What is the meaning of the reference to purty boy floyd??

Question

grapes of wrath. haha. kill me.

Answer 1

Pretty Boy Floyd was a famous gangster, said to be quite handsome. I no longer recall the reference in Grapes of Wrath, though.

Answer 2

Ma Joad brought up the subject of Pretty Boy Floyd to Tom to illustrate her fear that prison may have changed Tom for the worse. She said that she knew Pretty Boy Floyd's mother and according to her that's what happened to Floyd; prison made him worse than he was before. Ma loved Tom and feared that his prison stay may have changed him into someone she didn't know at all.