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The Wilson couple’s travel with the Joad family illustrates the power of collectivity and community in difficult times. Their appearance in Chapter 13 initially creates stark contrast with the rude gas station owner from earlier in the chapter. The encounter at the gas station is tense because of the owner’s self-interested stinginess, but the encounter with the Wilsons almost instantaneously turns warm and welcoming. Tom, upon encountering the Wilsons, insists on asking their permission to camp nearby, treating them with dignity simply because they’re human. Ivy responds in kind, treating the Joads with kindness. Grampa Joad’s death only deepens the intimacy of this warm atmosphere. As Sairy puts it, the opportunity to help the Joads in a time of grief gives Ivy and herself purpose and comfort. Traveling with the Wilsons also helps the Joad family to keep their car from overloading, allowing it to handle the mountains later in their journey to California. In addition to this concrete practicality, the Wilsons quite literally take on some of the heavy burden of travel, symbolizing how community allows people to do more and go further than they would have alone.
Although the Wilsons and the Joads eventually part ways because of Sairy’s ill health, her deathbed conversation with Jim Casy further highlights the Wilsons’s role in the theme of community. After asking Casy to pray for her, Sairy explains that she believes praying for someone is similar to singing for someone in that both forge a deep closeness and connection. Her statement that she’s glad she never ended up singing in the theater highlights her desire to be directly with people by singing for them. Just as Jim Casy has rejected preaching because he wants to be among the people, so is Sairy glad that she never separated herself from people by singing on stage. Both Sairy and Casy instead find purpose in being with people, helping foster community. Their overall message is that community and communal joy require equality and closeness amongst the group.
