The Grapes of Wrath was one of the few black and white movies I've watched and liked. There wasn't a lot of melodrama and overracting - just acting like the Okies really felt. It was also educational and historically accurate. It taught me about life for the Okies and how their life was full of hardships. They got kicked off their land, jumbled around with other Okies, treated like crap, starved, and rejected from places they wanted to work in. After they finally found work, they would get paid less-than-livable wages. Only once in a while would they get a break - like discounts and gov't-run camps.
Some big scenes were when the guy bulldozed the Joad farm, when Muley says, "This is our land," and falls to his knees, when Tom kills the cop and the preacher dies, and when Tom says goodbye. When Muley says,"This is our land," he's saying he owns it because his people lived and died on it and it's all they have, even though they don't legally own it. When Tom's preacher friend gets killed by the cop, and then Tom kills the cop it's directly related to the title. The cop gives Tom the grapes of wrath by killing his friend. All the little things that go bad drive Tom to becoming a mean man, even his mom can't stop it. When Tom leaves it is signifigant in his speech when he tells about where he'll be. In places like a kid's laugh who's hungry and knows there's no food on the table. That speech personifies what rebels against oppression are all about.
Tom's importance as the main character was very great. He was the character who influenced the title "The Grapes of Wrath". He has lots of misfortunes in his life. He gets warned by his mom at the reunion at home not to become a "mean" man. He eventually becomes one by the end, and is forced to leave his family so he doesn't get mean on them too. All his misfortunes add and add to his meanness. You can see his actions escalate from knocking over a cop to killing one. Each misfortune sows a seed of wrath, and when his emotions take over he reaps a grape of wrath and does something rash. That's how I think the title relates to Tom.
I liked this movie because it taught me about something I didn't know about - the Okies. I learned that not everyone in America has work all the time, and that people shouldn't complain about their job; just be glad they have one.
