After a little bit of analyzing of Ma's character in class, I looked back into my post-it noted pages in my book. I came across a quote in which Pa talks directly about the role of women in the thirties and how it's changing.
At this point in the book, the Joads are debating on whether to move on north to Tulare, where there's word of cotton-picking work. Ma has just decided for the family that they'll be leaving in the morning in search of work at a cotton farm. Pa's response was, "Pa sniffled. 'Seems like times is changed,' he said sarcastically. 'Time was when a man said what we'd do. Seems like a women is tellin' now. Seems like it's purty near time to get out a stick'" (481).
Pa was raised in a way that told him that the men were always in charge. As we see in the book, while on the road, Ma becomes the glue of the family through her strength and determination to find a way to survive. Although Pa is technically the head of the family still, Ma seems to be the one who is really in charge once they go West. Also, even though Pa makes the comment about her role as a woman, he seems to always look to Ma for advice, making their decisions more made by Ma and him, or just Ma. Is Steinbeck inferring that times are changing in society, and that women are being empowered through the Depression because the men aren't able to support their families like they used to? Is he trying to say that men in the thirties were also recognizing this change, and didn't want it to happen? Does Steinbeck support women having a powerful role in their families, or does he support Pa's point of view?
Mary-Kate, this is a really good post! I love your questions at the end. They really leave you thinking. As an answer to them, maybe it is a little bit of both. Maybe people had a hard time accepting change, as I know that even today it can be. I think many wanted it the way that it used to be, but also that many were willing to accept change; maybe not with open arms, but they had to accept it never the less. Maybe Pa was just used to the old way how men were kind of like the head of the house, and men went off and worked and the woman stayed home and took care of the kids and did the chores. But I think your right Mary-Kate that the Great Depression kind of changed things, and people had to do things a little different whether they wanted to or not. Ma Joad was really the family's back bone. She held everyone together, and she was strong. Like in our class discussion today, it was said that we don't think that the Joad family would have made it without her.
ReplyDeleteYes Sarah, now I'm just wondering about what Steinbeck is trying to say by putting this change/conflict in the book. Is he trying to just show what was happening in history, or does he have an underlying meaning? I can't tell if he is trying to make an opinion on the subject or not since he seems to show both points of view, so maybe he is just trying to show what happened in history.
DeleteWhile the thought of a historical point of view is viable, you might consider also how desperate the Joads are for a leader. Someone needs to have some sort of understanding of what needs to be done, and that was Ma at the time. The Joads looked up to her as someone who seemed to know what to do and when and a figure who led them along the path. Although the social conflictions of a woman leader back then were common, the Joad family seems to respect Ma for what she is trying to do and how hard she is trying for her family.
DeleteAdrian, I agree with that point of view. Now that you bring that subject up, it reminds me of the hardships that the people were going through, and how when they were travelling to California, California was there one last hope. Since they now know what the real California is like, the family needs something else to lean on for faith. Ma seems to be that one thing that the family leans upon for hope and faith in their life. Then the question is, though, who does Ma lean upon for strength?
DeleteI agree with what everyone is saying here, but I was just thinking maybe Steinbeck isn't saying that Ma is becoming more empowered, maybe she is actually becoming less. If you think about it, the only power she has ever really had was within the family, and not outside of it. Maybe this is showing how she is settling into that role in the family and possibly relinquishing some of the little authority she had outside of it. I mean, there have been a lot of men throughout the book (outside the Joads family) that treated Ma kind of poorly, and now that she is also an 'Okie' she is even lower on the social totem pole.
Delete.... Plot twit.
I agree with what everyone is saying here, but I was just thinking maybe Steinbeck isn't saying that Ma is becoming more empowered, maybe she is actually becoming less. If you think about it, the only power she has ever really had was within the family, and not outside of it. Maybe this is showing how she is settling into that role in the family and possibly relinquishing some of the little authority she had outside of it. I mean, there have been a lot of men throughout the book (outside the Joads family) that treated Ma kind of poorly, and now that she is also an 'Okie' she is even lower on the social totem pole.
Delete.... Plot twit.
I think she is still becoming empowered though. Before, even just within the family, she was just a woman and did not have as much authority as Pa or the men. She may not have any power beyond the family, but she is certainly in charge within the family now, something that was not the case before. I think Steinbeck is definitely trying to show historically what was going on with women. He may have also been trying to show how much the Depression changed things, everyone was forced to take on more responsibility and family dynamics changed in order to survive. I think that after World War I when women had begun to take on more power in times of need, this was a sort of natural thing; when things were starting to fall apart, the women came in to help out. It is still questionable though, as you have all been wondering, was Steinbeck just showing history or trying to say something else?
ReplyDeleteEliza makes a good point; Steinbeck seems to be trying to show how Ma is empowered within the family. The point Holly made about her power outside of the family is true, but I don't think Steinbeck meant to only show how the term Okie changed their lives. It seems like he's trying to show that everyone who was an Okie had less power in the world. They all had no money, and the police would treat everyone badly, even men, as we saw when they first arrived in California at the first Hooverville, and in the last encounter with Jim Casy. Back to the other question Eliza brought up; Steinbeck is definitely trying to relay history, but I think he's also trying to show, in the big picture, that the situation the Okies were in was awful and unfair, but I still can't tell if he supported Ma's empowerment of the family, which leads me to believe he was only trying to relay the family dynamic changes in the Depression as an Okie.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I was hoping would come out of this blog! Dialogue and sharing of ideas! Thanks, bloggers!! You all brightened my day with this thread of posts and responses :)
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I was hoping would come out of this blog! Dialogue and sharing of ideas! Thanks, bloggers!! You all brightened my day with this thread of posts and responses :)
ReplyDelete