What do you thinks about the ending of teh novel? What message is Steinbeck trying to convey to the reader? What effect might this ending have on the reader?

The family is again destitute. Rose of Sharon's child, who represented the possibilities for the future, is stillborn. Many readers might feel distraught: the Joad's journey is futile. Yet the final scene in The Grapes of Wrath is one meant to instil a modicum of hope. The debilitated Rose of Sharon breastfeeds the starving man in the barn to sustain him. She gives what was meant for her baby to a complete stranger, an example of selfless sacrifice for the sake of community instead of adherence to individual well-being.