The Abandoned Cat

''The gray cat came out of the barn shed and trotted miaowing toward the fire, but, nearly there, it turned and went directly to one of the little piles of rabbit entrails on the ground.'' (Steinbeck 43)

Cats are known to be independent creatures. They tend to wander around the world by themselves, and feel as though they do not need anyones help. The Joads in The Grapes of Wrath come across what they think is an abandoned family cat. Just like a lot of other family pets, they are left abandoned and wander around by themselves in search of where their owner went. Tom recognizes it as an old family cat that is hanging around his abandoned family farm, in hopes the family that once lived there would return. This displacement of the family cay and it being abandoned, is the symbol Steinbeck tries to imply to his readers. Just like the Joads, the cat has been forced out of its home. The cat now lives in the wild and must survive by killing other creatures like mice and bugs. It has been evolved from a domestic animal to a wild animal, knowing its not safe anymore wherever it goes. It lived happily as the family pet, but now it has to do what it must do to survive and always watch its back. It hunts for its food and doesn't trust anyone along its way. Just like the joads throughout The Grapes Of Wrath, it has to go through desperate measures to survive in this type of environment.