e is room on the truck for him and Tom calls him over as if he were one of the men in the family. "[Casy] knew the government of families, and he knew he had been taken into the family (138)."When Granpa dies suddenly of a stroke, the first of many setbacks, the family pulls together to give him the most proper burial they can afford, "becaws they got no money to pay for funerls (194)." They take his death in with dignity, but there is still a great deal of love and thought that goes into his burial, and they do not just toss him aside as if they are relieved to be rid of the extra burden of an old man. "The family became a unit," working together to get the job done and to be there for each other as well.When the car breaks down, Ma's stubborness prevails, as she refuses to let the family be split up in any way, shape, or form. "You done this 'thout thinkin' much...What we got lef' in the worl'? Nothin' but us. Nothin' but the folks. We come out an' Granpa, he reached for the shovel-shelf right off. An' now, right off, you wanna bust up the folks--- (230-1)." She knows how much being together means for the family, and if she lets them fall apart in the slightest bit, it could be the begining of an avalanche of destuction for the Joads. In essence, Ma is the backbone of the family, and she is the one who tries to keep and instill the values in her kin. She is the one always making sure everyone is fed, clothed, clean, and healthy. Ma knows that if she ever shows fear or despair, the entire family might collapse. She realizes that they now have no home and that the only thing they have left in the world is each other, and she will fight to the death to keep her family together. Without Ma there, the Joad family would have never of made it all the way to California and stayed together. Therefore, she had to maintain a front for the family and she never let them see her without her "mask" on.The feeling of family goes even...
