The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic novel that follows the Joad family, a family of Oklahoma farmers, as they migrate to California during the Great Depression. The two crossword solutions for characters in the novel are 'Okies' (5 letters) and 'MIGRANTS' (8 letters). Okies refers to the people of Oklahoma who were forced to leave their homes due to the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, while MIGRANTS refers to the people who traveled from all over the United States to California in search of work.