Grapes of Wrath (1939) is the work for which John Ernst Steinbeck won the annual National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for novels. It starts with the protagonist, Tom Joad coming out of prison and going home. There, he finds his house empty: he is told the family has gone to stay at Uncle John Joad’s home nearby and the banks have expelled (mandato via) all the farmers from their land. At Uncle John’s Tom finds his family while loading (caricando) a truck (un camion) with their poor possessions. They are leaving because of drought (siccità) and economic hardship (difficoltà economiche) and are going to the fruitful state (promettente stato) of California. Tom decides to leave with them even if he is out of prison on parole (rilasciato sulla parola). On Route 66, the family find other families attracted by the same promise. During the journey their grandparents die and some members leave the family. But Mother decides to go on. In California the situation is not as they hoped: there is an oversupply of labor (troppa richiesta di lavoro) and a lack of rights (mancanza di diritti). They go to work at Weedpatch Camp, a camp managed (diretto) by the Resettlement Administration, a New Deal agency which help the migrants. To defend the labourers (lavoratori) some people try to organize union (sindacati). Casy, a man who joined (si unì) the Joad family in their journey, is involved (è coinvolto) in a violent strike(sciopero). Tom sees that Casey is in danger (pericolo) and kills one of his attacker becoming a fugitive. The family go to work in a cotton farm where Tom is at risk of being identified for the murder (rischia di essere identificato come assassino) he committed and leaves his mother, promising he will be a tireless advocate (un difensore instancabile) for the oppressed. Ma Joad remains with the rest of the family and when their land is flooded (allagata), they move to a higher ground (terreno più alto). In 1940 a famous Hollywood film version was directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda. In 1989, the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress selected this film – together with other 25 – for preservation as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.