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Chapter
Chapter 6
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Contents
Chapter 6
Section recap
What happens in Chapter 6.
Tom and Jim Casy return to the Joad family farm to find it completely abandoned and silent. A neighbor named Muley Graves appears and explains that the bank and landowners forced everyone off the land, including the Joads, who have gone to Uncle John's place to prepare for the trip west. Muley refuses to leave despite having nowhere to go, choosing to haunt the land like a ghost rather than abandon it. When headlights approach, the three men hide in the fields to avoid being caught by the landowner's men.
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Why this page matters.
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Key moments
The beats worth remembering.
The Empty Joad Farm
Tom and Casy arrive at the Joad homestead to find it deserted and broken down, which immediately signals that the displacement of tenant farmers is already complete and personal for Tom.
Muley Graves Explains the Evictions
Muley tells Tom and Casy how the tractors came and pushed everyone out, describing how families had no choice but to leave. This is the first detailed account of how the evictions actually happened on the ground.
Hiding from the Patrol
When a vehicle's lights sweep the property, the three men scramble to hide in the cotton fields, showing that even being on the land you once farmed is now illegal and dangerous.
Evidence lanes
The moments you can actually use later.
Muley's Account of the Tractor Demolition
Muley describes watching a hired driver knock down his own family's house with a tractor, illustrating how the mechanized economy forces people to act against their own communities.
Hiding in the Fields
The scene where Tom, Casy, and Muley crouch in the dark to avoid the landowner's patrol demonstrates that tenant farmers have become trespassers on land their families worked for generations.
Section takeaways
What to carry forward.
The Land Is Lost for Good
The Joad family's connection to their ancestral farm is permanently severed before the journey even begins, which sets the emotional stakes for everything that follows on the road.
Muley as a Symbol of Rootedness Gone Wrong
Muley's refusal to leave, even without family or a plan, shows one extreme response to displacement — clinging to place at the cost of all else. Contrast him with the Joads who choose movement and family over land.
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How this guide is built
This guide is built from the original text to help you get oriented fast. It is designed for recall, paper planning, and getting unstuck, but it is still a paraphrased guide, not a substitute for the reading itself. Double-check anything important before you turn in formal work.