I was quite puzzled when Ma starts talking to Rose of Sharon about bearin' and dyin', and I really didn't understand how each one is a piece of all dying and all bearing. As I read it over several times, I was able to see how Ma deals with the weight that she carries for her family. It is through this wisdom that all of her challenges seem obtainable.
Ma states: "When you're young, Rosasharn, ever'thing that happens is a thing all by itself. It's a lonely thing." When one is young and going through something, nothing else matters, but what is happening at the moment. It feels like the world has stopped, and no one can possibly understand what one is feeling inside. Ma knows that when a woman is pregnant, it feels like she is the only one that has ever worried about keeping a fetus safe, or knows the pain of carrying an unborn child. She explains that grandma and Rose of Sharon are the only ones that can experience their situation, and therefore that is a lonely feeling.
Ma goes on to say: "They's a time of change, an' when that comes, dyin' is a piece of all dyin', and bearin' is a piece of all bearin', an' bearin' an dyin' is two pieces of the same thing. An' then things ain't lonely anymore. An' then a hurt don't hurt so bad, 'cause it ain't a lonely hurt no more, Rosasharn." She is explaining that with age comes change, and that change makes one aware that dying and bearing has been experienced by people throughout the existence of human beings, so one is not truly alone in these seasons. When a person arrives at this revelation, one realizes that many other people have encountered the same emotions.
This wisdom does not only apply to Rose of Sharon and grandma, but everyone the Joads come in contact with throughout their trip to California. Each one of them are dealing with their own conflicts, but these problems are not one person's struggles or the Joads' difficulties, instead they are the burden that society carries together.
When you are going through difficulties and you feel alone it makes the problem seem that much bigger. When you have the people around you who know what you are going through and can be a helping hand it makes the conflict easier to handle. Like the Joads who are sticking together as they go to California sharing each others burdens and helping each other out.
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