Summary

Chapter 29. Rain comes to California, and it rains for days. The lakes and rivers rise and spill over into the fields. The highways are flooded. The migrants huddle in their camps and wait while their cars are ruined by the flood. Sickness soon follows. The migrants turn to stealing; the townspeople become afraid. The crops are ruined and there will be no more work. The women watch their men again, watch to see if they will break. But the men’s fear and despair turns to anger, and the women know they will remain whole as long as they can be angry.

Chapter 30. The rain pours on. Rose of Sharon, sick and weak, goes into labor. The Joads are unable to leave their flooding camp, so Pa gathers some other men and builds an embankment to stem the rising water. The men work through the...