The death of Pretty Boy Floyd
Charles Arthur Floyd (1904–1934) was also known as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, was regarded as “Oklahoma's most notorious and glorified folk bandit” (Michael). Although, Floyd was born in Georgia, he is usually associated with Oklahoma since he spend most of life there. He and some accomplices, were credited for “a string of more than thirty successful bank robberies across the Midwest, primarily in Ohio and Oklahoma” as well as being accused of many murders , he quickly become the number one outlaw at the time. However, Floyd was also “regarded as a modern-day Robin Hood” (Marvin) since he was known to rob money from a town’s bank and give the wealth back to the townspeople suffering from The Great Depression. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was one of the most celebrated outlaws following his death on October 22, 1934 by local law officers and FBI agents, his funeral had an “estimated twenty thousand to forty thousand people attended the outlaw's funeral in Sallisaw on October 28, 1934” (Richard) which made it “the largest funeral in Oklahoma history. (Michael) Both Floyd and Sallisaw, Oklahoma are mention in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath. First, the Joad family is said to be around the Oklahoma town, "We come from right near Sallisaw."(Steinbeck 90) Pa Joad claims and secondly, Ma Joad speaks of the character of “Purty Boy Floyd”. The most prominent statement of Floyd is found in chapter 8:
“Now she was looking at him, her mouth open, as though to hear better, her eyes digging to know better. Her face looked for the answer that is always concealed in language. She said in confusion, "I knowed Purty Boy Floyd. I knowed his ma. They was good folks. He was full of hell, sure, like a good boy oughta be." She paused and then her words poured out. "I don' know all like this—but I know it. He done a little bad thing an' they hurt 'im, caught 'im an' hurt him so he was mad, an' the nex' bad thing he done was mad, an' they hurt 'im again. An' purty soon he was mean-mad. They shot at him like a varmint, an' he shot back, an' then they run him like a coyote, an' him a-snappin' an' a-snarlin', mean as a lobo. An' he was mad. He wasn't no boy or no man no more, he was jus' a walkin' chunk a mean-mad. But the folks that knowed him didn't hurt 'im. He wasn' mad at them. Finally they run him down an' killed 'im. No matter how they say it in the paper how he was bad—that's how it was." She paused and licked her dry lips, and her whole face was an aching question. "I got to know, Tommy. Did they hurt you so much? Did they make you mad like that?" (Steinbeck 51)
Floyd is regarded as a valued figure for Oklahoma and the Joads since they come from the same area and era. Although Floyd was celebrated for his legacy, Ma Joad uses his appearance in the novel as a warning for the fate of her son Tom. Ma Joad may feel some sympathy for the Oklahoma hero and his mother, she also worries that Tom will become like Floyd following her son’s release from prison. In the same manner, after Floyd’s own release from prison until his death in 1934 he became the famous outlaws which Ma Joad must refer to the time Floyd became a “mad” boy. She claims Floyd was hurt and killed by the authorities and is concerned that Tom will become mad like Floyd too. Steinbeck references Floyd as an influential figure for Okies history however, he also uses Floyd’s life and death as a prime example to discipline Tom and keep the Joad Family together on their journey in California.