The Grapes of Wrath question 4

In most novels there is a hero, someone who does heroic things. In this novel there are several protagonists, unfortunately none of them can really be considered heros. Just look at Tom Joad, his heroic actions consist of killing someone in a bar fight, spending three years in jail, skipping parole, knocking out a cop, killing a cop, and well you gat my point. To my knowledge the only heroic thing he did was leaving to rally the okies and fight for equal rights and whatnot. At least he didn't spend all his time trying to catch a fish. Even his one true heroic deed meant that he had to abandon his family who were left in a state of disarray. So I must say that Tom is not a hero, but simply the protagonist. The true hero's are the people who actually do heroic things, like the waitress Mae, who sold a fifteen cent worth loaf of bread for ten to a hungry farmer. "You can have this for ten cents." (Steinbeck 160) That is the kind of self sacrificing heroic deed that would define someone as a hero. Unfortunately none of the protagonists display any self sacrificing heroic deeds, except Rose of Sharon, but thats not until the end when she helps feed the starving man. If I could pick one character to be the hero, it would probably be Tom Joad, who as stated was the protagonist. He accomplished basically nothing, except being the first one to get a job. He represents the idea of courage mostly, in the way he's not afraid to fight the police, in the two occasions that he did. To be fair his actions were completely justified as one officer just shot a civilian, and the other had killed Casy in cold blood. In my best descriptive words I would say that he is best portrayed as a man who simply wants to make a difference, for he ran off to lead his people against the tyranny of the oppressive police.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.