Noah Joad in Grapes of Wrath

Noah Joad is a very fascinating sort of character in the Grapes of Wrath. One can never really figure him out exactly. In a way it is as though he is the person person because he is not boastful and he never angers, but he also never shows any sort of pleasant emotions either such as happiness or love or excitement. Although the novel tells you he feels them, he never comes out and shows it to anyone. He simply wanders along through his life as though his mind is not in the world of the others at all, but some place else.

I think Noah is used in the novel to represent regret and punishment for past sins. He is a nearly constant reminder to Pa Joad of that fateful night that Noah was born. Instead of remaining calm and keeping his cool in the face of an emergency such as his firstborn son being born, instead he panicked and dealt with the situation poorly and foolishly. As a result, he is constantly reminded of this in the way that Noah is different from everyone else. It is unclear whether or nto Noah is actually brain damaged because I do not think those things were diagnosed back then, but the idea is suggested.

I think that this even in Pa Joad's life was probably a major even in molding and deciding what kind of man Pa would become. When Noah was born Pa Joad was probably a young man, newly married, and beginning to take over beginning the man in place of Grampa Joad. This even of Noah's birth probably helped him to realize that he did not know everything as many youngmen think they do, and it probably taught him some humility and gentleness that would greatly benefit him later in life. It probably made him a more careful and caring man in all that he did.