Over the summer, I read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. The book is about Tom Joad, an accidental killer. Fresh out of jail and trying to find his way in the world, he meets up with former preacher Jim Casy. Casy's religious beliefs are beginning to die away, and he's desperately looking for guidance. Tom and Casy decide to stick together, and they go back to Tom's house so he can be reunited with his family. Unfortunately, Tom soon finds out that his family was evicted from their land. After he finds them, Tom, Casy, and the whole Joad family begin an epic journey to look for work. While reading The Grapes of Wrath, I kept track of the character development of three characters: Tom, Rose of Sharon, and Ruthie.
Tom Joad killed a man in a bar fight. At the beginning of the book, he is completely unrepentant. He thinks what he did was completely justified, and he tells his family members multiple times that if he had the chance to do it over, he would kill the guy again. The first really good piece of evidence that gave me this impression of Tom was on page 25, when Tom says, "I'd do what I done - again." This made it clear to me that Tom didn't think there was anything wrong with killing somebody. He was completely unashamed. Towards the middle of the book, Tom begins to change. He begins to become more selfless like Casy. A part of the book that gave me this impression was on page 265 when Tom's about to be arrested because he punched a deputy, and even though Casy is telling him to go and hide, Tom is willing to offer himself up. He says, "I don' want ta go." These five words really exhibit a huge change in Tom. He's not trying to be heroic by killing people anymore. And he chooses not to say, "I'm not going." He says instead that he doesn't want to go. He wants to turn himself in if it will keep the police from bothering the rest of the camp. The final major change in Tom's personality happens at the end of the book. After killing the man that killed Casy, he decides to leave his family and go off on his own so that no harm will come to them. He's going to be a rebel like Casy to continue his legacy and to change things for his people. The part that really made this clear to me was on page 419 when Tom is talking to his mom. When she asks what he's going to do, he says, "What Casy done." Next Ma Joad says, "But they killed him." To this, Tom's first reply is, "Yeah." This depicts that Tom is going to use his strength not to kill others but to fight for what he believes in.
Rose of Sharon, Tom's sister, recently married a man named Connie, and when we first meet her she is pregnant. At the beginning of the book, she is excited and proud that she will be having a baby. She is pretty confident that all will work out because she has her loving husband to support her. I made my first impressions of Rose of Sharon on page 98, when it says, "Connie Rivers lifted the high tail-gate out of the truck and got down and helped Rose of Sharon to the ground; and she accepted it nobly, smiling her wise, self-satisfied smile, mouth tipped at the corners a little fatuously." Even though this isn't Rose of Sharon's first piece of dialogue, this description of her really made clear to me that she is a bit self-centered like many other future-moms. At this point in the book, Rose of Sharon's whole life is the baby and bringing pride to her family. Towards the middle of the book, Rose of Sharon's world is turned upside-down when Connie abandons her. She loses all hope, and when a crazy lady starts saying horrible stuff to her, she believes every word. I noticed this change when, on page 310, the crazy lady has just talked to Rose of Sharon, and Rose of Sharon, in tears, tells the manager, "She says I'll drop the baby." This really exhibits the fact that Rose of Sharon feels lost without Connie. If the crazy lady had said that to her when Connie was still around, she would've ignored it. However, at this point all her confidence has been shattered, and she is unable to fend for herself. At the very end of the book, Rose of Sharon undergoes her final change. Unfortunately, the crazy lady's prediction was true, and Rose of Sharon has a miscarriage. But instead of feeling sorry for herself like she did for the whole rest of the book, she gives the gift of breast milk to a starving man. This happens on page 454, when Ma Joad hints for Rose of Sharon to share her milk, and she replies simply, "Yes." Ma Joad then says, "I knowed you would. I knowed!" This depicts that Rose of Sharon has matured by finally realizing that other people have misfortunes too, and that it's her duty to do what she can. It also displays at the same time that Ma had faith in her daughter all along. Rose of Sharon doesn't dwell on the loss of the baby. Instead, she gives the gift that she would've given the baby to someone who needs it.
Ruthie, the other Joad sister, is a little, rambunctious girl of twelve when we first meet her. At the beginning of the book, she is proud because she knows she is growing up, but she is still very wild and crazy, and really just a little kid. I got my first real glimpse of Ruthie as a character on page 103, when she says to Winfield, her little brother, "Killin' pigs and goin to California. Killin' pigs and goin' - all the same time." Then Winfield pretends to be a pig, saying, "I'm a ol' pig. Look! I'm a ol' pig. Look at the blood, Ruthie!" To this she answers, "And goin' to California." This makes clear that while Ruthie holds herself very highly, she is still extremely immature and can't be without Winfield, who is really her other half. Towards the middle of the book, Ruthie begins to change as she starts to realize that the world doesn't revolve around her. I noticed this on page 318 when Ruthie bullies her way into playing a game, which makes no one else want to play with her. She says, "You come an' play." None of the kids play with her because they're afraid of her, and she goes home. Then it says, "The game went on, while in the Joad tent Ruthie wept miserably." This exhibits that Ruthie is beginning to feel awkward and unwanted, and she doesn't know how to be friendly to other kids. Even though she's very upset, she doesn't seem to fully understand what she's doing wrong, because she does similar things often from this point on. No one really understands her, and that makes things hard for her. Finally, at the end of the book, Ruthie is a totally different person. After Rose of Sharon's miscarriage, she is very worried about her sister, and on page 449, she asks Ma, "She sick, Ma? She gonna die?" This depicts that Ruthie has matured. There is something still childish about the way she says this, but that's inevitable. That's a part of her personality. But even so, she has grown up from being that silly little girl to one who actually cares about her family.
In conclusion, while reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, I monitored the character development of Tom, Rose of Sharon, and Ruthie. Even though they are each very different, these three characters all changed from being selfish to selfless throughout the course of the book. I think that was part of Steinbeck's point. He created all these selfish characters to show how suffering makes you stronger. These characters were never rich, but they were content. After they are thrown out into the real world, they really achieve their full potential.
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