The Joad’s Struggle against Their Stereotype
By Sarah Carey, with comments by Kelsey Lee, Jillian Sibio, and Kiera Berkemeyer
[1] One sad and shocking scene really gives the viewer a sense of the harsh animosity that the Joad family and their fellow migrants faced. The scene starts off in a noisy truck stop, with two uniformed attendants warning Pa and Tom Joad against crossing the dessert “in a jalopy like that.†Tom replies that he is sure someone would come to their aid. Next, the camera cuts to inside the truck bed, where grandma lies, sickly and dying, calling for grandpa, while Ma Joad calmly strokes her head and comforts her. Rose of Sharon is also in the back, silently watching. You can see her face is solemn-looking and sad. After this short but sad interlude, we are brought back outside to the noisy truck stop, where Pa and Tom thank the attendants and load into the car, rumbling away. As the noise of the truck ebbs away, the scene stays at the stop, letting us catch the conversation between the two attendants. What they say really makes the essence of the scene; it shows us the message that Ford was trying to get across to his viewers.
[2] The purpose of this scene is to show the outside view of Okies, and the bias and prejudice they faced from the rest of America, solely based on their economic and living situation. (see comment by Kiera Berkemeyer) As migrants, they were looked down upon and treated unfairly, pretty much wherever they went. By this point in the movie, the viewers have gotten to know the Joad family and hopefully formed a connection with them. We know the hardships they have faced (but are reminded of it when we are shown Grandma Joad, sickly and dying, in the truck bed), and we identify with them as the protagonists in the story. This way, when the audience sees them being talked about in such a disrespectful manner, not because of their actions but because of their appearance and characterization as poor migrants, it is even more shocking and sad. The purpose of this scene correlates with the purpose of the entire story. It is telling the story of a side of life people have not seen before. Not only did the Joads face economic hardship, losing their home, losing their loved ones, but they also faced the animosity of their fellow Americans.
[3] It is important to note the subtle techniques that Ford used throughout this short scene. The first one was the sound-editing. The beginning of the scene starts with loud engines rumbling, and Pa and Tom Joad talk loudly over the noise to the two attendants. The sound quickly fades to silence as soon as the scene cuts to the truck bed. Realistically, we would hear the same sounds from inside the open bed, but in order to preserve the mood and the audiences focus, we only hear Grandma and Ma’s voices . Ford wanted them to be able to speak quietly but with feeling, so he took out any distracting background noise that would cut into the feel of things. After only a minute inside the truck, the camera shows us outside and the noisy car sounds remind us that we are still at the truck station. I think Ford wanted to make this a noticeable transition for a few reasons. He was showing us the treatment of Okies and the negative perception the rest of America had of them, while at the same time putting in a very tender and human scene of the Joad family. The contrast was apparent and obvious, helped by the background sound.
[4] The next noticeable technique in this scene is Ford’s use of lighting. This is especially effective in the truck bed. The darkness is set so we see outlines of figures, and the light falls on Grandma, Rose of Sharon, and Ma Joad’s faces. It is a great technique to convey the tender emotion in the truck bed. The audience can easily see the sorrow and pain in each of the characters' faces clearly without any background-scene distraction. I think this was wisely used for this scene, and it highlights the contrast of the two locations, outside and inside the truck, and the difference of what is going on in them.
[5] A third technique used in this scene is the costume design. It is a subtle effect, but it really helps to highlight Ford’s overall aim for the scene, which was to show the vast differences between the Okies and the rest of society. In this scene, the Okies are dressed raggedly, with their beat-up jalopy and all their belongings strapped haphazardly onto the truck. Contrastingly, the two truck-stop attendants are wearing matching white uniforms, with hats and bow ties. It adds to the sense of superiority they project, and the white really stands out next to the ragged and dirty clothes of the Joad family. (see comment by Jillian Sibio) The two attendants are in lower-tier, blue-collar jobs, and in most places their uniforms would cause them to be looked down upon. But here, in contrast with the poor, migrant family, they are shown as far superior, and they are the ones, easily and eagerly, doing the looking down.
[6] The audience response that Ford was aiming for in this scene is shock and pity for the Joad family. After becoming familiar with the family, seeing their hardships, and experiencing their journey, we as viewers feel a connection to the Joads. This makes it even more powerful when we see them being judged on sight and talked about so disrespectfully. The dialogue between the two attendants is the focal point of the scene, and particularly effective:
Attendant 1: “Holy Moses, what a hard lookin’ outfit.â€
Attendant 2: “All them okies is hard-lookin’.â€
Attendant 1: Boy, I’d hate to hit the desert in a jalopy like that!â€
Attendant 2: “Well, you and me got sense. Them okies got no sense or no feeling. They ain’t human. A human being wouldn’t live like they do. No human could stand to be so miserable.â€
Attendant 1: “just don’t know any better I guess.â€
This exchange is so striking since we know the Joad family. They have just been assumed uneducated, uncivilized, and classified as “not human.†Ford really wanted to get through to the viewers about this injustice and blatant bigotry against migrant families. (see comment by Kelsey Lee) The techniques he used really helped to make it effective, making it a simple but emotional part of the movie, strengthening the connection between the Joad family and the audience. We understand their struggle and what they are up against.
Comments
While Ford most definitely seeks to evoke sympathy for the Joad family in this scene, he is also making a statement regarding society's emphasis on financial status and the inherent competition and insecurity that results. As Carey previously states, "The two attendants are in lower-tier, blue-collar jobs, and in most places their uniforms would cause them to be looked down upon. But here, in contrast with the poor migrant family, they are shown as far superior, and they are the ones, easily and eagerly, doing the looking down." Although they are far from wealthy themselves, the attendants, fueled by petty pride and insecurity, feel the need to demean and belittle the Joad family for their humble dress and possessions. During a financial deficit as severe as the Great Depression, one would only hope that people would be sympathetic and understanding toward others in less fortunate economic situations. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and Ford conveys this deplorable degradation and disrespect to his viewers.
It is interesting to note that a recurring theme throughout the film is the reversal of the classic contrast of light and dark. Director Ford uses brightness, almost to a point resembling an overexposed photograph, to symbolize the difficult times in the movie and the intrusion of the government into the migrants' old ways of life. On the other hand, he bathes scenes in darkness and shadows when the Joad family is the most comfortable and safe. The more widely accepted associations of these colors is darkness representing evil and white or brightness representing good. The blinding white of the truck-stop attendants' uniforms signals to the audience that something negative will transpire in the scene, and once again the Joads will be the victims of a cold and unaccepting environment full of disapproving people. The migrant family dressed in filthy rags is a reminder of their old lifestyle, in which they worked the land themselves and relied on their relatives to get them through hardships. The attendants dressed in white symbolize the sterile detachment the government and the rest of America has towards the Okies, almost like they do not want to help them for fear of "getting their hands dirty" and spoiling their pristine white uniforms.
I believe that this is only a small piece of the purpose of this scene. Instead of noticing the outsider's perspective of the family, I picked up on the inner connections of the family, especially how they relate to the woman's role. A large part of this scene highlights a matriarchal motif and foreshadows a later matriarchal importance. I believe that some of the filming techniques that Carey mentioned work toward this goal more so than any other. The soft, dark lighting and the muted background noise reveal the solemnity of the three women in the back of the truck. Grandma is almost gone, Ma frantically tries to pacify her, and Rosasharn looks on in fear. Grandma was, for a long time, the matriarchal figurehead of the family. Therefore, her passing creates an imbalance for the remaining women. Ma desperately clings to Grandma for support in entering this new phase, and Rosasharn is dumbfounded by her quick transition of responsibility.
Interestingly, this scene, which takes place directly before the family journeys across the desolate desert, runs parallel to a scene that takes place after the family has completed the desert pass. Both scenes looked at together show the evolution of Ma's role as the central figure. In the future scene, the jalopy is again scrutinized by two removed men ("outsiders"). Again the back of the truck is focused on and reveals Ma in the same position, supposedly consoling grandma. Largely because of the foreshadowing in the prior scene, the audience believes Ma when she says that the old woman is very sick and therefore the family needs to be allowed to journey onward toward California. However, if one were to look closely at both scenes it becomes apparent that Ma's role has slightly changed. While before her focus was on Grandma, so much so that she even asked for Rosasharn's help, her new focus is now toward her children, toward the hope of the future. After Grandma's death Ma is forced to put aside her sadness and fill the empty role. No longer does Ma turn for help; rather, she sits tall and guards her children behind her, demanding that they be allowed a chance to thrive. She has become the dominant figure in the family.
This idea of a mother being the central figure within migrant families is not out of place. Lucinda Coffman is used as an example in James Gregory's American Exodus. She is a women who led her family after California had beaten her husband down so that he was too ill to work. Coffman jumps from factory to factory taking what jobs she can get, supporting her family in whatever way possible: "All the while, like Ma Joad in Steinbeck's novel, she held her multi-generational family together, a source of strength and leadership now recalled proudly by younger family members" (Gregory 48). In a way this scene is about the Joads "breaking stereotypes." Ma Joad, like Coffman, did not need to rely on anyone (especially her husband, as was the norm) to take control of her family. Instead, she looked toward the future and guided her family with optimism in every situation, even after the death of beloved Grandma.
