Save the Cat rankings

THE GRAPES OF WRATH script analysis

THE GRAPES OF WRATH script - Save the Cat beat sheet analysis

Tom Joad returns from prison, reunites with his displaced family, and journeys westward to California amid Dust Bowl hardships. Along the way, the Joads endure loss and struggle in migrant camps, while Tom finds purpose in social justice. Ultimately, he must leave his family to protect them, embodying resilience and hope.

60 Save the Cat fit score 76% analysis confidence / 48 parsed scenes

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1

Opening Image

Scene 1 / Page 1 / 1% target

80%

Tom Joad walking alone on the highway sets the story’s bleak, itinerant tone.

How about a lift, mister?
2

Theme Stated

Scene 3 / Page 1 / 5% target

75%

Casy’s loss of faith hints at themes of purpose and community.

I lost the call. I got nothin' to preach about no more--that's all.
3

Set-Up

Scenes 5-10 / Pages 1-2 / 10% target

78%

The Joad cabin is found abandoned; Tom meets his family and learns of their plan to move to California.

Thank God. Oh thank God. Tommy, you didn't bust out, didya? You ain't got to hide, have you?
4

Catalyst

Scenes 6-7 / Pages 2-3 / 12% target

70%

Flashback to Muley’s eviction dramatizes the dispossession forcing families west.

You mean get off my own land?
5

Debate

Scenes 12-13 / Pages 3-4 / 20% target

77%

Family debates departure as Grampa refuses to go, revealing emotional stakes.

How you get all this money?
6

Break into Two

Scene 13 / Page 4 / 25% target

80%

The Joads set off in their truck toward California, entering Act Two.

California, here we come!
7

B Story

Scene 17 / Page 5 / 30% target

73%

At the camp, Ma takes on a maternal role, foreshadowing her leadership arc.

That's my part--that an' keepin' the fambly together.
8

Fun and Games

Scenes 19-21 / Pages 5-6 / 40% target

75%

The family crosses borders, rests by the river, and experiences California’s promise versus reality.

There she is, folks--the land a milk an' honey--California!
9

Midpoint

Scene 23 / Page 6 / 50% target

82%

Granma dies in the desert—an emotional low that reverses hope into crisis.

Seems like we wasn't never gonna do nothin' but move. I'm so tar'd.
10

Bad Guys Close In

Scenes 28-29 / Page 7 / 65% target

78%

Conflict with labor agents and deputies escalates; Casy is arrested during a camp fight.

Gimme that gun. Now git outa here. Go down in them willows an' wait.
11

All Is Lost

Scene 31 / Page 8 / 75% target

68%

Connie abandons Rose of Sharon, fracturing the family’s emotional unity.

12

Dark Night of the Soul

Scene 40 / Page 9 / 80% target

80%

Ma acknowledges the family’s disintegration as Tom lies wounded, reflecting despair.

They're crackin' up, Tom. They ain't no fambly now.
13

Break into Three

Scenes 45-46 / Page 10 / 85% target

83%

Tom decides to leave to protect his family, signaling the final act’s shift.

Then it don't matter. Then I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where--wherever you look. Wherever...
14

Finale

Scenes 47-48 / Page 11 / 95% target

75%

The Joads prepare for Fresno work, renewing collective action and hope without Tom.

Yes, sir, an' we aim to git in all twenny of 'em.
15

Final Image

Scene 48 / Page 11 / 99% target

79%

The family drives resiliently toward the future, echoing the opening journey but unified.

Twenty days work, oh boy!