Tarpaulin

The tarpaulin is the Joad family's most essential and versatile possession, a large sheet of waterproof canvas that transforms from a tent to a truck cover to a burial shroud as the family migrates from Oklahoma to California. More than a piece of equipment, it becomes the physical boundary of the family's life on the road—their only reliable shelter, the container of their few belongings, and the membrane that separates them from the hostile world outside. Its repeated appearance at every critical juncture of the journey marks it as the family's true home, one that can be folded, tied down, and moved at a moment's notice.

Identity and Function

The tarpaulin is introduced as a large piece of canvas, spread on the ground behind the truck to receive the family's mattresses and blankets during the frantic night of packing at Uncle John's place. Rose of Sharon brings it out and spreads it on the ground, and later Al makes holes in its edge, two feet apart, inserts little ropes, and ties it down to the side-bars of the truck. This initial act of securing the tarpaulin establishes its primary function: to protect the family's possessions and provide a roof over their heads as they travel. Al also plans to find a long plank to make a ridge pole, putting the tarpaulin over that so the folks will be out of the sun as well. The tarpaulin is thus not merely a cover but a deliberately engineered shelter, adapted to the truck's dimensions and the family's needs.

Shelter and Domestic Space

Throughout the journey, the tarpaulin is pitched as a tent at every campsite, creating a domestic space in the most inhospitable conditions. At the first camp with the Wilsons, the Joads stretch their tarpaulin over a rope, and it becomes the family's sleeping quarters. Inside, the tarpaulin creates a dark shadow with wedge-shaped light at each end, a space where the family eats, sleeps, and holds its councils. When the family stops at the river near Needles, the tarpaulin is stretched over its rope again, and Ma sits beside Granma under it, fanning the old woman with a piece of cardboard. The tarpaulin's shade is stiflingly hot, and flies buzz in it, but it is the only protection from the blazing sun. At the Weedpatch government camp, the tarpaulin is pitched again, and Ma sits in its entrance, watching the movement of the camp. The tarpaulin thus becomes the family's home, a place of both suffering and small comforts.

Protection and Concealment

The tarpaulin also serves as a means of concealment and protection from authorities. When Grampa is drugged with soothing syrup to force him to leave, the family rolls him under the tarpaulin on top of the load, and Al puts a box under the tarp beside him so the weight of the heavy canvas will not be upon him. Later, when Granma dies during the crossing of the desert, Ma keeps her body wrapped in a comforter under the tarpaulin, hiding the death from the agricultural inspectors so the family can continue its journey. The tarpaulin thus becomes a shroud, concealing death itself. When Tom Joad must hide after killing the vigilante, the family uses the tarpaulin to create a cave on the truck, piling mattresses over him so he can breathe out the end. The tarpaulin is the means by which Tom escapes the Hooper ranch, hidden from the guards who search the truck.

The Tarpaulin as a Boundary

The tarpaulin marks the boundary between the family and the outside world, both physically and symbolically. At the Hooverville, the tarpaulin is the Joads' tent, and Ma sits in its entrance, watching the children who gather to stare at the cooking stew. The tarpaulin separates the family from the hungry children, but it cannot keep out the smell of food or the desperation of the camp. When the family is forced to leave the Hooverville after the deputy's attack, the tarpaulin is loaded onto the truck again, and the family moves on. At the boxcar camp, the tarpaulin is hung down the middle of the car to separate the Joads from the Wainwrights, creating a private space within the communal shelter. When the flood comes, Al takes the tarpaulin down from the middle of the car and spreads it over the nose of the truck to protect the engine. The tarpaulin thus adapts to each new circumstance, always serving as a barrier against the elements, the authorities, or the gaze of strangers.

The Tarpaulin's Final Role

In the final chapters, the tarpaulin continues to serve as the family's shelter even as their situation deteriorates. At the cotton camp, the tarpaulin is used to create a platform inside the boxcar to keep the family's possessions dry as the floodwaters rise. When the family finally abandons the boxcar and wades to the highway, the tarpaulin is left behind, a symbol of the home they have lost. The tarpaulin's journey mirrors the family's own: it is repeatedly set up, taken down, and moved on, always providing a temporary shelter but never a permanent home. Its final absence marks the family's complete dispossession, as they are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the will to survive.