The novel ends with an epic flood, almost Biblical in proportion, that forces Ma and Pa -- with Rose of Sharon, Ruthie and Winfield in tow -- to find higher ground. In part they are spurred on to aid Rose of Sharon's health as she has just lost her baby and is still feeling unwell, both physically and emotionally. They seek shelter in a barn, only to encounter a boy and his father, who is dying of hunger and can no longer digest solid food. The novel ends when Rose of Sharon
loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast. "You got to," she said. "there." Her hand moved behind his head and supported it. Her fingers moved gently in his hair. She looked up and across hte barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously (455).
What is the significance of this gesture and the image this scene is describing?
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ReplyDeleteAt the end of this chapter a mysterious thing happens, Rose of Sharon’s baby was still born but she could still breastfeed. She decided to help someone who was in need and this just proves that Rose of Sharon is willing to do anything to help someone in need. I think that what Rose of Sharon did was smart, she decided that since the baby was stillborn she did not know what to do with her breastmilk but she saw someone in need and decided that he needed it to survive. I believe that this gesture symbolizes that when someone is in trouble people will always be there to help. Just like how Tom says “Where there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there"(419). Like we discussed in class I believe this gesture is similar to the photo we saw of Santa Maria breastfeeding Jesus. This situation relates to real life families because when someone in your family needs help you will always be there for them, just like how Tom can count on Ma and his family when he killed a cop. Another part of this scene is when the whole community was helping Rose of Sharon’s family during the flood they kept digging and digging until they could not anymore, this shows how much people care for each other.
ReplyDeleteRose of Sharon undergoes a significant change in the final scene of The Grapes of Wrath by going from a person of sadness to a universal representation of humanity. Her choice to nurse a starving stranger is an unexpected act of group survival following the tragic death of her stillborn child and the physical destruction caused by a near Biblical flood. With this gesture, the I dies, and the we is born. She breaks down the barriers of the nuclear family by giving a dying man the life-sustaining milk meant for her own child. According to Steinbeck, the Joads' journey is about the collective duty that people have to one another in a world that has robbed them of everything else, not just about their own ancestry. It is a moment of unadulterated, biological grace that implies that the human spirit can still undergo a selfless, nourishing renewal even after the Grapes of Wrath have been trampled. This moment visually and symbolically turns the barn into a sacred space. As the book comes to a close, Rose of Sharon's "mysterious smile" conveys a sudden and profound understanding of her own ability to maintain life in the face of complete desolation. This change is crucial because she is now a source of life rather than a victim of the Dust Bowl or the oppressive landowners in California. Her act symbolizes the Rose of Sharon, a biblical name for a resilient flower that blooms in the mud, while the flood symbolizes a purification of the old, broken world.
ReplyDeleteIn John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, the story ends with the description of a mysterious scene that takes place in a barn after a large flood, in which Rose of Sharon breast feeds a starving stranger in an attempt to save his life. This act showcases Rose of Sharon’s generosity, serving as a connection to an early spiritual epiphany that has been explored throughout the text. This ending also signifies the Joad family’s shift from personal survival to a communal mindset, which offers hope in a time of extreme suffering and despair.
ReplyDeleteOn page 376, Ma has a realization, saying, “If you’re in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help—the only ones.” This understanding of human nature suggests that although they may have less, the impoverished people in the book are willing to give more. This is due to the fact that the less fortunate community faces the same hardships and are more inclined to lend help to anybody in need.
Also relating to an idea of ex-preacher Casy, Rose of Sharon’s gesture supports the theory that “all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.” This epiphany leads the characters to understand that all humans are working toward the same common goal, so it is necessary to assist each other whenever possible. Portraying Casy’s revelation, Rose of Sharon’s action represents the idea that while individuals may be in despair, the collective community endures, offering strength and resilience to those in need.
One way this image is significant is how it relates to Christianity, specifically the new form of preaching through human solidarity and helping others that Casy preaches throughout the book. The image this passage evokes is similar to that of Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus, but instead of a baby there’s a starving old man. This act is very similar to Casy’s form of preaching through human solidarity and action rather than preaching miracles. He explained this earlier in the book to Tom, “I gotta see them folks that’s gone out on the road. I got a feelin’ I got to see them. They gonna need help no preachin’ can give ’em. Hope of heaven when their lives ain’t lived? Holy Sperit when their own sperit is downcast an’ sad? They gonna need help. They got to live before they can afford to die” (Steinbeck 52). He says that the people on the road are going to need help that no preaching can give them, showcasing that the old way of preaching is not useful in the modern world. However, helping them through action instead of just preaching miracles is helpful and relevant in the 20th century. The reason why the man is starving in the first place is because he gave his food to his son, which is another example of the human solidarity that Casy preaches. By the man helping out his son, and then Rose of Sharon helping out the man, everyone benefits, which is what Steinbeck is trying to tell us about sticking together and helping others through religious imagery.
ReplyDeleteThe ending to John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts the scene of Rosh of Sharon in a barn with a man she has never met before. She had recently had a still born baby which is a very vulnerable time to be in, but the man is on his death bed and is starving. Rosh of Sharon takes it upon herself to attempt to save his life and provide him enough nourishment by breast feeding the man. Despite not knowing the man, or the condition she finds him in, Rosh of Sharon exemplifies her generosity and willingness to help others even if it means she is putting herself in an uncomfortable situation. Although the still birth of her child was a major loss, she used the gift she had been given to save a life anyway. The gesture Rosh of Sharon makes to help a poor man in need is an example of discipleship similar to Mary, the mother of God. Rosh of Sharon says yes to a selfless act of saving a man, like Mary did when she accepted the gift of becoming the mother to Jesus. This scene is symbolic because it is another parallel to christianity in the novel and shows the charter development throughout the book. In all, this ending may be interpreted differently reader to reader, but the overall theme of selflessness stays the same.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the Grapes of Wrath, Rose of Sharon was facing her own grief from a recent still born. She had the resources to help save a random man's life. Although it was a big gesture to do for a stranger, she decided to look past everything in her way and do what she could to help bring this man back to health. There isn't much anybody could do, and her gesture couldn't guarantee anything, but she still decided to take it into her own hands to at least try. It goes back to the idea of poor helping poor because she could understand the desperation and struggle he was facing. Although what she did is a little controversial to the reader, she had a choice to make, that of free will, and she made it. Her choice could have saved the man, but it also might not have saved him. The important thing to take away is the fact that she did it anyway. In a world full of greed and selfishness people should take a few notes from this interaction because it seems like the purest form of selflessness. This is a true act of kindness and love that Rose of Sharon decided to act on. In a way, she was embodying her Christian faith by the belief that you should love everyone. We are given free will, and with that will Rose of Sharon took it upon herself to prove her selflessness and love for her brother in Christ. All of the themes in the Grapes of Wrath seem to tie in ideas and beliefs of Christianity.
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