Men's+Lessening+Ability+to+Cope

__ Men’s Lessening Ability To Cope __

“And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men—to feel whether this time the men would break.”

This quote found on the first few pages of the book sets the tone for the rest of the book; the men are not perfect and the women know this. From the beginning it is inferred that eventually, perhaps soon, the men will “break.”

“The breathing had stopped. Casey looked down into Grandpa’s eyes and they were clear and deep and penetrating, and there was a knowing serene look in them.”

Grandpa is the first of the men to “lose” his ability to cope and that comes as no surprise considering he is the one who is most upset with the journey. From the beginning, Grandpa had a problem with leaving the land. He attempts to cope with it by idealizing California; he even says the first thing he will do when he gets there is to pick a bucket of grapes and eat them all. As the journey wears on grandpa finally loses his ability to cope and succumbs to death. The “serene look” in his eyes suggests that he found peace.

“’Jus’ stepped up there an’ says, ‘I done her.’ An’ they took ‘im away. An’ I’m a-gonna get drunk.’”

Uncle John is Pa Joad’s brother. He is a fundamentally good person but he has his own personal demons. It is revealed that his wife died earlier in life and he has turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows. With John, he hasn’t necessarily lost his ability to cope, but as things get tough John will always cope with it in the wrong way. In the quote above John chooses to console himself with alcohol after Jim Casey is arrested. As the journey wears on John’s problem grows and he becomes increasingly more critical of himself, to the point where he says, “I wanta die so bad. Wanta die awful".

“Funny! Women takin’ over the fambly. Women sayin’ we’ll do this here, an’ we’ll go there. An' I don’t even care .”

Pa is initially the cornerstone of the family and the driving force for success in California. His coping mechanism seems to be hope. Hope of a better life in California or a more simple kind of hope for a job or food. Eventually after much toil Pa gives in and relinquishes the power he holds in the family to Ma. His stance becomes almost apathetic.

Breaking from the mold, Tom Joad doesn’t so much “lose” his ability to cope as gives it up. In the beginning of the novel Tom emerges from jail as an isolated and independent individual. He tells Jim Casey his plan is to “lay one foot down before another.” He rejoins his family and begins the journey but still seems to maintain his individuality. Eventually Jim Casey preaches to Tom that strength is in numbers, a lesson he learned while working on strikes. From this point forward Tom undergoes a change and sheds his coping mechanism in favor of a new philosophy. Tom comes to the conclusion at the end of the novel that “a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one…”

Why do you think the women never lose their ability to cope?