Contents
Chapter 16
Overview
The Joad-Wilson caravan reaches New Mexico, where the touring car’s bearing fails. Tom proposes splitting up, but Ma asserts authority to keep the family together. Tom and Casy repair the car with a salvaged part. At a pay-to-camp stop, a ragged migrant warns of exploitative labor practices, deepening foreboding as Granma deteriorates.
Summary
The Joads and Wilsons crawl west across Texas and New Mexico, exhausted in the heat. Granma suffers convulsions. On the road the touring car develops a loud knock; Tom diagnoses a burned connecting-rod bearing. He suggests most of the family push on while he and Jim Casy stay to fix the car, arguing that getting closer to California means quicker work.
When Pa and others agree, Ma refuses, brandishing a jack handle and insisting the family not split. She forces a compromise: the family will move to shade and water nearby, then bring the truck back for Tom and Casy. Tom drains the oil and drops the pan while Casy reflects on his restlessness.
Al returns to report Granma’s worsening delirium and the family’s move to a fee camp. Tom and Al find a wrecking yard, where a bitter one-eyed worker rants about his boss. They salvage a usable rod and bearing, buy a weak flashlight, and Tom bluntly tells the man to clean up and stop self-pitying. Returning at dusk, Tom installs the part, shimming the bearing and using brass wire around the rings, and gets the Dodge running.
At the camp, the proprietor demands payment and threatens vagrancy laws. Tensions rise, but Tom backs down to avoid trouble. A ragged migrant then warns that handbills lure too many workers so contractors can slash wages, describing starvation and deaths in his family. Accused of agitation, he departs into the dark, leaving the men uneasy.
Tom checks on Ma, who is eager to reach the “rich and green” land, while Granma sleeps fitfully and Rose of Sharon beds down outside with Connie. The Joad men decide Tom will park up the road and reunite at dawn, determined to continue despite growing doubts about work in California.
Who Appears
- Tom JoadDiagnoses and repairs the burned bearing; argues to split up, then yields to Ma; clashes with camp owner; hears migrant’s warning.
- Ma JoadStops the family from splitting by forceful stand with a jack handle; prioritizes unity and Granma’s care.
- Al JoadDrives, frets over blame for breakdown, helps salvage parts and reinstall rod; reports Granma’s condition.
- Jim CasyStays to help Tom fix the car; muses on social unrest; confirms the ragged man’s truth as personal.
- Pa JoadInitially supports splitting to make progress; cedes to Ma’s authority; hopes for good wages out west.
- Granma JoadWeak and delirious, calling to Grampa; her decline pressures choices about shade, water, and pace.
- Camp proprietorCharges fifty cents to camp; invokes vagrancy threats; suspicious of ‘troublemakers.’
- Ragged manWarns that handbills oversupply labor, driving starvation wages; recounts family tragedies; leaves unsettled listeners.
- One-eyed wrecking-yard manBitter employee; helps find parts; becomes target of Tom’s tough counsel to stop self-pity.
- Rose of SharonClings to town-life dreams with Connie; sleeps outside; upset by Granma’s outbursts.
- Connie RiversPlans mail-order radio study and town job; beds down in the open with Rose of Sharon.
- Uncle JohnSupports Ma’s unity stance; accompanies Tom to move up the road for the night.
- Ruthie JoadAdapts to road life; briefly appears around the car and sleeps in camp.
- Winfield JoadAdjusts to highway living; cleaned up at camp; sleeps through tensions.
- Ivy WilsonContinues west with the Joads; apologetic for being ‘trouble’; helps decide on plans.
- Sairy WilsonIll and weary; remains with the group as they secure shade and water.