The Grapes of Wrath Essay

"Her hand moved behind his head and supported it. Her fingers moved gently in his hair. She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously" (The Grapes of Wrath, pg 581). Rosasharn is one of the most complex and dynamic characters in John Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath. Part of the migrant family the Joads, she starts out as a self-centered young woman and metamorphoses by the end of the book to a generous, mature adult.

At the beginning of the book, Rosasharn is totally focused on herself and on the baby she is about to have. As it states in Chapter 10, "Her whole thought and action were directed inward on the baby". From focusing totally on herself and her own loss when Connie leaves, to demanding the milk that the sick Winfield needs, she is totally and utterly a selfish creature. She even goes so far as to blame Tom for all her troubles after he kills the cop. It is a very admirable thing to be so concerned for her baby, but Rosasharn seems to take it to excess. She becomes extremely paranoid, spending the entire trip absolutely rigid, so as not to jounce the baby around, and becoming totally afraid when Mrs. Sandry warns her about "clutch-and-hug dancing". She stays like this until near the end of the book, where there is a turning point in her behavior.

When Al and Aggie decide to get married, Rosasharn simply doesn't move. In effect, she goes catatonic for a few seconds, most likely remembering Connie and the way he ran out on her. The she slowly turns, and without a word, goes outside and lies in the bushes, "feeling the weight of the baby inside of her" (The Grapes of Wrath, pg 544). Out here, she obviously does some thinking. Every other member of the family besides herself has been working like mad to help support the family. Tom and Pa and Uncle John have been working, Al has been driving, Ma has sacrificed all but everything, and even Ruthie and Winfield are doing their part. All Rosasharn has done is concentrate on herself and her child. She seems to realize this at this point, the shock acting as a sort of wake-up call, because the very next day, even as pregnant as she is, she gets up at the crack of dawn to go pick cotton, getting sick in the process.

Irony of ironies, her child is stillborn. All her hard work and carefulness have been for nothing. Rosasharn feels that she has nothing left now. She can't even work at this point. She is so weak that she must be helped when the Joads flee the flooding of the boxcars. Then - at last, a chance for redemption. The starving man in the barn must be helped. Rosasharn believes she cannot help here either... but wait. She has milk in her breasts from being pregnant. She does, after all, have something to offer. The question is, is she willing to? At this point, the example of Ma and her own self-searching thought have swung her personality nearly 180 degrees. Almost without a second thought, she offers of herself to this starving stranger to help him live. As the book closes, she stares off into the distance with a small smile on her lips, a smile of satisfaction that she has finally learned what it means to truly care for someone else.


Back Home