In this text, a huge rainstorm came and forced the Joads to leave their boxcar shelter in search of higher ground. They soon spotted a barn on a hill and immediately headed for it. Upon entering the barn, they discovered a small boy and his father. The boy’s father was very weak and starving. The boy explained, "Yeah! Says he wasn ' hungry, or he jus ' et. Give me the food. Now he 's too weak. Can 't hardly move." The father would give all of his food to his son to ensure that his son would live. Jessica Shields points out that, “The moral value of the father 's actions depended solely on the impact it had on his son, regardless of the consequences it had on the father himself.” So the father was altruistic and gave all of his food to his son to protect his son’s …show more content…
At the end of this novel, the starving father needed something to eat in order to survive. He was unable to eat any solid food because his digestive system would not be able to digest the food. He needed milk or soup as a food source. Rose of Sharon had just gave birth to a stillborn baby a day earlier, so being a kind person, she sacrificed her body to help the poor old man. Steinbeck explains, “Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast. "You got to," she said. She squirmed closer and pulled his head close.” Melinda Scott argues that, “Rose of Sharon should be every woman 's role model and hero for her ability to sacrifice her own body in order to save a life.” The kindness that Rose of Sharon showed to the old man would most likely save his life allowing him to spend more time with and teach his