"What’s the matter’th you?" she demanded of Grampa. And again his eyes reached toward her voice and his lips writhed. "He’s sulkin’," said Granma. "I tol’ you he was tricky. He was gonna sneak away this mornin’ so he wouldn’t have to come. An’ then his hip got a-hurtin’," she said disgustedly. "He’s jus’ sulkin’. I seen him when he wouldn’t talk to nobody before."
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13. When Grampa is dying of a stroke inside a tent, Granma Joad doesn’t realize how serious his condition is. Her gruff and seemingly unsympathetic comments may appear hard, as she suggests that he is being "tricky" and "sulkin’." But her remark that he is healthy enough to run off that morning could suggest that she is not completely with it herself.