What are some examples of compassion and indomitable spirit in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath?

Perhaps the most famous example of compassion and
indomitable spirit in John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath
appears in the novel’s final paragraph, in which Rose of Sharon, who has just lost the
baby she has been carrying, nurses a stranger who is near death from
starvation:

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Then slowly she lay down beside him. He shook
his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and
bared her breast. “You got to,” she said. She squirmed closer and pulled his head close.
“There!” she said. “There.” Her hand moved behind his head and supported it. Her fingers
moved gently in his hair. She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together
and smiled mysteriously.

This
passage is significant for a number of reasons, including the
following:

• It demonstrates Rose of Sharon’s
  compassion.


• It demonstrates Rose of Sharon’s strength of
  character.


• It demonstrates Rose of Sharon’s ability to
  think unconventionally (“outside the box”), especially when another human being’s life
  is at stake.


• It suggests that Rose of Sharon displays the
  kind of compassion and indomitable spirit that have been displayed by other members of
  her family throughout the book.


• It suggests, especially
  in the final two words, that Rose of Sharon is almost an archetypal figure, similar to
  the Christian Madonna.


• It suggests Rose of Sharon’s
  determination, even when the man resists her offer.


• It
  implies that Rose of Sharon represents an ideal of selflessness and generosity that is
  crucial to human survival in general.


• It suggests that
  Rose of Sharon is a kind of symbolic mother, even if she is not yet a mother in the
  literal sense.


• It suggests that women can be strong in
  their own ways, and that not just men are capable of strength, courage, and
  heroism.


• It suggests that Rose of Sharon is a worthy
  successor to her parents and other members of earlier generations of her family, who
  have in various ways shown the same kind of compassion and indomitable spirit that she
  herself displays here.