Quote 1
[Ma Joad:]"I never had my house pushed over," she said. "I never had my fambly stuck out on the road. I never had to sell – ever'thing – Here they come now." (8.73)
It seems to us that, when you get to be Ma's age, you shouldn't have to deal with huge roadblocks like being kicked out of your house and forced to move to an entirely new land. Don't you think Ma Joad is amazing? She's totally calm and collected, even though you know it's got to hurt.
Quote 2
[Ma Joad:] "Use' ta be the family was fust. It ain't so now. It's anybody." (30.48)
Ma Joad articulates a huge shift in the way the Joad family functions. At the beginning of their journey, when they had just been kicked off of their land and when everyone was still alive and still part of the family, every Joad seemed to know that the family unit was more important than their own wants and needs. That's why they were so appalled by people like Will Feeley who drives a tractor for the landowners – he was thinking about himself and not the larger community. The Dust Bowl and the dire circumstances in California has broken the Joad's family, has made people more self-interested.
Quote 3
Ma suddenly seemed to know it was all a dream. She turned her head forward again and her body relaxed, but the little smile stayed around her eyes. "I wonder how Granma feels today," she said. (16.14)
How does Ma suddenly seem to know it was all a dream? What about her conversation with Rose of Sharon (in which Rose of Sharon talks about how delicious her life will be in California) triggered this realization, and why doesn't Ma tell Rose of Sharon not to have such high hopes?