Gender Norms In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath is a very unique piece of American Literature. A characteristic that makes it so much different than other great American novels is John Steinbeck's transition from 'I to we'. The concept of 'I to we' is used to emphasize the importance of cooperating in a group and the many families suffering due to the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. The first instance where a shift from 'I to we' takes place is when the family is packing the truck. Although none of the Joads are conscious of their shift from 'I to we', their transition is fulfilled by committing themselves to their specific jobs which unifies the family, and setting aside gender roles in order to work together efficiently.

The Joads unify through the each family member's

At first, the men assume the tasks that men normally would do such as slaughtering the pigs and loading the truck, and the women take on jobs usually done by a woman such as packing the clothes and preparing meals. However, this concept of roles defined by gender is shattered when Jim Casy offers to take over the salting process for Ma. Casy realizes that there is so much to do in such little time. He knows that since he is not a part of the family that there are not many jobs that he can take on besides salting the meat. Instead of sitting around and taking time to rest up for the journey, he insists that Ma hands over salting duty to him, "they's too much of it to split it up to men's and women's work. You got stuff to do. Leave me salt the meat," (Steinbeck 107). Casy breaks down gender to barriers and the sexes work together as one, without boundaries. It may not seem like a big deal that Casy insists on helping salt the meat, but at the time, this was a revolutionary gesture. Even Ma is skeptical and "stopped her work and inspected him oddly, as though he suggested a curious thing," (Steinbeck 107). Casy manifests the shift from 'I to we' by breaking the gender roles and norms of the time and assuming a role in the kitchen, a place that he did not belong according to societal standards of the

Although Casy seems to understand the shift from 'I to we' when he discloses his radical take on Emerson's theory of the Oversoul to Tom, it is merely Steinbeck's way of introduce the concept of the shift from 'I to we' to the reader. Casy is not made conscious of the move from 'I to we' until he tells Tom, "they's hundreds a families like us all a-goin' west," (Steinbeck 173). Casy's observation of the hundereds of other migrant families moving west is the epitome of a character realizing that the Joad family is not alone; others will help them and need help from them, thus coming into awareness of the shift from 'I to we'. Other characters such as Ma, Tom, and Rose of Sharon come into understanding with the concept of 'I to we' a while later in the novel. Ma does not realize the shift until she is cooking stew in the Hooverville and notices all of the starving children that need food and the fact that she does not even have enough food for her family. Tom embraces the shift from 'I to we' when he takes on a leadership role in the Weedpatch camp and helps keep peace in the government established haven. Rose of Sharon finally recognizes the shift from 'I to we' when she saves a starving father by providing him with nourishment. Even though it takes others longer to realize and accept the transition from 'I to we', each Joad eventually