The women stood silently and watched. And where a number of men gathered together, the fear went from their faces, and anger took its place. And the women sighed with relief, for they knew it was all right – the break had not come; and the break would never come as long as fear could turn to wrath.
Tiny points of grass came through the earth, and in a few days the hills were pale green with the beginning year.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 29. In the face of great hardship and suffering, the migrant families show their resilience and strength. The women watch the faces of their men looking for signs of fear, but when the men come together that fear turns to anger. This gives the women hope that their men haven’t broken and they will survive. The men are looked to for the strength and will to go on. Although in the case of the Joads this gender role has turned a full 180 degrees, with Ma Joad her family’s tower of strength.