The Grapes of Wrath: More Joads! (Ma, Pa, Rose of Sharon, Connie)

Ma Joad certainly wears the pants in the Joad family. Obviously, she is the mother of Tom and the other Joads, and she is a very strong, providing, and sorrow-filled woman. She slowly overtakes Pa Joad as the main provider for the family. I think she is the glue that holds the family together over the long journey to California. She even goes as far as to silently hide the death of Granma Joad because she knows that is will be best for everybody in the family. Pa Joad is yet another sad character in the novel. Of course, he is the father of the Joad family, and he tries his best to be the head of the family. Although he loves the family more than anything in the world, his efforts to keep the family going to tough times begin to fall short as they near California. His efforts to build a dam towards the end of the story prove his love for the family, but unfortunately, his love is not good enough without any jobs. Rose of Sharon is a very inspiring character to me. She begins the journey to California as a pregnant woman. She is an incredibly stereotypical pregnant woman in the sense that she was a vibrant girl, but she has become mysterious and silent. I believe she is the epitome of persistence. Her child is born dead, and her husband Connie flees, yet she still pushes on. By the end of the novel, she matures considerably, and she proves that goodness can come from even the grimmest of situations. For instance, when she finds the starving man in the barn, she presents herself as almost a saint. I can assume that the death of her child has caused her the most sorrow. Finally, Connie is the husband of Rose of Sharon, who by the way is the oldest daughter of the Joads. I think Connie is a bit of a dirt bag. He has his head up in the clouds, and he abandons the Joads and more importantly his wife when they reach California.