Rose of Sharon Joad is one of the most evolved characters from The Grapes of Wrath. When she is first introduced, Steinbeck portrays her as the stereotypical nineteen-year-old woman in the 1930’s; pregnant and married to her husband, Connie. She is a self-absorbed individual and lives with Connie and his family instead of her own family. She believes that her husband and their baby, as well as herself, are the only important things in her life. Her pregnancy changes her from an extremely outgoing and lively girl into a self-centered, tight-lipped, selfish woman. When the Joad family decides to pick up and migrate to California, Rose of Sharon is still dead set on caring only about herself and Connie. She does not realize the responsibilities she will have as a mother and a homemaker. As the hardships and distress of the journey increases, Connie begins to feel the pressure of becoming a father. This causes him to abandon Rose of Sharon and his unborn baby. Rose of Sharon has an epiphany at this point and realizes that the responsibilities associated with being a mother and a full-time provider for her family are far more involved that she initially envisioned.
Towards the end of her pregnancy, she works very hard picking cotton to help her family survive. However, she gets extremely
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“She moved slowly to the corner and stood looking down at the wasted face, into the wide, frightening eyes. Then slowly she lay down beside him. He shook his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast” (page 618). Rose of Sharon breastfeeds the starving man, and towards the end of the novel begins to understand the importance of life and her family. Her belief system changes dramatically and now she knows that being selfish is detrimental to her real core beliefs and newfound