Characters, and How They Represent T.O.

Seeing as how there haven't been any new posts in a while, I thought that I would ask a question to get things going.
Different characters in The Grapes of Wrath seem to reaffirm the concept of T.O., or present different aspects of it. Some, like Ma Joad embody the concept of the necessity of unity and the strength that can be found in it. On the other end of the spectrum Noah and Connie set off on their own, shunning the group. These two characters are simply never heard from again and are not cast in a postive light by the rest of the Joad family. Anyhow, what do you all think of these and other characters as they relate to T.O. in the novel?