Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath - Different Endings in the Book and Film

What a Difference an Ending Can Make

In John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," Ma finds Tom where he is hiding out from the law and gives him money so he can escape and survive. Tom comforts Ma that she will see him wherever there is injustice. This implies that Tom will find ways to fight for the working people. After Tom leaves there is a terrible flood. Rosasharn has her baby during the storm while the men fight the water but fail to keep it from entering their railroad car. Rosasharn's baby is born dead because of so much hardship, deprivation, and instability. The family is forced to flee the rising water and find higher ground. Ma spots a barn where they can take shelter. In the barn they find a man dying from starvation. He is so far gone, he can't keep down the bread his son stole for him to eat. Rosasharn's breasts are full of milk because she just had a baby, so Ma asks Rosasharn to feed the dying man. In the end of the book Rosasharn agrees and goes to him.

In the film version there is no flood, Rosasharn does not give birth, and the baby does not die. When Tom leaves at the end, his speech to Ma about fighting injustice seems almost victorious, as though Tom were a hero instead of a victim. After he leaves, Ma and Pa get in their old truck and head for a different part of the state, hoping to get work. Pa admits to Ma that he's not good for much anymore, and Ma gives him a nice talk. She tells him the people will always go on because the backbone of the country is the people. Although the Joads are still poor, the film ending leaves hope for better times, whereas Steinbeck's ending is tragic and leaves no hope that anything will improve. The film, on the other hand, suggests an indomitable human spirit which keeps on fighting and can never be destroyed.