When the family finally reaches Hooverville Ma takes over the position of authority. It is not final however, until she and Pa have an argument and she shoos him away with a frying pan. This confrontation seems funny at first, but when it is explored deeper it is revealed as the breaking of Pa Joad. Since the family left the farm Pa has faced failure after failure while Ma has displayed time and time again her ability to remain strong in the face of adversity.
When the family is confronted by the police at the Hooverville it is Ma, not Pa, that tells the family they are going to be leaving. Pa is generally upset by this, but Ma tells him that he's not doing his job and she needs to step up.
This incident turns the typical family structure on its head and really symbolizes the changes that the Joads have been through. The man, who is typically at the top of the commanding food chain, has fallen below the woman, who is normally on bottom. So much has changed for the Joads, many of the family members mature and grow into different people. The change in the individual characters is enhanced by the change in the traditional family structure.
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