The Grapes of Wrath: The Role of Ma Joad

‘‘My mother did not treat me this way because she didn’t love me. She would say this biting back her tongue, so she wouldn’t wish for something that was no longer hers.’’ The strong mother-daughter connection is not broken, even when Lindo’s mother is no longer with her and she cannot express her love directly to her. The bond is also shown in Anmei’s statement that, ‘‘[y]our mother is in your bones.’’ Meaning that no matter where the mother is and even if she does not know if her children are still alive, she will always love

First, her reading is too hopeful. If Steinbeck does wish to relate the Joad family to many American families, what is his end goal? The Joad family suffers relentlessly from the start to the end of the novel. Crockett fails to comprehend the full function of Steinbeck’s biblical allusions. They are not merely used to establish parallels among characters and readers, but to illustrate their incompatibility with reality. Hence, Steinbeck does not use biblical allusions to relate characters to readers, but to highlight the unrelatability between the characters in his book, and the characters in the bible. Characters in the bible suffer temporarily, while his characters suffer perpetually.

One would say that on a literal level The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is about the Joad family's journey to California during The Dust Bowl. However, it is also about the unity of a family and the concept of birth and death, both literal and abstract. Along with this, the idea of a family unit is explored through these births and deaths.

Ma's character change is an important part of the novel, because while the men in the novel tend to see life in short little spurts, the women see life as a never-ending circle, and they understand life must go on, no matter what. The sudden change in Ma's nature shows early signs of the soon to be womens suffrage.

This quote, “her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding.” Shows the way Steinbeck uses his words so that we can understand the relationship between women, being Ma, and pain. At the beginning of the book Ma is strong, but by the end of the book Ma surprisingly, has grown even stronger than before. Steinbeck states “she seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.” This quote foreshadows the events to come and the change in personality of Ma.

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 Grapes of Wrath tells the story of two types of ‘families’ in that the Joads are a factual one and the body of migrant workers as the other. The Joads are actual blood

Ma made countless sacrifices for the family, the best example was when Grandma died. The family could not risked being stopped and not let into California. So Ma does the only thing she could think of, she lies to the guard, saying that grandma was sick and needed a doctor. She spends hours with the body waiting until a safe time to tell the family about the tragedy. In nearly every action, Ma always puts the family first even above her own needs but sometimes she will even put strangers above her as well. When they come across the starving kids at the camp Ma can’t help but feed them even if her family disagrees with her she decides that the children deserve to eat to. Ma thinks of everyone as if she is thinking of herself, making her one with the whole community, thus fulfilling the oversoul concept. While these sacrifices may seem small they take a great deal of leadership and

The novel The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck uses analogies throughout the story to reinforce the themes of hardship, struggle, and danger of people heading west in search of a better life during the Depression of the 1930’s. Steinbeck devotes the time and pages early in the story to develop one analogy. The difficult journey of a turtle trying to make its way across the road foreshadows the tribulations of the Joad family’s venture to California. The innocent turtle crossing the highway serves to emphasize the Joad's journey to California, full of hardship and struggle. The Joad’s family is looking for work and a new life in California much like the turtle wanting to continue his journey on the other side of the road, but

The third idea working to persuade readers was the importance of people staying together. In regards to the Joad family and all migrating families as a whole, it seemed most beneficial to remain unified and to work as a team. Ma Joad was always very concerned that her family stuck together. It was important that Grandpa traveled along with the family when they were first leaving in Chapter 10 and she felt the same about Tom when he wanted to leave in Chapter 26, even though it was safer for the family she wanted her son to stay. Not only was it important for the Joads to remain compact, but everyone who was

Despite her confidence, Mahepaola is very caring. She is eager to see to the needs of others well before the needs of herself, this goes doubly so for her friends and family whom she would protect with her life. Even so, she is laid back - and encourages others to be as well.

There is the unconditional love of one man, Maheu, for his family, and the sacrifices he must endure for them. Maheu is a hard worker, and in his heart he believes in the innate goodness of man. He cannot accept, for example, that soldiers brought in to defend the mine would fire on their own countrymen.

Her siblings, especially Fourth Brother and Big Sister, are the main people who inflict harm on her. For example, in the quote “But then Mama died, giving

Jordan and her mother have a good secure attachment style. Jordan’s mom is able to help Jordan calm down, they sit down when Jordan is upset and they take deep breaths together. By doing this Jordan is learning how to regulate her own emotions. This will continue to help her throughout life. Learning these things now with her mom will nurture her self-esteem and self-worth, therefor bringing her up to be successful.

Family Themes. The family functions in a structured hierarchy, with James as the head, followed by Kim and Juanita. As the homeowner, James has a significant control over what happens in the home. Due to a strained relationship, Juanita avoids her grandfather when possible. One might speculate, Juanita is isolated and feels rejected from the family unit. Juanita expresses sadness due to her lack of ability to emotionally bond with Jacoby, as well as her three children with Andres.