In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck creates many conflicts within the characters. Uncle John's character has a conflict which arose with the death of his wife. When indirectly involved in the death of a loved one, this person usually feels at fault for the death; they think they could have saved them. Uncle John declined his wife's request to get a doctor for her because he thought it was nothing seriously. Uncle John never stabilized after her death and never forgave himself; he continues to blame himself for her death several years after she died, he also thinks his sins are creating bad luck for the whole family.

Steinbeck describes in chapter eight how Uncle John's wife died. When his wife began complaining about an ache in her stomach and asked John to go for a doctor, he replied, "You just got a stomickache. You et too...