The Grapes of Wrath Character Profiles

Posted on Apr 7, 2025 in English

Characters from The Grapes of Wrath

  • Tom Joad: Protagonist of the story. The Joad family’s second son, named after his father. Later, Tom takes leadership of the family despite his youth.
  • Ma Joad: The matriarch. Practical and warm-spirited, she strives to hold the family together. Her given name is never revealed; it is suggested her maiden name was Hazlett.
  • Pa Joad: The patriarch, also named Tom, aged 50. A hardworking sharecropper and family man. Pa becomes broken upon losing his livelihood and the means to support his family, forcing Ma to assume leadership.
  • Uncle John Joad: Pa Joad’s older brother (Tom describes him as ‘a fella about 60’, but the narrative describes him as 50). He feels guilty about the death of his young wife years prior and is prone to binges involving alcohol and prostitutes, yet he is generous.
  • Jim Casy: A former preacher who lost his faith. He is a Christ-like figure, based on Ed Ricketts.
  • Al Joad: The second-youngest son, a ‘smart-aleck sixteen-year-older’ who primarily cares about cars and girls. He looks up to Tom but begins to find his own path.
  • Rose of Sharon Joad Rivers: The childish and dreamy teenage daughter (18) who develops into a mature woman. She symbolizes regrowth when she helps a starving stranger (see also Roman Charity, works of art based on the legend of a daughter acting as a wet nurse to her dying father). Pregnant at the novel’s beginning, she delivers a stillborn baby, possibly due to malnutrition.
  • Connie Rivers: Rose of Sharon’s husband. Nineteen years old and naive, he is overwhelmed by marriage and impending fatherhood. He abandons his wife shortly after they arrive in California.
  • Noah Joad: The oldest son. He is the first to leave the family, planning to live by fishing on the Colorado River. Injured at birth and described as ‘strange,’ he may have slight learning difficulties.
  • Grampa Joad: Tom’s grandfather, who strongly desires to stay in Oklahoma. His full name is William James Joad. Grampa is drugged by his family with ‘soothin’ syrup’ to compel him to leave, but he dies on the first evening of their journey. Casy attributes his death to a stroke but suggests Grampa was ‘jus’ stayin’ with the lan’. He couldn’ leave it.’
  • Granma Joad: Grampa Joad’s religious wife. She loses her will to live after his death. She dies while the family crosses the Mojave Desert.
  • Ruthie Joad: The youngest daughter, aged twelve. She is depicted as reckless and childish. While quarreling with another child, she reveals Tom’s hiding place.
  • Winfield Joad: The youngest son, aged ten, described as ‘kid-wild and calfish’.
  • Jim Rawley: Manages the government camp at Weedpatch. He shows the Joads surprising kindness.
  • Muley Graves: A neighbor of the Joads. He is invited to travel to California with them but refuses. The family leaves two of their dogs with him; they take a third, but it is killed by a car during their journey.
  • Ivy and Sairy Wilson: Migrants from Kansas. They are present at Grampa’s death and share the journey as far as the California state line.
  • Mr. Wainwright: The father of Aggie Wainwright and husband of Mrs. Wainwright. He worries about his daughter, Aggie.
  • Mrs. Wainwright: Mother of Aggie Wainwright and wife of Mr. Wainwright. She helps Ma deliver Rose of Sharon’s stillborn baby.
  • Aggie Wainwright: The sixteen-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wainwright. She intends to marry Al Joad.
  • Floyd Knowles: A man at the Hooverville (migrant camp) who urges Tom and Casy to join labor organizations. His agitation leads to Casy being jailed.