An Ending, Part 2: Rose of Sharon's Gift

 The novel ends with an epic flood, almost Biblical in proportion, that forces Ma and Pa -- with Rose of Sharon, Ruthie and Winfield in tow -- to find higher ground.  In part they are spurred on to aid Rose of Sharon's health as she has just lost her baby and is still feeling unwell, both physically and emotionally.  They seek shelter in a barn, only to encounter a boy and his father, who is dying of hunger and can no longer digest solid food. The novel ends when Rose of Sharon

        loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast. "You got to," she said.  "there." Her hand                moved behind his head and supported it.  Her fingers moved gently in his hair.  She looked up and            across hte barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously (455).

What is the significance of this gesture and the image this scene is describing?

An Ending, Part 1: Tom's Speech

 Tom Joad, the moral center of the The Grapes of Wrath, abruptly exits the novel in chapter 28.  In order to escape possible arrest and to save his family from the effects of his problems, he decides (with the approval of Ma) to do the unthinkable: leave the family.  In his conversation with Ma he gives his famous speech which can be interpreted as a moment of spiritual insight, a gesture of solidarity or a call to action. He says (in part), "I’ll be ever’where—wherever you look.  Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there.  Where they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there."(419).  While not the end of the novel, it is the ending of arguably the most important story arc.

What is the significance of Tom's speech and the ending of his story as he departs from the Joad family in chapter 28?