Mrs. Sandry

Mrs. Sandry was the woman in the government camp that told Rose of Sharon that if she sinned, her baby would die. "'You take heed. I warned you. You take heed a that poor chile in your belly an' keep outa sin.' And she strode away titanically, and her eyes shone with virtue" (424). After their first conversation, Rose of Sharon panics because she and Connie 'hug-danced', and according to Mrs. Sandry, that is a sin and Rose of Sharon's baby would die for it. Of course, Ma assures her that Mrs. Sandry is just a trouble maker and that the baby would be fine. 

Then Rose of Sharon has her baby and it dies. And even though I should feel sympathy for Rose of Sharon because I just lost her child, I mostly just feel angry at Steinbeck for proving that awful woman right. I know technically it isn't proof of what she said, it was just a coincidence because Rose of Sharon didn't get enough food, just like the other girls, but the person that it matters most to is Rose of Sharon, and in her mind that will count as proof that God killed her baby because of her sin. So not only does Rose of Sharon have that horrible guilt on her, now there is one more person in the world that thinks like Mrs. Sandry. Not that Rose of Sharon would ever go and purposely upset pregnant girls like Mrs. Sandry did, but she will still believe that God would kill an innocent child because of another person's sins. I just don't understand why Steinbeck would prove that awful woman 'right'. In my mind, he either should have had the baby live to prove her wrong, or not include her in the book and then have the baby die.