or items that are essential to survival. It is shown again on pages 201 through 203 where Grandma is dying and Ma is lying beside her comforting her. We see what a struggle this was for her when she talks to the rest of the family on page 203 and tells them that Grandma has died and as the family looked at her with a little terror at her strength. She relayed to them the story of the night before and after all of that, all she can say is, The fambly hadda get acrost. This is a prime example of the strength residing in this woman, lying beside her dying mother quietly, without a word, or support from anyone else. There is a story early in the book, humorously relating Mas assertiveness gives an account of when Ma beat the hell out of a tin peddler with a live chicken. When, what she meant to do was go after him with the ax, which was in the other hand. When Ma was through, there was nothing left of the chicken but it legs and Mimi Gladstein makes an acute analysis of this situation in The Indestructible Women: Ma Joad and Rose of Sharon when she says, Though Ma struggles against those forces which are destroying her family, her weapons prove to be as ineffective as a live chicken. She fights with all her might and is left with little more than an inedible pair of chicken legs. These examples and many others prove it is evident throughout the novel that Ma Joad is the strongest character. Again referring to a quote from Gladstein, In terms of overwhelming odds, both physical and mental, none of the other characters covered in this study has quite as much to endure as Ma Joad.Ma Joad is not the only woman in the book shown to have strength, in the beginning of the novel, Rose of Sharon is a weak, self-centered character, but under the careful tutelage of Ma, she becomes strong and ready to become a pillar in the family structure. We see this, when we compare two passages from the novel. One of these passages is from page 113, this is the ...
