A fictional journey of the Joads, a family of sharecroppers from Sallisaw, Oklahoma, forced to migrate west during the Dust Bowl. The Joads join thousands of other migrants on the trek to the Salinas Valley of California, a place they idealize as rich with opportunity. The main idea is that injustice exists in various forms perpetrated by capitalist systems. Hope, however, and the ability to endure can help people improve their situation.