. Ma Joad is a character that can be over looked due to her sex and seeming minimal interaction in the novel. Can be over looked, but shouldn't be. Ma represents the spiritual glue that binds the family through triumph and turmoil. In the beginning, Ma is seen as the typical housewife; she cooks, cleans and looks after the children. She is a somewhat docile creature that follows her husband's word with little question. Her first stand against the men in the family is the first real threat of the family splitting apart. When a neighbor's car breaks down, Tom offers to fix it and have the family move on. Ma grabs a jack handle and states she will not go; that she will hit her husband if he tries to make her. "Pa looked helplessly about the group. 'She sassy,' he said. 'I never seen her so sassy.' . . .Tom said, 'Ma, what's eatin' on you? What ya wanna do this-a-way for? What's the matter'th you anyways? You gone johnrabbit on us?' Ma's face softened, but her eyes were still fierce. 'You done this 'thout thinkin' much,' Ma said. 'What we got lef' in the worl'? Nothin' but the folks. We come out an' Grampa, he reached for the shovel-shelf right off. An' now, right off, you wanna bust up the folks -'" (page 218) She fights against the norm in order to preserve her family, who is all she has left. Here she gains respect. "The eyes of the whole family shifted back to Ma. She was the power. She had taken control." (Page 218) Her strength throughout the ordeal is amazing. She hides her pain and anguish from the others and deals with their problems rather than hers. She even lies with Granma's corpse in order to get the family across to California. "'I was afraid we wouldn' get acrost,' she said. 'I tol' Granma we couldn' he'p her. The fambly had to get acrost. I tol' her, tol' her when she was a-dyin'. We couldn' stop in the desert. There was the young ones - an' Rosasharn's baby. I tol' her.' . . . The family looked at Ma with a little terror a...
