愤怒的葡萄论文

The Numinous Inner Power of WomenAnalysis of Ma Joad in the Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is a novel about the plight of migrant farm workers. In this John Steinbeck’s representative work, Ma Joad and Rose de Sharon are the most impressed characters on me. Steinbeck describes these two women as indestructible heroes and encourages readers to face the difficulties in their own lives. The Grapes of Wrath of course, exposes the struggle of the poor in the United States during the great depression. But in this paper, I will focus on this thesis: In the process of seeking survival, Ma Joad, the mother of the Joad family, who instructs her daughter Rose de Sharon to know how to take the responsibility and care for others, tries her best to overcome hardships and makes every possible effort to unite the family with her great love and power, showing the numinous inner power of female beyond the male.On one hand, Ma Joad is a courageous woman who never fears to challenges of life. When Tom has to go into hiding after killing a policeman, Ma is very supportive to his escaping even she worries about the incomplete of the family. Another scene to show the Ma Joad’s courageous is that she challenges to Pa Joad, the father of the family, with a wrench. Here she not only challenges the patriarchal role of Pa, but also take the traditional man’s way---one on one. When the father and Tom decided to separate the family, Ma dose not agree that decision, said: “I will not go!” Then she walks to a station wagon, taking out a wrench and weighs it in her hand. This challenge stops the separation of the familysuccessfully and she dose that not for the power of the family but the unity of the family. We can also draw the inspiration that Ma Joad has the courage to take the responsibility of leadership which needs adequate strength to do that for a woman in such a painful situation.On the other hand, Ma Joad is a woman filled with love that not only cares the family but also shows loving care for strangers in pain. I think love is the most powerful inner strength of human and obviously Ma Joad never lacks the power of love. After losing their home, Ma Joad has to go through a series of deaths and hardships. Grandma falls ill after Grandpa’s death. Although Ma makes every effort to take care of her, grandma dies just after the family reaches California. Ma suffers privately with the knowledge that Grandma is dead, riding silently alongside her corpse so that the family can complete its treacherous journey. Ma knows that the family needs her support so she never expresses her suffering. However, Grandma Joad’s death is just the beginning of the test Ma has to face, more deaths and separations come: Tom becomes a criminal and Rose of Sharon delivers a stillborn baby. But Ma keeps struggling and never gives up. What’s more, Ma cares for strangers who are in pain even she dose not know them as all. In Chapter 30, Ma directs her daughter to breast-feed the starving man who is going to die. This kind of shares love makes Ma Joad a powerful woman who will never be defeated.The last but not the least, from how Ma teaches her daughter, Rose of Sharon, to become a mature woman, we can also understand the inner power of Ma Joad.Rose of Sharon at fist is a rich and passionate girl. But the pregnancy has transformed her into a secretive and mysterious woman. Ma explains what is fear, what is lonesome and what is happiness in a woman’s life. In Ma’s opinion, injures and pains are not important because they are parts of life. After Rose of Sharon delivered a stillborn baby, Ma still encourages her daughter to stay calm and step up. Steinbeck shows us how Ma encourages Rose of Sharon with her untiring and incomparable inner power in two scenes. In the first scene, Rose of Sharon is cheerless and is eating a fermentative kalk in order to take a calcium supplement. To cheer her daughter up, Ma takes out a pair of golden earrings which is ancestral. When Rose of Sharon tries to put on them, she has to suffer the pain. The second scene is the last scene of the book, When Rose of Sharon meets the starving man in the barn, Ma directs her daughter to breast-feed the starving man and Rose of Sharon becomes saintly and otherworldly in the end. Here we can see that she has overcome the grief for her dead child and be ready to take over the inner power of Ma Joad. Obviously, Rose of Sharon will brighten her mother’s inner power and she represents the hope for the future. From the change of Rose of Sharon, the eternal power and insurmountable character are unfolded before our eyes.In conclusion, although the Grapes of Wrath was published more than 70 year ago and the misery of great depression has been forgotten, the numinous inner power of Ma Joad is kept in every reader’s mind. In modern society, we also have to face a lot of misfortune and frustration and when we feel helpless, we can find the strength from Ma Joad, this courageous, wisdom and loving woman.ReferencesSteinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. Beijing: People literature publishing house, 1995.The Grapes of Wrath: Ma Joad Character Analysis./essay-2005/1/12/22241/8474Haiping, Liu. Literary History of the United States. Shanghai: Shanghai foreign language education press, 2002The Numinous Inner Power of WomenAnalysis of Ma Joad in the Grapes of WrathName: Lynn（袁琳）Class: 1Student number: 20083007076。