Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Families in GOW
In Grapes of Wrath, there are many examples of the family looking to each other when things are tough and for support. From the beginning of the dust bowl to California, families look to each other. One of the first examples is when the farmers come out of their houses to look at the damage a dust storm did to their crops. The men were silent and barely moved. The women came out of the houses and stood next to their husbands to make sure they were okay. The women would study the men's faces to see what they were feeling. The children stood near by drawing with their toes in the sand and trying to sense if their parent would break. The women look to the men and the children look to both of their parents. The women were making sure that the men were still okay after their crops have been ruined and the children were watching both of their parents because they understood if there were no crops there was no money for them to get food. Another example, is when the tractors were introduced. The women moved cautiously out of the doorway toward their men, and the children crept behind the women, cautious, ready to run. This is an example of the roles in a typical family. The men were the leaders and took care of the problems, such as tractors. Women were always right behind the men ready to support and comfort them in the difficult times. The children looked up to both of their parents for guidance in what to do during the times of the dust bowl. Life was definitely hard for those, especially farmers, living during this time period. When families leaned on each other, it made the situation more bearable.
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I liked how you describe the family positions. I agree that families needed each other in this time of troubles and leaned on each other for support. There are assigned positions for each family member and the reader can see that in how they are there for each other. I would add more examples about the Joad family and their journey to California.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with this, the men were always seen as superior and as the "head of the house" because they made all of the decisions for the family and were in charge. Men also did most of the manual labor, were as women cooked, cleaned, took care of children, and did household chores. The women were also there as moral support for men, when something went wrong, like you stated and they also protected the children. The children were there to help out their parents and relied on them to make the right decisions for them and the family as a whole. Families stuck together in these tough times and tried to push through it.
ReplyDeleteThe family structure at the time was important to the survival of the family. It might even be more important though how families would rely on other families to help them when something went wrong. That became especially evident in the camp settlements when families from the same region could keep each other company and share resources to survive.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained one of the situations when the children would look at the parents to see how they would react. I also like how you said the fathers are the leaders of the house and the women of the house were the comforters. The people back then always knew what there task was and they did it really well. The women hardly ever tried to lead and the men didn't comfort. They stuck to what they knew.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you described the patriarchal society they were in. The fathers were seen as the stronger people, so to see them break down was hard for the entire family. The men were leaders, as you said, and they had to comfort the enitre family.
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