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Of all the characters in the book, I think I liked Rose of Sharon the least. She was so immature; so unwilling to face reality as it was. I had little sympathy for the way she was so easily dismayed by the religious fanatic who threatened her child with death and how she was so wrapped up in her own situation that she seemingly had little concern for Tom's or anyone else's. Yet in the final moments of the book, that brave and selfless action she took in the barn fully vindicated her character in my eyes. At a time when I had fully expected her to wallow in pity and give voice to all the doom-saying of the fanatic, she instead saw a stranger in trouble and came to his aid. Putting aside any thoughts of social conventions, she courageously went forward and did what needed to be done. That was a remarkable ending. I'm not so sure about the mysterious smile, though. Could it have been because she she now saw a divine purpose in everything she had been through?
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