Gender Quotes

Although the theme of gender may be subtle in the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, it is still there. It is not as prominent or as important as the bigger themes of change, family, and lying, but the theme of gender still plays a part in the novel historically, as well as by adding to the plot. The references are not big and bold and exceptionally noticeable, but there are quotes that detail the gender roles found in the novel:

"The women knew it was alright, and the watching children knew it was alright. Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole." -Chapter One

Many of the women, and the children, in the novel placed a great deal of trust in the men in their lives, mainly their husbands and fathers, the heads of the family. They knew that if he said it would be alright, then it would be. If the men kept spirits up and worked hard and tried to make it out of whatever mess they were in, then it was always going to be possible to overcome whatever obstacle was in their path.

"The men sat in the doorways of their houses; their hands were busy with sticks and little rocks. The men sat still- thinking, figuring." -Chapter One

In the family dynamic, the men were thought to do the figuring and thinking. But as is displayed in The Grapes of Wrath, this wasn't always true. In the Joad family, Ma Joad does a great deal of the thinking and figuring. It seems that she is the most logical and rational, even though she is not exactly considered to be the head of the family.

"Men sang the words, women hummed the tunes." -Chapter Seventeen

This is one of the extremely subtle quotes that displays the gender roles in the novel. I think that this quote is a type of symbolism- men were physically strong, but the women were the ones that were strong in less noticeable ways, like emotionally.