Rose of Sharon and Connie Rivers

Rose of Sharon and Connie Rivers are a young married couple whose relationship embodies the tension between personal aspiration and the crushing realities of the Dust Bowl exodus. Married when Rose of Sharon was still a "plump, passionate hoyden," the pair initially share a vision of a prosperous future in California, a dream that Connie articulates with increasing urgency as the journey wears on. Their bond, however, proves unable to withstand the pressures of poverty, displacement, and the loss of their first child, and Connie's desertion marks a turning point in Rose of Sharon's transformation from a self-absorbed girl into a woman capable of profound sacrifice.

Courtship, Marriage, and Early Dreams

Rose of Sharon and Connie married young, and their early relationship was marked by physical passion and a shared sense of adventure. Before the journey, Rose of Sharon was described as having a "voluptuous and inviting" body that "swung so freely and provocatively as to invite slapping and stroking," and the couple engaged in "cat fights in bed, biting and scratching with muffled giggles and final tears." Once she became pregnant, however, Rose of Sharon's demeanor changed dramatically. She became "demure and serious," her "whole thought and action directed inward on the baby." Connie, a "sharp-faced, lean young man of a Texas strain" with "pale blue eyes" that were "sometimes dangerous and sometimes kindly, and sometimes frightened," was "still frightened and bewildered at the change in her." He tried to maintain their connection by keeping his body close to hers, "so that his body touched her at hip and shoulder," feeling that this "kept a relation that might be departing." Despite his confusion, Connie was a "good hard worker" who "would make a good husband," and the couple built elaborate plans for their future in California.

The Dream of a New Life

During the journey west, Rose of Sharon and Connie frequently discussed their plans, speaking in "low tones, pitched to the drumming canvas, so that no one could hear them." Rose of Sharon confided to her mother that she and Connie did not want to live in the country anymore. Connie, she explained, planned to get a job in a store or factory and study at night, perhaps radio, so he could become an expert and eventually own his own store. They dreamed of living in a town, going to the movies whenever they wanted, and having a doctor attend the baby's birth, possibly even in a hospital. Rose of Sharon imagined having an electric iron and all new things for the baby, "white an'— Well, you seen in the catalogue all the stuff they got for a baby." She even hoped that when Connie got his store, Al might work for him. Ma Joad, listening, watched the "structure grow and followed it," but her response was a quiet warning: "We don' want you to go 'way from us. It ain't good for folks to break up." Ma seemed to know it was all a dream, and her body relaxed, though a "little smile stayed around her eyes."

The Strain of the Road and Connie's Disillusionment

The harsh realities of the migrant journey quickly eroded Connie's optimism. At the Hooverville camp, after witnessing the desperate conditions and the hostility of the local authorities, Connie's mood darkened. He told Rose of Sharon, "If I'd of knowed it would be like this I wouldn' of came. I'd a studied nights 'bout tractors back home an' got me a three-dollar job." He lamented that he "didn' know they was places like this we got to live in." Rose of Sharon, sensing his wavering commitment, demanded, "You ain't givin' it up!" Connie reassured her, but his promises grew hollow: "Soon's I get on my feet. Get a little money." Rose of Sharon's eyes became "calculating," and she saw in them "a measuring of him, a calculation of him." She insisted, "We got to have a house 'fore the baby comes. We ain't gonna have this baby in no tent." Connie's only reply was the same empty refrain: "Soon's I get on my feet." After he left the tent, Rose of Sharon "rolled on her back and stared at the top of the tent. And then she put her thumb in her mouth for a gag and she cried silently."

Abandonment and Aftermath

Connie's abandonment occurs during the chaos of the Hooverville's destruction. When the family is forced to flee after the deputy's shooting and the preacher's arrest, Rose of Sharon asks about Connie. Al reports, "Way to hell an' gone up the river. He's goin' south." Rose of Sharon, stunned, asks, "Was—was he goin' away?" Ma, realizing the truth, presses her daughter, and Rose of Sharon admits that Connie said "it would a been a good thing if he stayed home an' studied up tractors." Pa Joad, with characteristic bluntness, declares, "Connie wasn' no good. I seen that a long time. Didn' have no guts, jus' too big for his overhalls." Ma, however, counsels silence for the sake of the unborn child: "Rosasharn gonna have a little fella an' that baby is half Connie. It ain't good for a baby to grow up with folks a-sayin' his pa ain't no good." She advises the family to "make out like he's dead," arguing that they would not speak ill of Connie if he were dead. Rose of Sharon is left to carry the pregnancy alone, her dreams shattered, and her emotional state becomes increasingly fragile, marked by a deep sense of loss and resentment that culminates in the stillbirth of her baby and her final, mysterious act of giving her breast milk to a starving stranger.