The turtle is used to represent hope for the trip West. Steinbeck describes the turtle as struggling to cross a concrete highway and it almost gets across a truck hits it, flipping it over onto its back. The turtle fights to get back on its feet and eventually continues on its journey. The animal also faced obstacles such as a red ant which crawled on it and Tom Joad who captured it. This metaphor of the turtle’s struggles is used to represents the efforts of the Joads throughout the story since the Joads meet many obstacles just as the turtle has. For instance, they are forced off of their farm, lose family members, and are faced with having to find money, food, and shelter. Like the turtle, the Joads don’t give up and continue on with their journey despite such troubles. Everything the turtle encounters tries to stop it from reaching its destination; the same can be said about the Joad family.