The air was fetid and close with the smell of the birth. Uncle John clambered in and held himself upright against the side of the car. Mrs. Wainwright left her work and came to Pa. She pulled him by the elbow toward the corner of the car. She picked up a lantern and held it over an apple box in the corner. On a newspaper lay a blue shriveled little mummy.
"Never breathed," said Mrs. Wainwright softly. "Never was alive."
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 30. Despite the Joads doing everything to ensure Rose of Sharon’s pregnancy goes well, she gives birth to a stillborn baby. With the family’s truck engine flooding when a makeshift dam fails, nature has struck again. It seems as though there is no hope for the Joads. This is a tragic and heart-wrenching scene, with Rose of Sharon’s baby meant to be a symbol of hope for the Joads.