Tom Joad's Conflict Resolution

As the novel The Grapes of Wrath drew to a close, Tom Joad's initial conflict of having to face prejudice after being let out of prison comes to a weird close. He kills a police officer. The quote is "The first time he knew he had missed and struck a shoulder, but the second time his crushing blow found the head, and as the heavy man sank down, three more blows found his head." Like what? Why would someone do that after just being released from prison for manslaughter? That's kind of ridiculous. But it goes to show the desperation and the anger that Joad experienced throughout the novel because of the prejudices that others had against him. What he felt inside of him led him to kill a police officer brutally with a pick-handle. I guess that just goes to show what hunger and the strife of living in such poverty will do to a person. I feel for the guy.