Uncle John is Pa Joad’s brother. John is wracked with guilt over the long-past death of his young wife, whose complaints of pain he dismissed as harmless whining. He tries to atone for his sin by living as selflessly as possible; however, he occasionally gives in to temptation and gets drunk.
Uncle John Quotes in The Grapes of Wrath
The The Grapes of Wrath quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle John or refer to Uncle John. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 30
Quotes
“Go down an' tell 'em. Go down in the street an' rot an' tell 'em that way. That's the way you can talk. Don' even know if you was a boy or a girl. Ain't gonna find out. Go on down now, an' lay in the street. Maybe they'll know then.”
Related Characters:
Uncle John (speaker)
Related Symbols:
The Stillborn Baby
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Grapes of Wrath LitChart as a printable PDF.
Uncle John Character Timeline in The Grapes of Wrath
The timeline below shows where the character Uncle John appears in The Grapes of Wrath. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...Tom’s folks were forced out of their home and are now staying with Tom’s Uncle, John. The Joads plan to pick cotton in order to earn enough money to drive to...
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Chapter 8
Tom and Casy continue towards Uncle John’s house. Tom has been awoken early by Muley, who fearfully warns them to get off...
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The two men arrive at Uncle John’s house. Set up in Uncle John’s yard is a modified jalopy with a truck bed...
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Finally, Tom inquires about the other members of his family. Uncle John has gone into town with Ruthie and Winfield, Tom’s youngest siblings. Rosasharn (short for “Rose...
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Chapter 10
...be happy to have him, and they’ll decide if there’s room when Al, Pa, Uncle John, Ruthie, and Winfield get back from selling their possessions in town.
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Chapter 13
...and the Joads throw together a slapdash funeral with the Wilsons’ help. Pa and Uncle John debate reporting Grampa’s death legally, which requires a forty dollar fee, but ultimately decide to...
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Chapter 18
...willpower; she stayed on the truck all night with Granma’s corpse out of love. Uncle John worries whether Ma has sinned, and Casy assures him that she has done nothing wrong.
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Chapter 20
The family takes Granma’s body to the coroner’s office. Pa and Uncle John are ashamed to be unable to afford a proper funeral ceremony.
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Seeing Casy give himself up to protect Tom causes Uncle John anguish, and John needs to get drunk to cope with it. Ma and Pa give...
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Tom goes to look for Uncle John. Tom discovers his uncle singing hymns off the side of a road. John doesn’t want...
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Chapter 22
At the camp, Pa, Al, and Uncle John prepare to search for work. As Ma cooks breakfast, the camp manager, Jim Rawley, comes...
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Pa, Al, and Uncle John come home empty-handed: they couldn’t find work. Ma is hopeful, trusting that Tom has found...
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Chapter 30
The baby is placed in an apple box, and Uncle John sends it down the current, hoping that it will “go down an’ tell ‘em. Go...
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