Character Analysis Of Ma Joad In The Grapes Of Wrath

Ma Joad is the driving force. She is determined to get to California, because she believes that life will be better in California. Because she is so keen on getting to California, she often tries to take the power of the family, and take the man’s job. Ma believes that the family will get to California only with the desire of everyone involved, and only if everyone participates in making it happen. She keeps motivation strong throughout the entire book. Even though she often confines herself to gender roles, she is often able to take power to motivate the group to move on, even in the toughest situations.

The extent of Ma’s personality continues to unfold throughout the book. The Joad’s are centered around Ma and the way she shows leadership and growth. In the beginning of this section, Ma is simply a common woman, a woman of faith, love, strength, and courage. Everything that happens to the Joad’s, Ma feels in her heart. She gives us an example of what it is like to be women during the dust bowl/ depression.

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is considered by many to be the hallmark of American literature. It covers the journey of the Joad family as they stick together through one of the harshest eras in American history, the Great Depression. The structure of the Joad’s narrative is interspersed by smaller, highly descriptive interchapters, which sets the novel apart from other classics in its ability to make the reader understand and relate to the Joads and everything they went through. The detailed, impactful vignettes foreshadow problems the Joads have to overcome and the overview descriptions in the vignettes contrast with the specificities of the Joad’s story. They contain Biblical allusions, colorful descriptions, and objects that can interact with the main characters later in the narrative. Through the use of imagery and diction, the vignettes make Steinbeck’s message more impactful and meaningful.

In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck depicts the stories of migrant families during the Dust Bowl, where dust covered plantations, resulting in barren fields with incapabilities to grow crops. Due to barren lands, landowners forced the farmers off the fields, which causes the farmers to lose all of the reasons to stay. Therefore, the farmers set out onto a new journey that will hopefully lead them to a place where life can restart. However, this journey is not a perfectly smooth path; on the journey, the farmers face various adversities. Out of the countless families, John Steinbeck highlights the Joad family, who suffers through numerous misfortunes on the way West, toward California. Through the Joad family, Steinbeck portrays the novel as a form of social protest by emphasizing the unjust treatments the families receive , the deterioration of the false allusions the families hold of the American Dream, and by suggesting a future revolt of the working class.

The family has to deal with the native Californians who fear that these newcomers will take their jobs and their lands. These Californians try to keep the migrants out, and some even use violence to do so. In addition, the "[f]amily's fallin' apart" (294). Granma and Grampa died, and Noah and Connie leave the family. Although Ma tries to keep the family together, some of them leave unexpectedly through death and some leave willingly. The departure of family members stresses the Joads even more. Despite these difficulties, the journey is necessary because it is a quest that will allow the family to develop. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the author explains that every trip is a quest. Following his structure for "quest," the Joads are the quester who has a stated reason to go to California, which is to find jobs. During the trip, the Joads face multiple obstacles: finance, deaths, transportation issues, and brutal policemen. These difficulties, however, bond the family. They work together to overcome these obstacles: "When the cars pulled into the camping places, each member had his duty and went to it without instruction" (267). Ma realizes the importance of family and tries to keep the family together. Tom also later realizes the power of people, and he expresses his anger toward the companies, "Well, s'pose them people got together an' says, 'Let em rot.' Wouldn' be long 'fore the price went up, by God" (336). If the people work together and not just one family but every family work together, people will have the power to fight against the companies and banks. So, learning the power of people and working together is the real reason for the

The definition of Ma’s character could be found in the way she took care of her family. She fiercely defends and hides her son who broke his parole, and serve as a nurse to her pregnant daughter. She definitely devotes her time into the family’s needs which makes her their stronghold even before their long journey to California begins. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself.

In Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, he describes the struggle of the small farmer and farmworker. The principal characters define quiet dignity and courage in their struggle to survive and in the caring for their loved ones. Through this novel, Steinbeck displays his respect for all the poor and oppressed of our world.

Her emotions caused by their circumstances help institute the concerned tone of the novel. While Ma’s attitude clearly creates a concerned tone, her looking back appears to not be the only demonstration of the theme. Granpa’s late hesitation to the move supports the concerned theme as well.

“They had no argument, no system, nothing but their numbers and their needs. When there was work for a man, ten men fought for it – fought with a low wage. If that fella’ll work for thirty cents, I’ll work for twenty-five”(Steinbeck). The renowned novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is a realistic portrayal of life and social conditions during the 30’s when the Dust Bowl swept across the nation, causing many to fall deeper into the depression. This caused many families to leave their homes in search of a safer and more hopeful land. The Grapes of Wrath follows Tom Joad, his family, and many other migrant farmers as they migrate from their Oklahoma farms into their new, hope filled life in California. The struggles that these characters endure

The novel The Grapes of Wrath is in many ways a one-of-a-kind piece of literature. This work is set up unlike any other book, written in a series of chapters and inter-chapters, which do a remarkable job of informing the reader of the travels the characters in the book are going through. Not only does the story focus on the problems one family goes through, but explains the problem is happening to many more civilians than the story focus's on. Steinbeck does not leave out a single detail about the Joad family and their journey to California, and that in itself is what makes his writing so entertaining. Not only is this a very powerful topic to write about, but the remarkable writing style of author John Steinbeck makes this book a

The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, is a story that construes the journey of the Joad family through the brutal migration from Oklahoma 's destroying Dust Bowl to California corrupt promised land. Through the depiction of events and portrayal of characters, the bible takes part in the novel as one whole allusion. The anecdote of the struggle for survival in the fallen state of Oklahoma and in the “promised land” of California, reveals the same ideas shown as we explore in the bible. In The Grapes of Wrath, author John Steinbeck integrates the allegory of biblical references and values to create the image of a family’s journey to California during the Dust Bowl of the early 1900s.

“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath the migrants imagined the absolute aspects of living care free to the west. However, everything changed once they traveled to the west, realizing the simple concept turned into hazardous problems. John Steinback emphasized the American dream of economic stability and truculent situations towards the Joads family's point of view. Throughout the immigration, the Joads family goes through constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The novel has been called by critics "a celebration of the human spirit", in several ways it is true due to the aspects of human nature. Despite the hazardous actions people can do, it is important to realize everything around us.

“…seems to be the glue that holds this family together” (Hams 1). Through the journey to California, there are many struggles faced along the way but she retained her composure and remained calm just to appear strong for the family. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken” (100). The position Ma is in is not effortless. She puts in a great deal of effort to remain the rock of the family, even though she has lost her many possessions. Without her, there wouldn’t be a Joad family.

In chapter ten, Ma confesses to her son that she has doubts about finding work in California. She has little faith in what awaits the family. Tom reassures her by telling her what he told her before, that the only way to survive was to live from day to day and not worry about the future, and the things she could not control or predict. This helps to Ma have the confidence to lead the family during the journey. The rest of the novel is just about the family doing what they can to survive from one day to the next, never knowing what tomorrow held in store for

As the book progresses, the changes within the family are characterized differently in each character. Mrs. Joad's primary concern is keeping the family unit together as they begin their journey. Soon, however, members of the family begin to leave. Noah cannot handle the changes and goes off on his own while Grandpa and Grandma leave through death. Connie abandons his wife and does not return. Al becomes engaged and goes with his fiancée's family. Even Young Tom leaves after he has accidentally killed another man and has to go into hiding. Mrs. Joad deals with each of these losses and appears to be stronger as the story continues, even making the decision for Tom to leave as it becomes necessary.