The story opens with Tom Joad hitchhiking on his way home to his family's farm after serving a short prison term. He gets a ride from a trucker who sneaks him on even though it is against the rules. The trucker realizes that Tom has just been released from prison and begins to question him. Tom doesn’t have a problem telling what he has done and they get into a lengthy conversation. The trucker told Tom that people have been moving away from this area because the developers were moving in. Tom realizes that and thought that his family might ....