You finish the book, and you're just sitting there. Stunned. Maybe a little grossed out. Most people reach the final pages of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and don't know whether to cry or wash their eyes out with soap. I'm talking, of course, about Rose of Sharon Grapes of Wrath—specifically that barn scene.
It’s one of the most polarizing moments in American literature. Honestly, when it first hit shelves in 1939, people lost their minds. It was banned, burned, and denounced as "pornographic" in some counties. But if you think it's just a shock-value ending, you’re missing the entire point of the Joad family’s journey.
Who is Rose of Sharon, anyway?
At the start, Rosasharn (as the family calls her) is kind of annoying. Let’s be real. She’s eighteen, newly married to Connie Rivers, and very, very pregnant. She’s obsessed with her own body. She spends the first half of the book fretting about whether "the baby’ll be marked" because she saw something scary or got a headache.
She’s a dreamer. While the rest of the Joads are worrying about tires blowing out or where the next meal is coming from, she’s talking about living in a house with electricity and going to the "pictures" (the movies) every night. She’s the personification of the "California Dream" that turns out to be a total mirage.
Then, everything falls apart.
Connie, her husband, realizes California isn't the land of milk and honey. He chickens out. He literally just walks away into the night, abandoning his pregnant wife in a dirty migrant camp. It’s a brutal turning point. You watch this girl go from a self-centered teenager to someone who has to carry the weight of the future alone.
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The Symbolism of the Stillborn Baby
If you're looking for a happy ending, Steinbeck isn't your guy. Toward the end of the book, during a massive flood, Rose of Sharon goes into labor in a boxcar. The men are outside frantically trying to build a mud levee to keep the water out. It’s chaotic and dark.
The baby is stillborn.
Uncle John takes the tiny corpse in an apple box and sets it into the rushing floodwaters. He tells it to "go down and tell 'em." It’s a direct reference to Moses. Instead of the baby being a "chosen one" who leads the people to the promised land, the baby is a witness to the cruelty of the world they’ve found.
It’s heartbreaking. But it’s also the moment Rose of Sharon Grapes of Wrath stops being a victim and starts becoming something else entirely.
That Barn Scene: Why It Matters
The family flees the flood and finds a barn. Inside is a boy and his father. The man is literally starving to death. He hasn't eaten in six days because he gave all his food to his son. He can't keep solid food down anymore.
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Ma Joad looks at Rose of Sharon. There’s this silent communication between them. It’s a "passing of the torch" moment. Ma has been the backbone of the family, but now it’s Rose of Sharon’s turn to provide.
She nurses the man.
It’s Not About What You Think
If you find it weird, you’re in good company. But for Steinbeck, this was the ultimate expression of "The Oversoul"—a concept he borrowed from Ralph Waldo Emerson. It’s the idea that we aren't just individuals; we are all part of one big human family.
- The Waste vs. The Gift: Throughout the book, Steinbeck describes "the grapes of wrath" growing heavy—farmers are burning oranges and dumping potatoes in rivers to keep prices high while people starve.
- A Primal Act: By having Rose of Sharon give her milk to a stranger, Steinbeck is showing the ultimate middle finger to that system of waste.
- The Mysterious Smile: The book ends with her smiling "mysteriously." It’s not a smile of joy, exactly. It’s a smile of realization. She has nothing left—no husband, no baby, no home—but she still has the power to keep someone alive.
The Cultural Impact
You’ve probably seen the 1940 movie starring Henry Fonda. If you have, you might notice something: the breastfeeding scene isn't in it. Hollywood wasn't ready for that in 1940. They replaced it with Ma Joad’s "We’re the people" speech. It’s a great speech, but it dilutes the raw, visceral point Steinbeck was trying to make.
Critics often argue that Rose of Sharon becomes a "Madonna" figure—the Pietà. Usually, that’s an image of Mary holding the dead Christ. Here, it’s a living woman saving a dying man. It flips the script on traditional religious imagery.
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Why We Still Talk About Her
We talk about Rose of Sharon Grapes of Wrath because she represents the transition from "I" to "We." At the start of the book, she only cares about her baby, her husband, her house. By the end, she is the mother to a stranger.
She proves that even when the "system" (the banks, the big farms, the weather) takes everything from you, it can't take your humanity unless you let it.
Actionable Takeaways for Readers
If you're reading this for a class or just because you're a glutton for Depression-era punishment, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the Transition: Track how often she complains in the first 200 pages versus the last 50. Her silence at the end is her strength.
- The Name Connection: "Rose of Sharon" is a biblical name from the Song of Solomon. It refers to a flower that grows in harsh conditions. Pretty on the nose, right?
- Read the Intercalary Chapters: Don't skip the short chapters in between the Joad family's story. They explain the "why" behind her actions by showing the massive scale of the suffering.
- Compare the Book to the Movie: If you have the time, watch the film. Notice how the absence of Rose of Sharon’s final act changes the "flavor" of the story from a radical social statement to a more digestible patriotic one.
The ending isn't supposed to be comfortable. It's supposed to be a wake-up call. It's a reminder that in the face of total disaster, the only thing we really have is each other. That’s why she smiles. She finally gets it.