Gender Roles In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

Being a historical fiction novel, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath reflects the typical gender roles and customs of its time. During the 1930s, women’s roles were changing as feminist ideas spread throughout the United States and gained acceptance. Consequently, Ma’s role in the Joad family evolves from submissiveness to a prominent power source throughout the novel. The women are not the only characters to transform throughout the novel as the men, who initially were able to sustain their roles as providers, eventually fail to provide for the family. However, the women’s influential voices are restricted to topics only considered acceptable for women, due to the fact that the Joad family is built upon patriarchal ideas. This switch in

By describing the “dust-filled” (3) setting before introducing the family, Steinbeck suggests that the family fits within the general gender stereotypes of the time, with the women caring for children and maintaining the house while the men work and provide for the family. The “men [stand] by their fences… and [do] not move often” while “the women [come] out of the houses to stand beside their men” (3). The women become compliant and dependent upon the men, specifically Rose of Sharon, who fails to stop “feelin’ sorry an’ tuckin’ [herself] away in a swalla’s nest” (131). The women fulfill their stereotypical role of supporting the men and being the backbone of the family. However, as the novel continues, both Ma and Rose of Sharon begin to transform from followers to leaders in both the family and within the community, becoming more vocal and insistent upon the ways they wish for things to be

When the family’s truck breakdown on their way to California, the men of the family, specifically Tom, Al, and Casey, suggest that the family split and merge later on the journey. However, Ma strongly opposes this idea and becomes very authoritative, “[waving] a jack handle” (169) through the air. Eventually the family comes to a consensus, with “the group [knowing] Ma [has] won. And Ma [knowing] it too” (169). Later in the novel, Ma’s authority reveals itself once again when she makes the definitive decision to move the family to dry ground during a flood. During this time, Rose of Sharon rises to a position of leadership by feeding a starving men with her life-filled milk, proving that she too has transformed from a follower to a leader within the family. Although these achievements may appear revolutionary for the women in the novel, the triumph is in fact trivial due to the fact that during this time it is the women’s responsibility to care for and preserve the family. So when Ma and Rose of Sharon voice their opinions and show leadership, they are not rising to a position of respect, but instead just merely fulfilling their familial