Ma Joad In Ernest Hemingway's The Grapes Of Wrath

Unification, defined as: coming together for a common purpose while division as a divergence between two groups, typically producing tension or hostility. Poverty and struggle bring forth these two reactions and cause people to join together through the struggle or divide to fight against one another. Ma Joad chooses to be the glue of her family and unite through poverty and struggle, she chooses empathy and graciousness over rifts and division. Ma Joad allows Jim Casy to embark on the Joads journey to California, she graciously gives food to two boys in need, and most importantly keeps her family together because she finds joy out of small moments and finds strength through love. The return of Tom from prison accompanied with the stress of the bank forcing the Joad’s off of their land, causes a whirlwind of emotions from Ma Joad, yet she remains resilient and gracious. In addition to Tom returning home, he brings along Jim Casy, formerly a preacher. As the family plans to head to California they worry about the vast number of people making the trek, having the ability to feed everyone and complete the journey. Even with the amount of people coming Ma Joad invites him to come because …show more content…
One afternoon Ma Joad cooks stew for the family, the smell of the stew rushes through the nostrils of hungry children in the nearby tent. Two boys walk up to the Joad tent and look at the remains of the stew with ravenous-wide eyes. It’s clear to Ma the boys haven’t eaten in some time, so she tells them to, “ go and' get you each a flat stick and' I'll put what's left' for you. ” Ma Joad is barely capable to feed her own family and struggles to find the strength to complete the trip to California. Yet, the opportunity to help others fulfills her, and by feeding the children, she finds strength through the joy she brought the