Chapter 27

Chapter twenty seven is another ray of hope in a world of darkness. It also narrates, without specifically telling the names of the Joad family, the life and the new job of the Joad family. "COTTON PICKERS WANTED—placards on the road, handbills out, orange-colored handbills—Cotton Pickers Wanted. Here, up this road, it says. The dark green plants stringy now, and the heavy bolls clutched in the pod. White cotton spilling out like popcorn. Like to get our hands on the bolls. Tenderly, with the fingertips. I'm a good picker. Here's the man, right here. I aim to pick some cotton." Not only is this another job, bringing in some money, which buys their food and gas, it is also therefore a hope. The cotton picking boosts their confidence, because many of these migrant families came from farms and know how to pick the cotton. "Lines of people moving across the fields. Finger-wise. Inquisitive fingers snick in and out and find the bolls. Hardly have to look. Bet I could pick cotton if I was blind. Got a feelin' for a cotton boll. Pick clean, clean as a whistle."

Yet even in their confidence and a new job, they still face the problem of cheating. Some of the scales, which way the cotton in the cotton bags, are fixed and crooked. They are still trying to be cheated out of their work and money. "Try for God's sake ta save a little money! Winter's comin' fast. They ain't no work at all in California in the winter. Fill up the bag 'fore it's dark. I seen that fella put two clods in. Well,… Why not? I'm jus' balancin' the crooked scales. How here's my book, three hundred an' twelve poun's. Right! Jesus, he never argued! His scales mus' be crooked. Well, that's a nice day anyways." They knew this was their glimmer of hope, and they were going to take full advantage of it. This is what makes this chapter have a lighter tone than the one before it. This chapter's tone is a little cheerier than the chapter before it based on the fact that the work of chapter twenty seven has given them hope to keep on going.