Pa broke in, "Yeah, ever’ night Grampa’d get mad. Tumble over Winfield, an’ Winfield’d yell, an’ Grampa’d get mad an’ wet his drawers, an’ that’d make him madder, an’ purty soon ever’body in the house’d be yellin’ their head off." His words tumbled out between chuckles. "Oh, we had lively times. One night when ever’body was yellin’ an’ a-cussin’, your brother Al, he’s a smart aleck now, he says, ‘Goddamn it, Grampa, why don’t you run off an’ be a pirate?’ Well, that made Grampa so goddamn mad he went for his gun. Al had ta sleep out in the fiel’ that night. But now Granma an’ Grampa both sleeps in the barn."
Ma said, "They can jus’ get up an’ step outside when they feel like it. Pa, run on out an’ tell ’em Tommy’s home. Grampa’s a favorite of him."

– John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 8. Here Pa Joad tells us about Grampa and Granma Joad, two characters that provide comic relief in the novel. Grampa is a senile dirty old man, and the devoutly religious and strong-willed Granma is in charge of him. They have to sleep in the barn because of their need to get up so often in the early hours to use the bathroom.