For this essay on John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, I have chosen to do a character analysis. The character that I chose is Ma Jode. I have chosen Ma Jode, because I think she is one or the most important characters in the book.
Ma Jode is the most important character because she is very strong-minded. Ma and the family know that she is the backbone of the family and she is very strong-minded, so if she shows any concern or weakness, the family may fall apart. If there is anything on Ma’s mind she must not show any sign of it around the family. Ma might be just as frightened with doubts and fear as the rest of the family, but she always maintains a strong figure or leader.
In order for things to go Ma’s way, she must push for them. There are many situations were Ma has to push and put order back and continue strong leader as she is displayed as. An example of were Ma must stay strong is when the family agrees to let Tom and Casey stay behind, to fix the Wilson’s car, without her approval, and she thinks that that will break up the family. After that incident, she pretty much replaces Pa’s place as the head of the family. Another big situation is when she is threatening a police man with a pan, and she tells the family there leaving the government camp. Pa’s gets pissed because his power became lessened due to Ma’s leadership, Pa says “Seems like the times are changing.”
Ma’s loves her family so much that she often sacrifices he own well being to help out the family in any way that she can possible do it. An example of her doing so, is when Grandma is dying. The family stops at the boarder of California and she fears that if the guard know the grandma is dead, they wont let them in, so she lies to the guard and tell them that grandma is very sick and she needs to see a doctor. Ma sits next to grandma for the rest of the night. That is a big sacrifice for the family, because she had to lay next to a dead person all night just to get her family through to California.
During the hole journey for the Jode family Ma is the strongest, and upheld character of the book.
Al Joad is a fairly skinny guy of medium built who starts out being a
In the 1930s, America’s Great Plains experienced a disastrous drought causing thousands of people to migrate west. As their land was devastated by the Dust Bowl, deprived farmers were left with few options but to leave. The Grapes of Wrath depicts the journey of the Joads, an Oklahoma based family which decides to move to California in search of better conditions. Coming together as thirteen people at the start, the Joads will undertake what represents both a challenge and their only hope. Among them are only four women embodying every ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II).
Family is a story about slaves, masters of the land, and the interconnectedness of what it means to be “family”. Loretta is the daughter of the Master of the Land and as a child spends time with Sun even teaching him to read. She was going against the law in doing this and she helped him to escape. Loretta was not a mean person; she risked a lot for Sun and truly cared about him. She knew he was her half-brother and treated him with respect. When Sun left he promised he would send for her, but he never did. He sent letters asking how his sisters were and she became jealous. Loretta had power over the slaves because she was the white daughter of the master and as she grew more jealous and learned the ranks in society she changed. She took out her anger and jealousy out on Peach, Plum, and Always. She became evil and all the goodness in her heart was gone. Due to the experiences in her life, she adapted to accommodate for her jealousy and to take on the role of Mistress of the Land. Under different circumstances in a different time period this might not have been the outcome. As a chil...
or fear." Thus, if Ma acts as if everything is all right, then the family
Character arcs, a primary method of keeping the reader’s emotions tied to the novel and its characters in order to maintain their interest. This method of character development is often implored by writers such as John Steinbeck; this can be observed in his novel The Grapes Of Wrath. An example of such a character arc is Tom Joad’s spiritual and emotional development, as he gradually becomes Jim Casy’s spiritual heir and student. Fully understanding this dramatic development is started by one analyzing three different stages that Tom undergoes throughout his life; starting with his philosophy and actions as a young child, when he finally meets Jim Casy and the acceptance of the new way of thinking, concluded by when he decides to act on the
A. Man vs. Man - Mama is the matriarch of the family, and she is very much in control of her children's lives. She is driven by a strong sense of pride and a strong faith in God. Her ideas conflict with three other characters:
In both these works, the mothers play the most important role in the development of the plot. They represent the pillars of strength and they are the ones that hold the family together and the hope alive. In Lorraine Hansberry's work, Mama is a widow, mother of two children and the head of the household: "There are some ideas we ain't going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family." (Hansberry 51) Mama is aware of the high position she is awarded in the family, since her husband is dead and she is left in care of the family. Qualities like independence and strength surround her and give her and air of authority. She takes charge when others hesitate and she gives courage to the insecure. "You just got strong willed children and it takes a strong woman like you to keep'em in hand, (Hansberry 52) her daughter-in-law tells her at one point. This symbolizes the love and respect she carries for her, but also the power that Mama radiates over the whole family.
Having been raised in the south has allowed her to believe that she must be catered to as a woman no matter how old she gets. The grandmother constantly refers to herself as a lady and has made herself a priority in her sons life and has a difficult time being considerate of other peoples feelings. At the beginning of the story she tries to convince her son Bailey to change the destination of their planned vacation to where she would like to go. In order for grandma to go see her old house in Tennessee she must convince Bailey that his family may be in danger after a
In literature as in life, people often find that they must make difficult choices in order to survive. The reasons behind their decisions and the results of their subsequent actions affect our opinion of them. In the Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the author portrayed situations where two main characters became involved. The nature of their choices, the reasons behind their decisions, and the results that followed affected them greatly. However, the choices that they made were surmounted successfully. Ma Joad and Tom Joad are two strong characters who overcame laborious predicaments. Their powerful characteristics helped to encourage those that were struggling.
Initially, the conviction of The Grandmother never was about anyone’s needs but her own. She wants people to think she is Christ-like because she wears a nice Sunday dress. The real character is revealed under crisis. The Grandmother is arrogant, materialistic, and always cares about what other people think about her. As they were on the way to Florida The Grandmother makes an insensitive comment about a black boy with no on pants on the street. She seemed to have a lack of sympathy or curiosity about the situation of this boy. This remark is insensitive and shows the reader the viewpoint of The Grandmother. She is in essence an old lady that is set in her ways. She fails to notice anyone’s view point but her own. It isn’t until the very end of the story where even The Misfit notices the change in The Grandmother, which is why he states that she would have been a better woman if someone was there to pull the trigger, her whole life. The Grandmother has never shown compassion about anyone, other than herself. There is also a deeper meaning to what he means; he tries to illustrate that people are not tested until they meet that ...
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
The first woman we are introduced to is Mavis. Her relationship with her husband is an example of the type of subservience c...
She only cares for herself and uses her manipulative skills to trick the other characters into doing what she wants. However, she views herself to be of higher moral standings than the other characters. If the grandmother has any lesson for the reader, the lesson is that no matter how tricky one is or how high one holds their standards to be, not everyone gets their way all the
Although the other characters in the novel symbolizing religious acts are not main characters, they do play an important role in the thread of the theme. An example of such a character would be the woman that shows up when Grandma is dying. The woman, who Ma refers to as a "Jehovite" is dressed all in black, the skin on her face sagging, and she has loose lips that hang over her teeth. She expresses to Ma and Rose of Sharon that they should pray for Grandma, and that they should have faith to move on. Steinbeck introduces this woman to the readers to symbolize death and the ability to move on in peace.
In the novel Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, one reoccurring motif is the idea of Jane, the protagonist, needing a motherly figure to guide her. From the very beginning it is obvious that Jane is an orphan without any real motherly figure, so she finds a few people to fill this void in every environment she is placed in. The major substitute mother is a woman named Miss Temple in which Jane meets at the Lowood Institution. Miss Temple dramatically helps Jane along her journey and comforts her in a way that only a mother could.