Another loss

The Joads are having even more trouble on their trip. I really can not wrap my head around how they can still continue to move on. This is what has happened to them recently. After Tom spoke to the man and his son at the river, the Joad family has decided to continue on anyway. This is a feat in itself because this man and his son are in basically an identical situation and they were not able to make a living to survive in California. As the family continues on it is clear that Granma Joad is getting sick. Since Granpa Joad died she just hasn’t been the same. Also the Joad family has left the Wilson family behind. Now in a previous chapter it is described that the families on the road have joined together in a sense. So when the Wilsons are left behind it is almost as though the Joads have lost another part of their family. At one point in the chapter Ma Joad makes a comment that the family is falling apart. It seems that this is almost true because they have lost five people at this point I believe. This is really upsetting. I would most likely not want to continue on with a journey if I had lost so much. It is hard to understand what this family is going through though because the situation is so unique for them. It could be possible that they are continuing because they do not want everything they have lost to be for nothing. Ma Joad does use one of the losses to their advantage. When a police officer stops them, she says that Granma needs medical attention. The officer lets the family move on. Later Ma Joad says that Granma Joad had already been dead for quite a while. Even though a loss did help them, I think that everything that has happened to the Joad family has been quite rough on them.