Dusty Bowl: Conclusion

Alas, here is the end of the show. The whole book has been a bittersweet one. The Joads have been through tough times on their to California. Granma, granpa, Casy, and the family dog all died on the trip there. Connie abandons Rose-of-Sharon. Noah abandons the family. My family character, Tom, is forced to go on the run because he killed someone out revenge for Casy’s death. All seems miserable and doomed, doesn’t it? However, Steinbeck decides to be nice to the reader and leave the story on a good note. Rose-of Sharon’s baby ends up a still birth. Looks pretty bleak, huh? However, this is where the happy twist is. Uncle John is sent to bury the child. This part is all like how Moses is sent down the river like his mother. At long last, Rose-of-Sharon gets her moment in the book. She breast-feeds a dying man who can’t eat solid food. It may seem weird to a modern reader, but it is all that she can do. The book ends with this line, “She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously.” (Pg. 455) It seems to lead the to wonder if there will be more to the story after this very last episode in the soap opera known as Grapes of Wrath. This story turned out pretty decent.