I'll be answering questions 1 and 2.
1: The end of the book was weird for me. Honestly, I felt like out of all the endings Steinbeck could have chosen to end "The Grapes of Wrath " with, this is one of the worst. The complete oddity and absurdity of this moment definitely have meanings and I know Steinbeck was trying to convey just how desperate the times were, but it still verges on silly. I wouldn't be so critical if it wasn't for the 'mysterious smile', but that was the icing on the cake. It was almost as if she enjoyed it. Why would an author end such a well-written book with an ending that leaves you trying to forget it? I think what he was trying to tell us is that Rose of Sharon has finally gotten over herself because now she can breast-feed strangers. She smiled mysteriously because, just like in the beginning of the book, she is proud of herself and her ability to breast-feed full-grown starving men.
2: The Joads are left in dire straights at the end of the book. They are broke, Tom is missing and they are stuck in the rain without any jobs available. I talked about this in my paper, how a body can only lose so many limbs before it becomes useless. At this point in time, half the Joads are left and there situation is more desperate than it has been the whole book. Pa seems to be retreating, becoming less and less a man with every chapter, and I don't see any hope for his character. Uncle John, I think, could easily be on the verge of a mental collapse, but I think that he will help the family until his dying breath. He is loyal, and even though he has other blemishes, that will always remain. Ma is stretching herself thin. There are only so many things one person can do, and she is trying to take care of the family by leading and cooking and planning and basically everything. She will work herself into an early grave. The young children are loved by all of the family, and will most likely survive. Or if none survive they will die last. I hope that in Steinbeck's mind, the children live and grow old, knowing the hard times as only a small chapter in their lives. Rose of Sharon seems to have lost her mind, so I don't know what will happen to her. Her character took such a major change in the last paragraph of the book it's like she was just introduced as a new character. If Pa can hold it together and Ma doesn't work herself too hard, the family may just survive their horrors.
I disagree with you on the fate of the Joads. I really do think that they're gonna survive, as they're not just characters in the story, but they basically represent the entirety of the working class in America at that time, and if they died, wouldn't that be the final nail in the coffin for that entire class of people? I think Steinbeck paints a pretty bleak portrait at the end of the novel, but he's ultimately optimistic about the fate of the Joads.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion of the ending! I wish it would have resolved something! They had so many problems and I really would have loved an ending that would have made one of them go away or at least wrap up the book. I feel like it left you hanging as a reader. Silly is definitely the right word for this ending!
ReplyDeleteI really like your views on Rose of Sharon. It was an odd way to end the book. But to look at the other side, I took the "mysterious smile" as a way of showing she was now looking out for others. She is being the mother character even though she lost her own child. I guess I'm always looking for the optimistic side. Anyway I think you hit there future dead on. Its nice to see a book written with such detail that we can guess the future of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with all of this. I am led to believe that somehow the Joads will make it through as that is exactly what they did the whole book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the end of the book being weird. I didn't like it because it was a little confusing and it just ends at rose of Sharon smile mysteriously. I like how you compared the Joads being broke to a body, it's a nice way to describe that. I think that Ma can survive but she has to get the entire family to not give up and go on.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Joads are left in dire at the end of this novel. I think Rose of Sharon's smile tells us that happier times are to come and they will overcome future obstacles.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you saying the Joads are broken. They have struggled so much and a family can only be pushed so far. They have had to give up everything and have lost most the people on their journey. I think that slowly either each person will leave, or die. I would have been a better ending if they had died out, but Steinbeck must have his reasons.
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