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?
Quote 4
[Ma Joad:] "I'm learning one thing good," she said. "Learnin' it all the time, ever' day. If you're in trouble or hurt or need – go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help – the only ones." (26.529)
Why will poor people help in times of need more than people with money? How does wealth change people?
Quote 5
Ma looked to Tom to speak, because he was a man, but Tom did not speak. She let him have the chance that was his right, and then she said, "Why, we'd be proud to have you. 'Course I can't say right now; Pa says all the men'll talk tonight." (10.34)
Ma is more of a "man" than Tom or Pa in this situation. She knows how to make decisions. She steps up.
Quote 6
And [Ma Joad's] hands were crusted with salt, pink with fluid from the fresh pork. "It's women's work," she said finally. (10.141)
Why is it so shocking that Reverend Casy would attempt to do women's work? How have gender roles changes since 1930s America?
Quote 7
[Ma Joad:] "Besides, us folks takes a pride holdin' in. My pa used to say, 'Anybody can break down. It takes a man not to.' We always try to hold in." (13.213)
Do men ever break down in this novel?
Quote 8
[Ma Joad:] "I'm a-gonna tell you somepin about bein' in the pen. You can't go thinkin' when you're gonna be out. You'd go nuts. You got to think about that day, an' then the nex' day, about the ball game Sat'dy. That's what you got to do. Ol'timers does that. A new young fella gets buttin' his head on the cell door. He's thinkin' how long it's gonna be. Whyn't you do that? Jus' take ever'day." (10.9)
Ma Joad has to learn how to think like a prisoner in order to cope with life. Going to prison has taught Tom some valuable life lessons.
Quote 9
[Ma Joad:] "Well, I'm a-scairt about it. Sometimes you do a crime, an' you don't even know it's bad. Maybe they got crimes in California we don't even know about. Maybe you gonna do somepin an' it's all right, an' in California it ain't all right." (13.107)
What crimes do we witness in this novel, and who commits them?