The Search for Work

Follows the Joad family's relentless quest for employment, from handbills to strikes, and the diminishing returns of their labor.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Orange Handbill

The Promise The Handbill Pa Joad shows the family an orange handbill that says "Pea Pickers Wanted in California. Good Wages All Season." The handbill is the catalyst for their journey. They believe it promises a better life. The Hope The family's hopes are pinned on the handbill. They imagine picking fruit under shady trees. The handbill represents the American Dream. They do not yet know it is a tool of exploitation. The Reality Later, they learn that such handbills are used to attract surplus labor, driving down wages. The promise is a lie. The family's search for work becomes a bitter education.

The First Job: Ditch Digging

A Brief Success The Job Offer At the Weedpatch camp, Tom Joad gets a job digging a ditch for a farmer named Mr. Thomas. The pay is thirty cents an hour, but it is soon cut to twenty-five. Tom works hard, glad to have any job. The Wage Cut Mr. Thomas explains that the Farmers' Association, backed by the Bank of the West, has forced the cut. He is sympathetic but powerless. Tom accepts the lower wage. The family has a little money. The End of the Job The job lasts only a few days. The family is grateful for the income but knows it is temporary. The search for work continues. The experience shows the power of the corporate system.

Peach Picking at Hooper Ranch

The Strikebreaking The Recruitment The Joads are recruited by a man who promises work picking peaches. They are escorted by police through a picket line. They are strikebreakers, though they do not fully understand the situation. The Low Wage The pay is five cents a box, but after the strike is broken, it drops to two and a half cents. The family works all day for a dollar. The company store takes most of their earnings. They are trapped. The Realization Tom learns from Casy that the strike was for a living wage. The family realizes they have been used. They leave the ranch, disillusioned. The search for work has led them to betray their own kind.

Cotton Picking

A Brief Prosperity The Cotton Fields The Joads find work picking cotton near Tulare. The pay is eighty cents per hundred pounds. The family works together, and the children help. They earn enough to buy food and clothes. The Community They live in a boxcar camp with other pickers. There is a sense of community. Al Joad courts Aggie Wainwright. The family experiences a few weeks of relative stability. The End of the Season The cotton season ends, and the rains begin. The family has saved a little money, but not enough for the winter. The search for work will resume in spring, but the immediate future is bleak.

before leaving Oklahoma

at the Weedpatch camp

late in the story

after the Hooper ranch, during the cotton season