Tom, his mother, his father, and Rose of Sharon changed by the end of Grapes of Wrath.
They all had a dramatic realization about life itself. All four of them learned that they needed to change and work as a whole to survive.
Tom's mom changed by the end of the novel. At the beginning of the novel she was very patient and even though she had a lot of power within the household she was modest about it and let Tom's father take control. However, by the end of the novel all of the landowners and authority pushing them around got to Tom's mom. She became more aggressive, emerged as the leader of the family, and started telling the men what they need to do to survive. She boldly told Tom's father, "You get your stick, Pa. Times when they's food an' a place to set, then maybe you can use your stick an' keep your skin whole.
English: Rose of Sharon, St Mark's churchyard, Chu...
Rose of Sharon in Britain and Australia, Aaron's b...
Ma and Tom Joad. Note Tom's scar on his left cheek...But you ain't a-doin your job, either a-thinking or a-workin"ÃÂ (Steinbeck 577 ). Tom's mom knew that she needed to become the leader because the rest of the family was falling apart.
Tom's father changed by the end of the novel. Slowly, throughout the novel, his father's power within the family was changing places with Tom's mom. "Pa's lost his place."ÃÂ Tom's mom said, "He ain't the head not more"ÃÂ (Steinbeck 536). The journey to California made Tom's father weaker and not stronger and aggressive like Tom's mother became at the end of the novel. Most of the time he kept dwelling on the past and the way life used to be. He realized that he was not as strong and told Ma, "I ain't no good anymore. Spen' all my time a- thinkin' how it use' ta be. Spen' all...