As the final chapters of Grapes of Wrath conclude, Tom Joad realizes that Jim Casy was on to something when he said that each person's soul is just a part of one great, collective soul. He decides that he is meant to spend the rest of his life living out what Jim Casy would have wanted, and that is to organize the people into a more unified front that will turn the world into a more peaceful, put-together place. Unfortunately for the Joads, this means they have one less hard worker to support them and they are left at their most desolate yet.
After a false lead that there is a small cotton farm to live pick on, they return, dejected, to live in the small box car that they share with another family. Soon a powerful storm erupts and there is a flood that threatens to sweep the tiny structure of a home away. They try to construct a dam to keep the water at bay but that too is destroyed. In teh midst of all of this turmoil, Rose of Sharon goes into labor and gives birth to a stillborn baby. Poor Uncle John is left with the task of floating the baby down the river in a makeshift casket as a testimony to the world of the suffering that they have endured.
When the storm gets so unbearable that they seek higher ground for safety, what is left of the Joads find a barn and enter it for refuge. Inside the barn they find a small boy and his dying father who was dying of malnutrition due to sacrificing all of his food to keep his child fed. His health has failed so much that he is no longer able to consume any nutrients besides milk or soup, and immediately Rose of sharon realizes what she must do. While the others leave, Rose of sharon uses the gift that her body still possesses due to her stillborn baby to save a man's life.
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