Choice Beigemeter™ exchange of the film, between Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) and Jim Casy (John Carradine):

Tom Joad: Killed a guy in a dance hall. We was drunk. He got a knife in me and I laid him out with a shovel. Knocked his head plumb to squash.

Jim Casy: You ain’t ashamed?

Tom Joad: No. He had a knife in me. That’s why they only gave me seven years. I got out in four. Parole.

AKA Tell Us Tom Joad is White Without Telling Us Tom Joad is White.