Beginning of Essay
Ma's eyes passed Rose of Sharon's eyes, and then came back to them. And the two women looked deep into each other. The girl's breath came short of gasping. Ma smiled. "I knowed you would. I knowed!" (Chapter 30) Nothing in The Grapes of Wrath outraged readers ....

Middle of Essay
.... clan to its envisioning itself as part of one vast family." Most begin like Tom, "jus' puttin' one foot in front of the other" (Chapter 16). Uncle John lives in the past, harboring guilt over his wife's death. Al lives for girls and cars. Pa is so broken at the loss of his farm that for much of the novel he allows all decisions to be made by Ma. Ma, at the novel's beginning, has only one passion: to keep the "fambly" together. Ruthie torments her brother and exhibits childish ways almost until the end of the book. Even Casy, when the novel opens, is adrift. He's sure there's something to be learned in the midst of all the sufferi ....