Tom Joad is released from the Oklahoma state penitentiary where he had served a sentence for killing a man in self-defense. On his trip home he meets Jim Casey, a former preacher. They travel together to Tom's home but find it deserted. Muley Graves, a tenant farmer, discovers Tom and Casey and tells them that all the families in the neighborhood have left for California or are leaving. Tom's folks have gone to a relative's …showed first 75 words of 550 total…

…showed last 75 words of 550 total…he got in the fight. Ruthie discloses Tom's presence and Tom flees. The rainy season begins and a nearby stream begins to fill the boxcars. Rose of Sharon gives birth to a dead baby boy, and the family is forced to move by the rising water. They walk in the rain to a barn, where they find a boy and his starving father. Rose of Sharon feeds the man with the milk from her breasts.