Grapes of Wrath: Awakening Of Tom Joad Grapes of Wraith by John Steinbeck portrayed the awakening of a man's conscience dealing with his troubling trials throughout the novel. The character that goes through this monumental change is Tom Joad, son of two tenant farmers from Oklahoma. Tom's conscience was changed from a loner who cared nothing about the people to a hardy leader of them. He first looked after his family on their trip that evolved into including the impoverished migrant farmers in California. At the beginning of the novel Tom Joad has just been paroled after spending four years in a state prison. He stops at a roadside cafe looking f