ited about her pregnancy and sees that as her own little world. Her mother throughout much of the book shelters her but after her baby is born dead, she recognizes the needs of a starving old man and breast feeds him to keep him alive. This seems to be the final step in the incorporation of the family from a single unit to a broader concept of the whole family of man.Though the immediate family becomes smaller, the Joads become part of a larger family as they unite together with other migrating families to endure the struggles and cruelties of the trip. In all ways they interact as a family. The Joads and the other families help protect each other, feed each other when the food is limited, and care for each other providing support during times of loss and death and also sharing in times of joy such as the birth of a new child. The Joad family endured several tragedies resulting in losses to their family group but ended up far greater in number than when they began. ...
