Power of Women in The Grapes of Wrath :: Grapes Wrath essays

Power of Women in The Grapes of Wrath   Women are known for as holding families together. When propagation get rough women are the foundation to the family and help keep things together. A woman poses different qualities that can help keep the family strong. These qualities can be categorised in the four archetypes of a woman. The idea of the woman Archetype is presented by Carl Jung. The first being Mother Nature, the very physical aspect and the second is the virgin, which represents the spiritual aspect of the archetype. The third is the young which who is the physical state while the fourth is the old witch possessing the spiritual side of the woman archetype. The four women in hindquarters Steinbecks, The Grapes of Wrath represent these four archetypes and take on responsibilities that in the end help the family succeeds in achieving their dreams.         Ma Joad is a woman of lastingness and hope who is the prickle of the family. She represents the Mother Nature archetype while she posses the physical aspect of guiding the family and staying strong when the family needs her most. Steinbecks shows the importance of mas character by the syntax usage to signalise ma. Ma was heavy, but not fat thick with child-bearing and work...her ankles, and her strong, broad, bare feet moved quickly and deftly over the floor, Ma is described with these features to show her strength as a mother who has control and survives through hard situations (95). Her bare feet being close to the earth shows how she takes on a Mother Nature archetype to her character. She is one with the earth vertical as Mother Nature is. Mother Nature is one that gives birth, produces, sustains life and nurtures her family. All of these archetypes are expressed in mas character.   Even though she is a very strong woman she knows her role in the family. Ma knows when it is her time to help the family and when it is appropriate to ste p back and let the father run things. It is an unsaid contestation but known by all in the family that  ma was powerful in the group and they look to her for important decision making (133).