In his highly acclaimed novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), John Steinbeck portrays the era of the Great Depression and the natural disaster of the Dust Bowl, and demonstrates how both of these catastrophes change and shape the lives of one Oklahoma family, the Joads. John Ford’s film adaptation of the same title (1940) focuses entirely on the Joads—in particular Tom Joad—and excludes the novel’s inter-chapters, which are loaded with social and political criticism and place the tragedy of one family within a larger context. Dealing primarily with the character of Tom Joad, the film thus effects a shift in focus, which alters the reception of the character. In the following, I will analyze in which ways Henry Fonda’s performance emphasizes those features of Tom’s character which have become associated with the typical traits of the American hero—the isolated outlaw fighting for justice—which subsequently served as a model for several renditions of the Joad story. John Steinbeck begins The Grapes of Wrath with an account of the Dust Bowl and its effect on the inhabitants of Oklahoma, th......

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