Grapes of Wrath Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is back to Tom Joad's narration (do I sense an odd numbered, even numbered narration pattern here?) and it seems that all of Tom's chapters are part of a continuous story. Because no one is at home when Tom and Reverend Casy arrived at the farmhouse (see previous even numbered chapter), Tom is very concerned. Luckily a man name Muley happens to be walking by and informed the duo where the rest of the Joad clan is.

Muley is one troubled man. He "broke up the fambly" (Steinbeck 48) much to the preacher's displeasure. He should have went with his wife and kids to California. To leave his children to go on a journey to a land and to live a new life among new surroundings without a father, and leaving a wife without a companion or someone to rely on was a selfish decision. Muley's defense of "Somepin jus' wouldn' let me." (Steinbeck 48) was not a very good reason to support his decision of not accompanying his family. I understand that the farmland was his birthplace as well as his father's, grandfather's, etc., but it was also his children's too. They left the land. Their mother knew that better things were in store for them if they left Oklahoma. Muley just couldn't see it. Also Muley builds up all his emotions and is going to explode and do something he regrets. Tom and the preacher crossing paths with Muley probably saved him from that since he vented so much to the duo. Casy said, "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth an' not do no murder." (Steinbeck 53) and he is correct in that piece of wisdom. Letting everything bottle up inside always results in something bad. Venting it out by talking to people is very healthy. Shrinks are there for a reason. Muley was alone and left to his thoughts in the middle of a farmland wasteland (but not the land the banks had repossessed, that was a farmland cottonland wasteland) which is probably why he was going crazy. Going to California with his family would have prevented all of this... but that just wasn't an option for Muley.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.