1.) I interpret the ending of the book in two different ways. One, it was interesting that Steinbeck ended his novel this way but I think he wanted the readers to be left with the impression of Ma and Rose of Sharon's act of kindness to help a totally stranger out. Two, Rose of Sharon went to an extreme to help this man out. If I were in her shoes I do not think my answer would have been a yes to Ma, but Rose of Sharon has seen her family give up so much for her that the least she can do is help someone. If she did not let the man drink her milk he would have died shortly after leaving his little boy stranded alone in that barn. The way the book ended left me questioning. What happened to the Joads, do they survive the flooding and get their stuff back and find more work, does the sick man survive thanks to Rose of Sharon. I want to know more.
Rose of Sharon was said to have a mysterious smile on her face at the end of the book, I think it was described as mysterious because she now knows what it is like to help someone out but her feeling has to be one of why am I doing this for a totally stranger?
2.) As the book ends I see the Joad's future as one filled with many more challenges but with the feeling that they are going to somehow prepare for winter and settle down in the new land taking one day at a time. They will handle challenges as each one arises. From the beginning of this book they have faced so many challenges and one-by-one they were able to overcome them and they will do the same for the challenges that are yet to come. Challenges are a big part of who people are and how they overcome those challenges. They will survive by staying together as a family and not by just helping themselves but by helping others out. When people come together in times of need, people survive.
I agree with you that the ending was very strange, and like you i don't think i would have been able to do what Rose of Sharon did. I wanted to know more in the ending, i do not enjoy reading a book in which you have to make up your ending.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your last statement, "When people come together in times of need, people survive." It is true. People who do act more like family than enemies, things tend to go better for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Rose thinks she should help just as her family, because the entire book she's been pregnant and cared for so she may have felt like a burden and with this act she maybe felt the burden was lifted as she saved a mans life. I agree also that the Joad's journey will not be an easy one but they are definitely strong enough to make it
ReplyDeleteResponding to your second paragraph, I also think that they will settle down and overcome new challenges. One possible way the reader can know this is Rose of Sharon's smile. I think her smile was Steinbeck's way of saying that the Joad family will find peace and be happier.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Rose of Sharron went to a big extreme. I think this showed that Rose of Sharron lost her child-like ways of being selfish and became selfless. She put aside her own thoughts and emotions to simply feed a starving man.
ReplyDeleteMore information would have been nice towards the end, I agree. I think it wouldn't have been as bad except that there seemed to be a character change at the very end in Rose. She went from a selfish woman to one willing to make huge sacrifices. The smile at the end left us wondering too.
ReplyDeleteThe Joads are definitely going to need all they have to even survive. From what we know of them, they will go down fighting, especially young Tom. Tom himself could easily (if it were real) become a catalyst in making the impoverished stand up again. As we know, America pulled out of the depression, and it's interesting to think of what happened to those families in the Joad's situation, how they survived. It'd be rough, but we know some of them did it.
I think what rose did, was very selfless. It had to be awkward for her to go through that too, but if it made the chance of that mans survive higher, she knew that she had to do it.
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