ere a friend of his had gotten rich. He would work
for his part, and the women would work, and some of the children, doubtless--they would live somehow. Jurgis,
too, had heard of America. That was a country where,
they said, a man might earn three rubles a day ...
In that country, rich or poor, a man was free, it was
said; he did not have to go into the army, he did not
have to pay out his money to rascally officials--he
might do as he pleased, and count himself as good as
We are given no hint that Jurgis, his wife, and his friends left Lithuania with any regret. In contrast, the Joads do not head eagerly for California in pursuit of a dream. When we first meet them, they are struggling with all their strength to hold on to their land in the teeth of the drought.
...