Characters in "The Grapes of Wrath": Ma

Another extremely important character in The Grapes of Wrath is Ma. She plays a vital role in the book, because she is the center of the family, and she helps make a lot of decisions. Ma is a very strong woman, because she basically carries the household. She keeps everyone happy and makes sure everyone has what they need. Everyone in the household relies on her to keep them calm, relaxed, and comfortable. If she shows that she is upset, everyone else in the family will become upset as well. In the beginning of the book, Pa is the main decisionmaker, and while he looks to Ma for affirmation, she still does not do as much of the decisionmaking as she could. When the family makes the decision to move west, she becomes a lot more vocal about her opinions, because she does not always believe that the family is making good decisions. She becomes more aggravated and makes everyone listen to her and follow her orders. She interrupts Pa, does not let him give orders to the rest of the familiy, and basically beats him, through her words, into submission. She is willing to do just about anything to get what she wants or needs. She is prepared to steal, harm, or even kill to give her family what it needs. She wants to keep her family together because she believes in numbers. She also believes that if she keeps the family together, they will all be stronger and have much better chances at staying alive and well. Ma will not let her children get away with everything though. If anyone in her family whines or complains, Ma immediately reprimands them. If they do anything wrong, she will punish them and make sure they learn their lesson. When the family is falling apart, Ma is always there to fix everything and put it all back together. Ma is always there for the family, and she is a very strong woman.