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Grapes of Wrath|We+re the people go on X In times of hardship, nothing is more important to a struggling family than unity. This point is embodied in the literary masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck. In this story, family unity is necessary in order for the Joad's to survive their incredible journey from Oklahoma to their new home in California. During their trip they encounter many problems that threaten to tear the family apart. Through all their struggles, Ma Joad emerges as the backbone of the family and keeps the family going through the worst of times.
Two more women in this novel, Rose of Sharon and Sairy Wilson also demonstrate similar qualities. All three women place the needs of others above their own. They succeed in giving a disheartened family the necessary strength and encouragement needed in order to survive. Ma Joad is the leader of a family who has to face many hardships in the continuous struggle to survive. The Joad family is forced by the bank to leave their home and start a new life in a strange land. Ma symbolizes the strength and courage of her family as well as the fortitude of all migrant people.
Through all the troubles they experience, Ma never gives up trying to keep her family together. Ma Joad both provides the best she can for her own family while selflessly helping out other families who are also desperately in need. While cooking stew for her family in Hooverville, some hungry children gather around begging for food. Although she barely has enough to feed her own family, she can not bear to turn away starving children. She unselfishly shares the little food that she has with all of the children. Actions such as these, are made by Ma throughout the entire story.
Later on she tells her friend Mrs. Wainwright, |Use+ ta be the family was first. It aint so now. It+s anybody. Worse off we get, the more we got to doX (Steinbeck 427). Even though the family fails to remain together, Ma+s efforts were not done in vain.
She tries her hardest, which is a triumph all in itself. Sairy Wilson only appears briefly during the story but makes an important impact on the Joad family. Although Sairy is very sick and weak, she tries to hide her own pain and offers to help the Joad's in any way she can. When Grampa Joad is close to death, Sairy and her husband Ivy graciously give their tent to him so he can rest. |Come on over now.
You+ll get some rest. We+ll he+p you over X (132). Shortly thereafter, Grampa dies from a stroke while lying on their mattress. The Joad's are very grateful for the Wilsons+ kindness in their time of need and offer to help them in return by fixing their car. The chapter ends with, |The families were quiet and sleeping. Only Sairy Wilson was awake.
She stared into the sky and braced her body firmly against the pain X (146). This shows true courage in a time of darkness. Rose of Sharon shows her utmost kindness to a tired old man at the end of story. The man+s son tells the Joad's that his father has not eaten for six days and will soon die if he does not receive help. At this point he is so weak that he can only consume soup or milk. Rose of Sharon is his only hope to live and she realizes this.
The milk that was intended for her lost child is given to the helpless old man. What makes this act of kindness even more powerful and dramatic is that the man is a total stranger to the family. Rose of Sharon's act, though dignified by various religious and mythic allusions, needs only its own power to demonstrate nobility. The transformation of her nature in a moment of crisis merely epitomizes the general movement of the novel from concerns of the flesh to concerns of the spirit. (John R. Reed) All three women place the needs of others above their own. They succeed in giving a disheartened family the necessary strength and encouragement needed in order to survive.
In addition to helping members of their own families, they support and nurture those who are most in need. Through their small acts of kindness, they have made a world of difference to the people around them. Both their selflessness and their willingness to sacrifice elevates their roles and status from ordinary mothers, wives and daughters to great women of compassion and true understanding of the nature of giving. At one of the family+s darkest hours, when the camp they were staying at is burned down by angry townspeople, Ma Joad tells her son Tom, |Why, Tom people will go on livin+ when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we+re the people that live.
They ain+t gonna wipe us out. Why, we+re the people go on X (272). 326
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Research essay sample on Rose Of Sharon Order To Survive