<P> The next morning, Tom and Casy go to Uncle John's . Tom finds his family loading their remaining possessions into a Hudson Motor Car Company sedan converted to a truck; with their crops destroyed by the Dust Bowl, the family has defaulted on their bank loans, and their farm has been repossessed . Consequently, the Joads see no option but to seek work in California, described in handbills as fruitful and offering high pay . </P> <P> The Joads put everything they have into making the journey . Although leaving Oklahoma would violate his parole, Tom decides it is worth the risk, and invites Casy to join him and his family . </P> <P> Traveling west on Route 66, the Joad family find the road crowded with other migrants . In makeshift camps, they hear many stories from others, some returning from California, and the group worries about lessening prospects . The family dwindles as well: Grandpa dies along the road, and they bury him in a field; Grandma dies close to the California state line; and both Noah (the eldest Joad son) and Connie Rivers (the husband of the pregnant Joad daughter, Rose of Sharon) leave the family . Led by Ma, the remaining members realize they can only continue, as nothing is left for them in Oklahoma . </P> <P> Reaching California, they find the state oversupplied with labor; wages are low, and workers are exploited to the point of starvation . The big corporate farmers are in collusion and smaller farmers suffer from collapsing prices . Weedpatch Camp, one of the clean, utility - supplied camps operated by the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal agency, offers better conditions but does not have enough resources to care for all the needy families . Nonetheless, as a Federal facility, the camp protects the migrants from harassment by California deputies . </P>

Why is the book titled the grapes of wrath