Throughout the novel, Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck touches on the lingering prospect of prison. Immediately, we are introduced to Tom Joad with his brand new clothing he received when leaving being released from prison as one of his most prominent features. His shapeless and creased clothes bore a strong contrast against the colorless and run-down town. Later on we learn that new clothes are not the only accommodations available in prison that most men wouldn’t have in the outside world. Tom told Casy about a man who returned to prison after breaking parole: “A guy ast him why he bust his parole… “Well hell,’ he says. ‘They got no conveniences at my old man’s place. Got no ‘electric lights, got no shower baths… He says it makes him lonesome out there in the open havin’ to think what to do next” (27). Men during the Great Depression may see prison has a safe haven. They don’t have to worry where their next meal will come from and they even have the luxury of bathing every day. We see that for ourselves when Casy turns himself in instead of Tom at the Hooverville. He knew that the Joads needed Tom as a leader and he would be cared for without worry in prison. Tom has even mentioned that he wouldn’t mind going back to prison if it wasn’t for his family so Casy took his place hoping for relief and possibly a way to repay the Joads and find his direction in life.
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Great American Novels 
One reply on “Criminality in Grapes of Wrath”
During the Depression the United States incarceration rate increased from 79 to 137 people per 100,000. Some definitely had this mindset that going back to jail was better than starving to death in a Hooverville, and many took action. Steinbeck brought to life a very real question many men had, is your family worth dying for? In Casey’s situation, he did not have a family so he gladly took to opportunity to go to jail. While Tom had to care for and run the Joad family in the middle of a depression, no one knew if or when they were going to eat and starving to death was a real possibility. Although Tom did choose his family over the comfort of jail, during the time period, everyone’s situation was different and for many jail was the way to survive.
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