Grapes of Wrath: Chapters 1 and 2

Characters - Tom Joad: a younger man recently released from McAlester prison after four years for good conduct after killing a man; currently dressed in the nice, new clothes they gave him; smokes and drinks; originally from Oklahoma, where he is trying to get to his dad's place to find a job; son of a cropper; not secretive, doesn't care who knows about him, but doesn't talk much.

      the truck driver: a stout man used to the Oklahoma sun; drives trucks for a living; wants to got to school for mechanical engineering; wants to be known as a nice guy; likes to know things, a little nosy; tries to figure people out by looking at them; has a good memory; gets bored driving.

      the waitress: a young girl working in a road-stop restaurant; gets bored easily; probably doesn't like living in Oklahoma.

Plot - Exposition: A truck driver is sitting in a restaurant with a bored waitress. He leaves to go back to his truck and continue driving. A nicely dressed hitchhiker asks him for a ride up the road. The truck driver refuses at first, but then doesn't want to be considered a mean guy and feel like he has to do just as he's told. The hitchhiker hangs onto the truck until they get a little up the road, then jumps in the truck. They sit for a while, listening to the tires. The truck driver tries to figure the man out and make conversation. The hitchhiker doesn't talk much, but then, after knowing that the truck driver is just trying to figure his story out, gets a little annoyed and tells the truck driver about his past: how he was just released from prison after four years for killing a man and is going back to his father's house to try and find work. The truck driver is a little surprised and anxious. Shortly thereafter, the hitchhiker (Tom Joad, as he told the truck driver), tells the truck driver to stop, and he jumps out of the truck. The truck driver continues driving.