Behavior In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

In the psychological community, behavior is thought to be heavily influenced by situation as well as inner character. This extends to the psychological and moral aspects, as Pauline Hopkins so eloquently states. They say the best way to see what a character is truly made of is to break them. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck deftly executes this by putting each and every character through rigorous trials and tribulations. Some rise up to meet the challenge head on, while others fade away. The children are resilient, they will adjust. The elders are stubborn, to uproot them would surely mean death. It is in the adults that we see the most variety. Though the men are said to be the strength of the family, and it is only their breaking that

To what they believe to be the next coming of the promised land. But the rules of life are different here. The law is upside down, and the family hierarchy threatens to topple. Pa Joad is of weaker stock than Ma. He cannot adapt and still clings fervently to the past. So as he falls back, Ma Joad steps up to the plate as the power of the family. No longer can she be content to remain in the background if she wants her family to remain alive and together. When Tom suggests that he stay back to fix the car, she rages against the idea despite her husband, the man of the family, ordering her to listen. Still, it is to no avail. “The eyes of the whole family shifted back to Ma. She was the power. She had taken control.” (pg. 114). This is not the first, nor the last time the word power is used in context with Ma Joad. Seeing that her family is in danger of splitting up, she does what is necessary even if that something means that all the laws of gender roles are now in the dust. She blatantly rallies against the word of the man in charge, not privately, but where everyone can see and hear. In this moment, the roles shift and she is now the leader of the Joad Family. And so begins a trend in Ma Joad. The change in setting brings out a new side. Now, she fights. She fights the guards at the California border. She fights the deeply religious woman who spooks Rose of Sharon and in doing this her role in life and family contradicts every

Both Noah and Connie leave, Grandpa and Granma die, Tom flees, the baby never quite truly lives, and Pa cannot cope with his culturally enforced responsibility. But Ma? Ma Joad survives to lead what is left of her family to success however great or small. The Grapes of Wrath introduces a rather foreign concept in literature, in that, women become stronger in migration, while the men are not strong enough to do likewise. As geography changes, so too does culture, and the power of women emerge. Ma Joad is the very heart of this story. She is a prime example of a ‘pioneer’ woman who survives through her boundless love of her family, and belief that they shall overcome. The men can break all they like, but she refuses to cave. After all, “we're the people--we go