I thought the ending of the book was great for several reasons. First, it left the reader to wonder what will happen to the Joads, to think a little further on his or her own. The reader can take subtle hints to realize that the Joads are going to survive. The family knows how to survive. They take life one problem at a time and give each individual problem all of their attention. This quality helps the family through every problem they encounter from leaving home, to Rose of Sharon's baby being born.
The Final act of Ma and Rose of Sharon was very shocking for me. Just the fact that Steinbeck had the guts to write this scene and publish it is amazing to me. I don't think there is a single person who reads this book that is able to predict the ending. That is why I liked it. It was totally unexpected. Rose of Sharon just gave birth to a stillborn baby, so she doesn't get to experience the child breastfeeding. When she breastfeeds the old man, even though we would describe the scene as "creepy," she gets to experience something that only mothers get to experience. She doesn't care that its a fifty year-old man, It's the experience that leaves her with the "mysterious" smile.
I also thought that the ending was great. I like cliff-hangers. I think that the part when Rose of Sharon does that is a sign that things will get better for the Joads. Change was a bittersweet theme in The Grapes of Wrath but I think it was overall good for the Joads.
ReplyDeleteI actually would have to disagree. I don't like imagining the ending of the book. I wish they would of told us exactly what happened to them. But I do agree totally with the fact that the family knows how to survive.
ReplyDeleteI liked and hated the fact that he left the reader to wonder. I guess you are right that he gave the reader hints that the Joads are going to survive. I also agree with you that no one could have expected ending.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the ending leaving the reader wondering what happened. I agree that it gave hints that the Joads will survive but the thing that I don't like is that we don't know completely if they do survive.
ReplyDeleteI also did not like the ending. I felt like I was left hanging. I expecially disliked that steinbeck did not say anything about Tom or explained what happened to him. I thought the ending could of been a lot better.
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