a place." "John, you and Noah climb up and find a place." "Gotta kind of keep her even all around." "You think it'll hold?" "If it does, it'll be a miracle out of Scripture." "Ma." "Pa." "Let go of me, goldurn you!" "No, Pa, please." "There's something the matter with Pa." " Why don't you stand still?" "!" " There's something wrong with him." "You let me alone, that's all." "That's all." "What's the matter, Grandpa?" "What's the matter?" "There's nothing the matter." "I just..." " I just ain't going, that's all." " What do you mean?" "We gotta go." "We got no place to stay." "I ain't talking about you, I'm talking about me." "I give her a good going-over all last night and I'm staying." "But you can't do that, Grandpa." "This here land's going under the tractor." " We all gotta get out." " All except me and I'm staying." " What about Grandma?" " Take her with you!" "Who'd cook for you, Grandpa?" "How you gonna live?" "Muley's living, ain't he?" "And I'm twice the man that Muley is." "Now, listen to me, Grandpa." "Listen to me just a minute." "And I ain't listening either." "I told you what I was gonna do, and I don't give a hoot and a holler if there's oranges and grapes crowding a fella out of bed." "I ain't going to California!" "Goldurn!" "This is my country and I belong here." "Yes, sir." "It's my dirt." "It's no good, but it's..." "It's mine, all mine." "Either we gotta tie him up and throw him in the truck or something." "He can't stay here." "No, can't tie him." "Either we'll hurt him or he'll get so mad, he'll hurt himself." " Reckon we could get him drunk?" " Ain't no whiskey, is there?" "Now, wait." "There's a half a bottle of soothing syrup here." "Here." "Used to put the children to sleep." " Don't taste bad." " There's coffee left." "We can fix him a cup." " That's right, douse some in it." " Better give him a good dose." "He's mighty muleheaded." "If Muley..." "If Muley can scramble along, I..." "I guess I can." "I smell spareribs." "Somebody's been eating spareribs." "How come I ain't got none?" "Well, I got some saved for you, Grandpa." "Got some warming now." "And here's a cup of coffee for you first." "Get me a mess of spareribs." "I want a great big mess of spareribs." " I'm..." "I'm hungry." " Why, sure you're hungry." "I sure do like spareribs." " Get up there, Noah." " Put his feet in there first, Tom." "Easy, now." "Easy!" "Better throw something over him so he won't get sunstruck." "Everything all set now?" "All right, let her go, Al." "Get aboard, Ma." " Well, goodbye and good luck." " Hold her, Al." "Ain't you going with us?" "I'd like to." "There's something going on there in the West and I'd like to try and learn what it is if you feel you've got the room." "Plenty of room." "Get on." " Let her go, Al!" " California, here we come!" "Ain't you gonna look back, Ma?" "Give the old place a last look?" "We're going to California, ain't we?" "All right then, let's go to California." "That don't sound like you, Ma." "You never was like that before." "I never had my house pushed over before." "Never had my family stuck out on the road." "Never had to lose everything I had in life." " I..." "I ain't going." " It's gonna be all right, Grandpa." "I ain't going." "I ain't going." "I ain't going." "I ain't going." "It's all right, Grandpa." "You're just tired, that's all." "That's it." "Just tired." "Just tired." ""This here is William James Joad." "Died of a stroke, old, old man." "His folks buried him because they got no money to pay for funerals." "Nobody killed him." "Just a stroke and he died."" "I figure best we leave something like this on him lest somebody digs him up and makes out he was killed." "Looks like a lot of times the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one." "Not be so lonesome, knowing his name's there with him." "Not just an old fella lonesome underground." "Would you say a few words, Casy?" "I ain't a preacher no more, you know." "We know, but ain't none of our folks ever been buried without a few words." "I'll say them, make it short." "This here old man just lived a life and just died out of it." "I don't know whether he was good or bad and it don't matter much." "Heard a fella say a poem once." "And he says, "All that lives is holy."" "Well, I wouldn't pray just for an old man that's dead because he's all right." "If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn." "Grandpa here he ain't got no more trouble like that." "He's got his job all cut out for him so cover him up and let him get to it." "I'm going down the road feeling bad" "I'm going down the road feeling bad" "Oh Lordy" "I ain't a-gonna be a-treated this way" "They fed me on corn bread and beans" "Gosh, Connie sure sings pretty, don't he?" "And beans, oh Lordy" "I ain't a-gonna be a-treated this way" " That's my son-in-law." " Sings real nice." "What state you all from?" "Oklahoma." "Had us a farm there, sharecropping." "We're from Arkansas." "Had me a store there." "Kind of a general notions store." "When the farms went, the stores went too." "I had as nice a little store as you ever saw." "I sure did hate to give it up." "Well, you can't tell." "I figure when we get out there and get work and maybe get us a piece of growing land near water, it might not be so bad at that." "That's right." "Paying good wages, I hear." " We can all get work." " Can't be no worse than home." "You all must have a pot of money." "No, we ain't got no money but there's plenty of us to work and we're all good men." "Get good wages out there and put it all together, and we'll be all right." "Good wages?" "Picking oranges and peaches?" " Well, we aim to take whatever they got." " What's so funny about that?" "What's so funny about it?" "I've just been out there." "I've been and seen it." "I'm going back and starve because I'd rather starve all over at once." "Say, what do you think you're talking about?" "I got a handbill here says they're paying good wages." "And I seen in the papers they need pickers." "All right, go on." "Nobody's stopping you." " Yeah, but what about this?" " I ain't gonna rile you." "Go on." "Wait a minute, buddy." "You just done some jackassing." "You can't shut up now." "It says they need 800 pickers." "You laugh and say they don't." "Which one's the liar?" " How many of you got them handbills?" " I got one." "Come on, how many?" " I got one." " We all got one." " What does that prove?" " There you are." "Same yellow handbill." "Eight hundred pickers wanted." "All right, the man wants 800 men." "So he prints 5,000 handbills and maybe 20,000 people see them." "And maybe 2- or 3,000 people start west on account of that handbill." "Two or 3,000 people that are crazy with worry heading out for 800 jobs." "Now, does that make sense?" "Say, what are you, a troublemaker?" "You sure you ain't one of them labor fakes?" "I..." "I swear I ain't, mister." "Don't you go around here trying to stir up any trouble." "I tried to tell you folks what it took me a year to find out." "Took two kids dead." "Took my wife dead to show me." "But nobody could tell me neither." "I can't tell you about them little fellas laying in the tent with their bellies swelled out and just skin over their bones." "Shivering and whining like pups." "And me running around looking for work." "Not for money, not for wages." "Just for a cup of flour and a spoon of lard." "Then the coroner come." ""Them children died of heart failure," he said." "He put it down in his paper." "Heart failure?" "And their little bellies stuck out like a pig bladder." "Well, it's late." "I gotta get some sleep." "Well..." "Good night, folks." "Suppose he's telling the truth, that fella?" "He's telling the truth." "The truth for him." "He wasn't making it up." "Was it the truth for us?" "I don't know." "I gotta get out, I tell you." "I gotta get out now." " You folks aim to buy anything?" " We want some gas, mister." " Got any money?" " What do you think, we're begging?" " I just asked, that's all." " Well, ask right." "You ain't talking to bums." "All in the world I done was ask." " What kind of pie you got?" " Banana, pineapple, chocolate and apple." "Cut me a hunk of that banana cream and a cup of java." " Make it two." " Two it is." "Seen any good etchings lately, Bill?" "Well, this one ain't bad." "A little kid comes late for school and the teacher says..." "Cheese it." "Could you see your way clear to sell us a loaf of bread, ma'am?" "This ain't a grocery store." "We got bread to make sandwiches with." "I know, ma'am." "Only, it's for an old lady." "No teeth." "Got to soften it with water so she can chew it, and she's hungry." "Why don't you buy a sandwich?" "We got nice sandwiches." "Well, I sure would like to do that, ma'am, but the fact is, we ain't got but a dime for it." "It's all figured out, I mean for the trip." "You can't buy no loaf of bread for a dime." "We only got 15-cent loaves." " Give him the bread." " We'll run out before the bread truck comes." "All right, then we run out!" "This here's a 15-cent loaf." "Well, would you...?" "Could you see your way to cutting off 10 cents worth?" " Give him the loaf." " No, sir." "We wanna buy 10 cents worth." "Go on, it's yesterday's bread." "Go ahead." "Bert says to take it." "Well, it may sound funny, being so tight, but we got 1,000 miles to go and we don't know if we'll make it." "Is them penny candies, ma'am?" " Which ones?" " There, them stripy ones." "Oh, them." "Well, no." " Them's two for a penny." " Give us two then, ma'am." "Go on, take them, take them." "Thank you, ma'am." " Them ain't two-for-a-cent candy." " What's it to you?" " Them's a-nickel-apiece candy." " We better get going." "We're dropping time." " So long." " Wait a minute, you got change coming." "What's it to you?" "Bert." "Look." "Truck drivers." " Where you going?" " California." " How long you plan to be in Arizona?" " No longer than to get across." " Got any plants?" " No, no plants." " Okay, go ahead, but keep moving." " We aim to." "Well, there she is, folks." "The land of milk and honey." "California." "Well, if that's what we came out here for..." "Well, Connie, maybe it's nice on the other side." "Them picture postcards, they was real pretty." "There, Grandma." "There's California." "Let's get going." "She don't look so tough to me, John?" "Well, I don't know." "Hold on." " Ain't too cold, is she, Tom?" " No, it's fine when you get in, Pa." "Come on, John." "Let's give her a whirl." "This is supposed to be good for you, John." " Come on, Pa, before she floats away." " Here we come." " You people got a lot of nerve." " What do you mean?" " Crossing the desert in a jalopy like this." " You been across?" "Sure, plenty." "But never in no wreck like that." "If we break down, maybe somebody'd give us a hand." "Well, maybe, but I'd hate to be doing it." "Takes more nerve than I got." "Don't take no nerve to do something, ain't nothing else you can do." "Hope she holds." "Grandpa." "I want Grandpa." "I want Grandpa." "Don't you fret now." "There." "Don't you fret now, Grandma." " Everybody set back there?" " Yeah." "Here we go." "Thank you very much." " Holy Moses, what a hard-looking outfit." " All them Okies is hard-looking." "Boy, but I'd hate to hit that desert in a jalopy like that." "You and me got sense." "Them Okies got no sense and no feeling." "They ain't human." "No human being would live the way they do." "A human being couldn't stand to be so miserable." "Just don't know any better, I guess." "What a place." "How would you like to walk across it?" "People done it." "If they could, we could." "Lots must have died too." "Well, we ain't out of it yet." " This here's the desert." "We're right in it." " I wish it was day." "Tom says if it was day, it'd cut the gizzard right out of you." "I seen a picture once and there was bones everywhere." " Man bones?" " Some, I guess." "But mostly cow bones." "I sure would like to see some of them man bones." "Grandpa." "I want Grandpa." "Yes." "Now, everything's going to be all right." "We got to get across, Grandma." "The family's got to get across." "There." "Seems like we wasn't ever doing nothing but moving." "I'm tired." "Women's always tired." "You ain't?" "You ain't sorry, are you, honey?" "No, but..." "But you seen that advertisement in the Spicy Western Story magazine." "Don't pay nothing." "Just send them the coupon and you're a radio expert." "Nice, clean work." "But we can still do it, honey." "I ought to have done it then, not come on any trip like this." " What's this here?" " Agricultural inspection." "We gotta go over your stuff." "Got any vegetables or seed?" "No." "We gotta look over your stuff." "You gotta unload." "Unload?" "Holy Moses." "You'll have to get out while we unload for inspection." "Look, mister, we've got a sick old lady." "We gotta get her to a doctor." "We can't wait." "You can't make us wait." "Yeah?" "Well, we gotta look you over." "Well, I swear we ain't got anything." "I swear it." "Grandma's awful sick." "Look." "You wasn't fooling." " You swear you got no fruit or vegetables?" " No, I swear it." "Then go ahead." "Get a doctor at Barstow." "That's just eight miles." "But don't stop or get off." "Understand?" " Thank you." " Okay, cap." "Much obliged." "Thanks." "Ma!" "Grandma!" "Look!" "There she is." "There she is." "I never knowed there was anything like her." " Will you look at her?" " Look yonder, John." "Look how pretty and green it is, Winfield." " Wonder if them's orange trees, John." " Look like orange trees to me." " They sure are pretty, whatever they are." " Yes, indeed." "Look at them haystacks." "I bet we sure could have fun playing over there." "Pretty, ain't it?" "Mighty pretty." "Tom." "Where's Ma?" "I want Ma to see this." "Look, Ma." "Come here, Ma." "Come on." " You sick, Ma?" " You say we got across?" "Look." "Thank God." "And we're still together." "Most of us." "Didn't you sleep none?" " Was Grandma bad?" " Grandma's dead." "When?" " Since before they stopped us last night." " That's why you didn't want them to look?" "I was afraid they'd stop us and we wouldn't get across." "I told Grandma." "I told her when she was dying." "I told her the family had to get across." "I told her we couldn't take no chance on being stopped." "So it's all right." "She'll get buried where it's nice and green and trees and flowers all around and..." "She got to lay her head down in California after all." "How far you figure you gonna get that way, pushing?" "Right here." "We run out of gas." "Where's the best place to get work around here?" "Don't matter what kind either." "If I've seen one of them things, I've seen 10,000 of them." " Why?" "Ain't it no good?" " Not here." "Not now." "There was some picking around here about a month ago, but it's all moved south." " What part of Oklahoma you from, anyhow?" " Sallisaw." "Sallisaw?" "Well, I come out from Cherokee County myself about two years ago." " Cherokee County!" "Gee!" " Oh, boy!" " Connie's folks are from Cherokee County." " Well, you don't say!" "All right, all right." "Let's don't go into it." "What I gotta tell you is this:" "Don't try to park in town tonight." "Just go right on out to that camp." "If I catch you in town after dark, I gotta lock you up." " But what are we gonna do?" " Well, Pop, that just ain't up to me." "The guy they ought to lock up is the guy that sent them things out." "How many, folks?" "One." "Sure don't look none too prosperous." " Wanna go somewhere else?" " On a gallon of gas?" "Let's set up the tent and maybe I can fix some stew." "I could break up some brush if you want me, ma'am." " You wanna be asked to eat, don't you?" " Yes, ma'am." " Didn't you have no breakfast?" " No, ma'am." "There ain't no work hereabouts." "Pa's been trying to sell some stuff to get gas, so as we can get along." "Didn't none of these have no breakfast?" "I did." "Me and my brother did." "We ate good." " Well, you ain't hungry then, are you?" " We ate good." "I'm glad some of you ain't hungry." "There won't be enough to go all around." "He was bragging." "Know what he done?" "Last night, come out and say they got chicken to eat." "Well, I looked in whilst they was eating and it was fried dough, just like everybody else." "Ma?" "How about it?" "Well, I don't know what to do." "I've got to feed the family." "And what am I gonna do about all these here?" "Give this to Ruthie." "Here." "There you are, John." "Here, Tom." "You take it." "I ain't hungry." " What do you mean?" "You ain't ate today." " I know, but I got a stomachache." "I ain't hungry." " Take that plate in the tent and you eat it." " It wouldn't be no use." "I'd still see them." "You get." "Go on now." "Get." "You ain't doing no good." "There ain't enough for youse anyway." "Go on now." "You can't send them away." "Here." "Take your plates and go inside." "Now, look, all you little fellas." "You each go and get you a nice flat stick and I'll put what's left for you?" "Now get." "I don't know whether I'm doing right or not." "Get inside." "Get inside, everybody, and stay inside." "Lady's gonna feed us." "Get yourself a tin can." " Come on." "Give me some." " You're taking too much." "You men wanna work?" "Sure, we wanna work." "Where's it at?" "Tovaris County." "Fruit's opening up." "Need a lot of fruit pickers." " You doing the hiring?" " Well, I'm contracting the land." "What you paying?" "Well, can't tell exactly yet." "About, 30 cents, I guess." "Why can't you tell?" "You took the contract, didn't you?" "That's true, but it's keyed to the price." "Might be a little more, might be a little less." "All right, mister." "I'll go." "You just show us your license to contract, then you make out an order." "Where, and when and how much you're gonna pay." "You sign it and we'll go." "Now, listen, smart guy." "I'll run my business my own way." "I got work." "If you wanna take it, okay." "If not, just sit here, that's all." "Twice now I fell for that line." "Maybe he needs 1,000 men." "So he gets 5,000 there and he'll pay 15 cents an hour." "You guys will have to take it because you'll be hungry." "If he wants to hire men, let him write it out and say what he's gonna pay." "Ask to see his license." "He ain't allowed to contract men without a license." "Hey, Joe." "Agitator." " Ever see this guy before?" " Seems like I have." "Seems like I seen him hanging around a used-car lot that was busted into." "Yep, that's the fella." "Get in this car." " You got nothing on him." " Open your trap again and you'll go too." "You don't wanna listen to troublemakers." "You better all pack and come to Tovaris County." "Come on, you." "Give me that gun." "Now get out of here." "Go down to the willows and wait." " I ain't gonna run." " Why, the sheriff, he seen you, Tom." "You wanna get fingerprinted?" "You wanna be sent back for breaking parole?" "I guess you're right." "Hide in the willows." "If it's all right to come back I'll give you four high whistles." " What's going on here?" " This man of yours he got tough so I hit him." "Then he started shooting." "Hit that woman there, so I hit him again." "Well, what'd you do in the first place?" "I talked back." "Is this the fella that hit you?" " Don't look like him." " It was me, all right." "You just got smart with the wrong fella." "Get in that car." "This lady's bleeding to death." "Boy, what a mess them.45s make." "Better get the doc." "Al." " You can come in now." " We gotta get out of here." "Guy in the willows said them poolroom fellas figure on burning the camp out." "We gotta get the truck loaded." "Ma." "Pa." " What are you doing with the jack handle?" " She just got sassy, that's all." "Well, we'll fight it out later." "We gotta hustle." "Where's Connie?" "Well, Tom, he's gone." "He lit out this evening." "Said he didn't know it was going to be like this." "Glad to get shot of him." " Never was no good, never will be." " Pa, shh!" "How come I got to shh?" "Run out on us, didn't he?" "Cut it out, Pa." "Help Al with the truck." "Some of the fellas in town, they're gonna burn out the camp tonight." "Don't fret, honey." "You'll be all right." "Tom, I just don't feel like nothing at all." "Without him, I just don't wanna live." "He'll be back." "We'll leave word for him." "Just don't you worry." "Get on." "Ma, you and Rosasharn climb up." "Ma." "Maybe..." "Maybe Connie gone to get some books to study up with." "He gonna be a radio expert, you know." "Maybe he figured to surprise us." "Maybe that's just what he done." "Ma, there comes a time when a man gets mad." " You promised me..." " I know, Ma." "I'm trying to." "If there was a law, maybe we could take it." "But it ain't the law." "They're working on our spirits trying to make us cringe and crawl, working on our decency." " You promised, Tom." " I know." "I'm trying to, Ma." "Honest I am." "You gotta keep clear." "The family's breaking up." "You gotta keep clear." "What's that?" "A detour?" " Tom!" "Tom!" "Please!" " Tom!" "Just where do you think you're going?" "Well..." "We're strangers here, mister." "We heard there was work in a place called Tovaris." "Yeah?" "You're heading the wrong way." "What's more, we don't want no more Okies in this town." "There ain't enough work here for them that's already here." " Which way's it at, mister?" " You turn right around and head north." "And don't you come back until the cotton's ready." "You understand?" "Pa." "Let's try that other tire." " You got another flat tire, Tom?" " What?" "Another one?" "Pa, get that spare back there?" "Ma, will you get the hell off there?" "This is gonna be heavy enough." "Tell you, something's got to happen soon." "We're down to our last day of grease and two days of flour and 10 potatoes." "And Rosasharn, we gotta remember she's gonna be due soon." " Morning." " Morning." " You folks looking for work?" " We're looking under boards for work." " Can you pick peaches?" " We can pick anything." "There's plenty of work about 40 miles up here, this side of Pixley." "You turn east on 32, look for the Keene ranch." "Tell them Spencer sent you." " Mister, we sure thank you." " Thank you." "Come on, Ma." " What is it?" "A wreck?" " Where do you think you're going?" "A fella named Spencer sent us." "Said there was work picking peaches." " You wanna work?" " Sure do." "All right." "Just pull up in line there." " Okay for this one." "Take them through." " What's the matter?" "What happened?" "A little trouble up there, but you'll get through all right." " Go ahead." " Right there." "What do you think it is?" "A washout?" "I don't know what these cops have got to do with it, but I don't like it." "These are our own people too, all of them." "I don't like this." "Get going." "Stay in line." "Go ahead." "What are you gonna do, scab?" "Go on." "Hurry up." "Come on, come on, come on." "Go on up there." "Up the street there." "Keep in line, up the street." "Hold it, bud." " Wanna work?" " Sure, but what is this?" " None of your business." "Name?" " Joad." " How many men?" " Four." " Women?" " Two." " Kids?" " Two." "Can you all work?" " Sure, I guess so." " Okay." "House 63." "Wages, 5 cents a box." "No bruised fruit." "Move along." "You go to work right away." "Come on, honey." " Name?" " Joad." "Say, what is all this here?" " Joad." "Not here." " License?" "Oklahoma E-L-2-0-4." "Don't check." "Now, you look here." "We don't want no trouble with you." "Just do your own work and mind your business, and you'll be all right." "Sure do wanna make you feel at home here, all right." " We gonna live here, Ma?" " Why, sure." "This won't be so bad once we get her washed out." "I liked the tent better." "Why, this has got a floor." "It won't leak when it rains." "Here." "This might come in handy." " Name?" " Still Joad." " How many?" " Six." "You all go on." "Rosasharn and me will unload the truck." " Any more of them hamburgers, Ma?" " No, there ain't." " You made a dollar." "That's a dollar's worth." " Dollar's worth?" "That?" "They charge extra at that company store and there ain't no other place." "Well, I ain't full." "Well, tomorrow you'll get in a full day's work and a full day's pay, and then we'll all have enough." "You wouldn't think just reaching up and picking would get you in the back." "Think I'll walk out and find out what all that fuss outside the gate was." " Anybody come with me?" " No, I think I'll set a while, then go to bed." "Think I'll look around and see if I can't meet me a girl." " Say, when I was your age..." " Pa!" "Working on me what all that yelling was about." "Got me all curious." "I'll be back in a little while." "Tom." "Now, you be careful." "Don't you go sticking your nose in anything." "Okay, Ma." "Don't worry." "Where do you think you're going?" "I thought I'd take a walk." " Is there any law against that?" " You can just turn around and walk back." " You mean I can't even get out of here?" " Not tonight, you can't." "Do you wanna walk back?" "Or shall I whistle up some help and have you taken back?" "I'll walk back." " Evening." " Who are you?" " Just going past, that's all." " Know anybody around here?" "No." "Just going past, I tell you." " Casy!" " Well, if it ain't Tom Joad." "Hi, boy." " I thought you was in jail." " No." "They just run me out of town." "Come on in." "Tom Joad." " This the fella you been talking about?" " That's him." "What are you doing here?" "Working, picking peaches." "I heard fellas shouting when we come in." "I came to find out what's going on." " What's it all about?" " This here's a strike." "Well, 5 cents a box ain't much, but a fella can eat." " Five cents?" "They paying you 5 cents?" " Sure." "We made a buck since midday." "Lookie, Tom." "We come here to work." "They tell us it's gonna be 5 cents, but there's a whole lot of us." "So the man says 2 and a half cents." "A fella can't even eat on that and if he's got kids..." "So we says we won't take it." "So they drive us off." "Now they're paying you 5 cents." "But if they bust this strike, you think they'll pay 5?" "Don't know." "Paying 5 now." "They'll get 2 and a half cents just the minute we're gone." "You know what that is." "One ton of peaches, picked and carried for a dollar." "That way you can't even buy enough food to keep you alive." "Tell them to come out with us, Tom." "Them peaches is ripe." "Two days out and they'll pay us all 5, maybe 7." "They won't." "They're getting 5 now." "That's all they care about." "But the moment they ain't strikebreaking, they won't get no 5." "Next thing you know you'll be out." "They got it all fixed down to a tee." "Well, soon as the harvest is in, you're a migrant worker." "Afterwards, just a bum." "Five they're getting now." "That's all they're interested in." "I know exactly what Pa would say." "He'd say it's none of his business." "That's right." "He'll have to take a beating before he'll know." "Take a beating?" "We was out of food." "Tonight we had meat." "Not much, but we had it." "You think Pa's gonna give up his meat on account of some other fellas?" "Rosasharn needs milk." "You think Ma's gonna starve that baby just on account of fellas yelling outside a gate?" "Tom, you gotta learn like I'm learning." "I don't know what's right yet myself, but I'm trying to find out." "That's why I can't ever be a preacher again." "Preacher's gotta know." "I don't know." "I gotta ask." " I don't like it." " What's the matter?" "I can't tell." "Seems as though I hear something and when I listen, there ain't nothing to hear." " It ain't out of the question, you know." " We're all a little itchy." "Cops been telling us how they're gonna beat us up and run us out." "Not them regular deputies, but them tin-seal men." "The ones they got for guards." "They figure I'm the leader because I talk so much." "Turn out the light." "Come outside." "There's something here." " What is it?" " I don't know." "Listen." " Can't tell whether you hear it or not." " You hear it, Tom?" "I hear it." "I think there's some guys coming this way, a lot of them." " We gotta get out of here." " Down that way, under the bridge span." "There he is!" "The one in the middle, the skinny one." "Chuck, Alec, get him!" "You don't know what you're doing!" "You're helping to starve kids." " Shut up, you dirty..." " Casy!" " You've killed him!" " Serves him right too." "Look out!" "He's dead." "He's good and dead." "Did you see the fella that done it?" "I ain't sure, but I caught him across the face, a trademark he won't get rid of in a hurry." "Ma?" "Tom!" "Tom!" "Pa, wake up." "Al, get the light." "Come on." " Anybody ask anything?" " No, ma'am." " Well, you stay by that door." " Yes, ma'am." "Tommy?" "How's it feel?" "Busted my cheek, but I can still see." " What'd you hear?" " Looks like you've done it." "I thought so." "Felt like it." "Folks ain't talking about much else." "They say they got posses out." "Talking about a lynching when they catch the fella." "They killed Casy first." "That ain't the way they're telling it." "They're saying you done it first." "Do they know what the fella looks like?" "They know he got hit in the face." "I'm sorry, Ma." "I didn't know what I was doing any more than when you take a breath." "I didn't even know I was gonna do it." "It's all right, Tommy." "I wished you didn't do it but you done what you had to do and I can't read no fault in you." "I'm going away tonight." "I can't go putting this on you folks." "Tom." "There's a whole lot I don't understand." "But going away ain't gonna ease us." "There was a time we was on the land." "There was a boundary to us then." "Old folks died off and little fellas come." "We was always one thing." "We was the family." "Kind of whole and clear." "But now we ain't clear no more." "There ain't nothing that keeps us clear." "Al, he's hankering and gibbeting to be off on his own." "Uncle John's just dragging around." "Your pa's lost his place." "He ain't the head no more." "We're cracking up, Tom." "There ain't no family now." "And Rosasharn, she's gonna have her baby, but it won't have no family." "I been trying to keep her going, but..." "And Winfield what's he gonna be this way?" "Growing up wild." "And Ruthie too." "Just like animals." "Got nothing to trust." "Don't go, Tom." "Stay and help." "Help me." "Okay, Ma." "I shouldn't." "I know I shouldn't, but okay." "Ma, here come a lot of people." " How many?" " Ten of us." "House 25." "The number's on the door." " Okay, mister." "What you paying?" " Two and a half cents." "Two and a half?" "Say, mister, a man can't make his dinner on that." "Take it or leave it." "There are 200 men coming in from the South that'll be glad to get it." " But how are we going to eat?" " Look." "I didn't set the price." "If you want it, okay." "If you don't, turn around and beat it." " Which way to House 25?" " Straight up the street." "That Casy." "He might have been a preacher, but he seen things clear." "He was like a lantern." "He helped me to see things too." "Comes night, we'll get out of here." "Like a lantern." " I'll start the car." " Yes." "All right, Tom." "Jump up." "Jump up." "Just till we get distance." "Then you can come out." "I'd hate to get trapped in here." "Get in, Ma." "Come on, John." " Hey!" "Where you going?" " We're going out." " What for?" " We got a job offered." "A good job." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Well, let's take a look at you." " Wasn't there another fella with you?" " You mean that hitchhiker?" " Little short fella with a pale face?" " I guess that's what he looked like." "We just picked him up on the way in." " He left when the rate dropped." " What did you say he looked like again?" "Short fella, pale face." "Was he bruised about the face this morning?" "I didn't see nothing." "Okay, go on." " Going out for good?" " Yeah." "Going north." "Got a job." "Okay." " You done good, Al." "You done real good." " Know where we're going?" "It don't matter." "We gotta go and keep going till we get plenty of distance away from here." "She's..." "She's hotter than a heifer." "The fan belt's shot." "Sure picked a nice place for it too, didn't she?" " Got any gas?" " About half a gallon." "Well, Ma, sure looks like we done her this time." "Lights up ahead." "That might be a camp or something." "Looks like about a mile." "Reckon she'll coast her, Al?" " Got to coast it." " Well, let's give her a whirl?" "Come on, kids." "Get in." "John!" "Did you hurt yourself, John?" "No." " You hit it too fast." " What's the idea of that?" "Well, you see, a lot of children play in here." "You can tell people to drive slow and they're liable to forget but once they hit that hump, they don't forget." " Got any room here for us?" " You're lucky." "How do you do, ma'am?" "How are you?" "How are you?" "Down that line, turn to the left." "You'll see it." "You'll be in Number 4 sanitary unit." " What's that?" " Toilet, showers, washtubs." "You mean we'll have washtubs with running water?" "Yes, ma'am." "Ha." "Camp committee will call on you in the morning, get you fixed." " Cops?" " No." "No cops." "No, people here elect their own cops." "The ladies' committee'll call on you, ma'am." "Tell you about the children, the schools and sanitary unit and who takes care of them." "Will you come inside and sign up?" "Drive her on down, Al." "I'll sign up." "Right this way." "In here." "Now, I don't wanna seem inquisitive, you understand but there's certain information I have to have." "What's your name?" "Joad." "Tom Joad." " J-O..." " A-D." "A-D." "And how many of you?" "Eight now." " Uncle John, you don't look so good." " I ain't so good, but I'm coming." "Come on." "Shove." "Campsite costs a dollar a week." "You can work that out carrying garbage, keeping the camp clean, things like that." "We'll work it out." "What's the committee you're talking about?" "We have five sanitary units." "Each one elects a central committee man." "They make the laws and what they say goes." "You aiming to tell me the fellas running the camp are just fellas camping here?" " That's the way it is." " And you say no cops?" "No cop can come in here without a warrant." "I can't hardly believe it." "Camp I was in before, they burnt it out." "Deputies and some of them poolroom fellas." "They don't get in here." "Sometimes the boys patrol the fences." " Especially on dance nights." " You got dances too?" "We have the best dances in the county, every Saturday night." " Who runs this place?" " The government." " Why ain't there more like it?" " You find out." "I can't." "Is there anything like work around here?" "I can't promise you that but there'll be a licensed agent here later if you wanna talk to him." "That cut you have?" " Crate fell on me." " You'd better take care of it." "Store manager will give you something for it." "See you later." "Ma's sure gonna like it here." "She ain't been treated decent for a long while." "See you later." " Winfield." "I got something to show you." " What's the matter?" "It's some white things made out of dish stuff, like in the catalogs." "Come on, I'll show you." "Come on." "Ain't nobody gonna say anything." "There's where you wash your hands." " What's these?" " I reckon you stand in them little rooms." "And water comes down out of that little jigger up there." "You take a bath." " Look." "Just like in the catalogs." " Hey!" "Don't you go monkeying!" "Now you done it!" "You busted it!" "All I done was pull that string." " Hi, Mr. Thomas." " Morning." " How are you?" " Morning." "Nice job." "Listen here." "Maybe I'm gonna talk myself out of my farm, but I like you fellas." "You're good workers so I'm gonna tell you." " You live over in the government camp?" " Yes, sir." "You have dances there every Saturday night." "We sure do." " Well, look out next Saturday night." " What's the matter?" "I'm head to the central committee." "I gotta know." "Well, don't tell I told you." "Listen." ""Citizens angered at red agitators burning other squatters' camps and order agitators to leave the county."" "Listen." "What is these reds anyway?" "Every time you turn around, somebody's calling somebody else a red." "What is these reds anyway?" "I ain't talking about that, one way or the other." "All I'm saying is there's going to be a fight at the camp Saturday night and there'll be deputies ready to go in." "Now go on with your work." "Maybe I've talked myself into trouble, but you're folks like us and I like you." "We won't tell who told." "Thank you." " All right." " There ain't gonna be no fight either." " Evening." "Who'd you say invited you?" " Mr. And Mrs. Brown." "Go right on in, folks." "Go right on in." "Hello, there." "How are you?" "Hi, Mrs. Jennings." "How are you?" "Glad to see you." " Hello." " Hello." " Going to the dance tonight?" "I can waltz." " That's nothing." "Anybody can waltz." " Not like me, they can't." " You get going!" "This girl's spoke for." "She's gonna be married and her man's coming for her." "So get!" "Hi, Bill." "Nice-looking girl you got there." " Howdy, Mr. Thomas." "Howdy, Mrs. Thomas." " Watching out, ain't you?" "There ain't gonna be no trouble." "I hope you know what you're talking about." "Evening, boys." "Who did you say invited you?" "Fella named Jackson." "Buck Jackson." " Okay." "Have a good time." " Thanks." "Hey." " Them's our fellas." " How do you know?" "Well just got a feeling." "They're kind of scared too." "Follow them." "Get hold of Jackson, see if he knows them." "I'll stay here." " Hello." "I..." " Hello." "So long." "How do you do, Mrs. Joad?" "How do you do?" "My, you sure look pretty." " Please to dance, ma'am?" " Thank you kindly, but she ain't well." " Sort of poorly." " Well, thank you just the same." "Howdy do." "Hey, Jackson." "Look." "Did you ever see them fellas before?" "Sorry, neighbor, but we got to keep the camp clean." "I know one of them." "Used to work with him." "I never asked him to the dance though." "All right." "Keep your eye on them." "Just keep them in sight, that's all." "I seen them." "A car with five men parked down by the eucalyptus trees." "And another with four men on the main road." "And they got guns, I seen them." "Thank you, Willy." "You done right good." "You can run along and dance now." "Well, sure looks like the fat's in the fire this time." "What them deputies wanna hurt the camp for?" "How come they can't let us alone?" " We ought to get some pickax handles..." " No." "That's just what they want." "No, sirree." "If they can get a fight going they can call in the cops, say we ain't orderly." " They're here." "We got them spotted." " Got everything ready?" " There ain't gonna be trouble." " I don't want you hurting them." "Don't worry." "Everything's arranged." "Maybe nobody will even see it." "Well, just don't use no sticks or no knives or no piece of iron." "If you gotta sock them, sock them where they ain't gonna bleed." "Gentlemen, hats off, please." "Thank you." " She's getting prettier every day, Ma." " Girl with a baby's always prettier." " Come on, Ma, let's dance." " Oh, Tom." "I can't." "Well, all right." "Tom, stop." "Come and sit by my side if you love me" "Do not hasten to bid me adieu" "But remember the Red River Valley" "And the boy who had loved you so true" "Nine-twenty-nine." "Let's go!" "All right, 9:30." "Here we go." " All right." "I'll dance with her." " You and who else?" "Excuse me, Ma." "Open up!" "We're here about a riot!" " Riot?" "I don't see any riot." "Who are you?" " Deputy sheriffs." " Have you got a warrant?" " We don't need a warrant when there's a riot." "I don't know what you're gonna do about it." "I don't hear or see any riot." "What's more, I don't believe there is any riot." "Look for yourself." "All right, let's go." "Oklahoma." "E-L-2-0-4." "You have no right to arrest anybody without a warrant." "We'll have a warrant just as soon as we check with headquarters." "Tommy." "Ain't you gonna tell me goodbye?" "I didn't know, Ma." "I didn't know if I ought to." " Ma..." " Hush, Ruthie." "Come outside." "There was some cops here tonight." "They was taking down license numbers." "I guess somebody knows something." "I guess it had to come sooner or later." "Sit down for a minute." "I'd like to stay, Ma." "I'd like to be with you and see your face when you and Pa get settled in some nice place." "I'd sure like to see you then." "But I won't never get that chance, I guess, now." " I could hide you, Tommy." " I know you would, but I ain't gonna let you." "You hide somebody that's killed a guy and you're in trouble too." "All right, Tommy." "But what do you figure you're gonna do?" "You know what I've been thinking about?" "About Casy." "About what he said what he done about how he died." "And I remember all of it." "He was a good man." "I've been thinking about us too." "About our people living like pigs and good, rich land laying fallow." "Or maybe one guy with a million acres and 100,000 farmers starving." "And I've been wondering if all our folks got together and yelled..." "Tommy." "They'd drive you out and cut you down just like they done to Casy." "They're gonna drive me anyways." "Sooner or later they'd get me, for one thing if not for another." "Until then..." "Tommy." " You're not aiming to kill nobody?" " No, Ma." "Not that." "That ain't it." "It's just..." "Well, as long as I'm an outlaw anyways, maybe I can do something." "Maybe I can just find out something." "Just scrounge around and maybe find out what it is that's wrong." "Then see if there ain't something that can be done about it." "I ain't thought it all out clear, Ma." "I..." "I can't." "I don't know enough." "How am I gonna know about you, Tommy?" "Why, they could kill you and I'd never know." "They could hurt you." "How am I gonna know?" "Well, maybe it's like Casy says." "Fella ain't got a soul of his own, just a little piece of a big soul." "The one big soul that belongs to everybody." "Then..." " Then what, Tom?" " Then it don't matter." "I'll be all around in the dark." "I'll be everywhere wherever you can look." "Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there." "Wherever there's a cop beating up a guy, I'll be there." "I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad." "I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready." "And when the people are eating the stuff they raise and living in the houses they build I'll be there too." "I don't understand it, Tom." "Me neither, Ma, but it's just something I've been thinking about." "Give me your hand, Ma." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, Tommy." "Later, when this is blowed over you'll come back?" "Sure, Ma." "Tom, we ain't the kissing kind, but..." "Goodbye, Ma." "Goodbye, Tommy." "Tommy." "Goodbye." "Turn that up, Al, and get her rolled up." " How you fixed, John?" " Getting along." "Here." "Winfield, get on top, out of the way." "I don't see what you folks are hurrying so for." "They tell me there's 20 days' work up there." "Yes, sir, and we aim to get in all 20 of them." " All ready, Ma?" " Yes." "How you feeling, Rosasharn?" "All aboard, everybody." "All aboard for Fresno." "Wait a minute." "I'll give you a hand." " Careful of her, now." " Easy, child." "She'll be all right." " Watch her, John." " I'll take care of her." " How are you fixed, Al?" " All right, Pa." "Now, Ma..." "Goodbye." " Bye." " Goodbye." " Bye-bye." " Goodbye." " Thanks a lot." "Goodbye." " Goodbye." "Thanks, Mr. Conway." " Bye." " Be careful." "Goodbye." "Twenty days' work." "Oh, boy!" "I'll be glad to get my hands on some cotton." "That's the kind of picking I understand." "Maybe." "Maybe 20 days' work and maybe no days' work." " We ain't got it till we get it." " What's the matter, Ma?" "Getting scared?" "Scared." "Ha!" "I ain't never gonna be scared no more." "I was though." "For a while, it looked as though we was beat." "Good and beat." "Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies." "Like nobody was friendly no more." "Made me feel kind of bad and scared too." "Like we was lost and nobody cared." "You're the one that keeps us going, Ma." "I ain't no good no more and I know it." "Seems like I spend all my time these days thinking how it used to be." "Thinking of home." "I ain't never gonna see it no more." "Well, Pa, a woman can change better than a man." "A man lives sort of, well, in jerks." "Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk." "He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk." "With a woman, it's all in one flow like a stream." "Little eddies and waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on." "A woman looks at it that way." "Maybe, but we're sure taking a beating." "I know." "That's what makes us tough." "Rich fellas come up and they die and their kids ain't no good, and they die out." "But we keep coming." "We're the people that live." "They can't wipe us out." "They can't lick us." "We'll go on forever, Pa, because we're the people."