Literary styles in The Grapes of Wrath
When John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression. The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives. When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it. But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time. The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message. John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath, is a narrative about the travel of the Joad family from Oklahoma to California. However, between many of the narrative chapters, Steinbeck inserts interchapters, which interrupt the flow of the narrative to provide the author's commentary. This technique is very effective because the interchapters create an image of the economic and social history that impact the story. They provide a broad picture of what is happening to the mass of migrants traveling to California on Route 66. Without the interchapters, the reader would be given a limited view of how life was for the migrants, and Stienbeck would not have been able to provide very effective commentary. Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees a
The interchapters are very effective because they provide the reader with a clear image of what is happening physically, mentally, and emotionally to the migrants as they travel to California. Intermixed with the plot are corollary chapters. The interchapters provide Steinbeck with the opportunity to insert his own subjective commentary and help to interpret the novel for the reader. And finally, the use of repetition gave the whole book a sense of continuity. Three hundred thousand, hungry and miserable; if they ever know themselves, the land will be theirs and all the gas, all the rifles in the world won't stop them. Whether a massive drought causes this migration of people from the Midwest, or all the families get told to get off of the land, or all the migrants are starving; the chapters tell how all of this happened. " The migrants are all in the same position and because they know that they can depend on one another they realize the need of family and unity to get through hard times. The purpose of the corollary chapters is to put the events of the story in perspective to the circumstances of the country, so everyone would be able to understand the context of the book. Repetition is used very effectively in The Grapes of Wrath. In addition, in chapter twelve Steinbeck challenges the idea that America is a free country when the migrants are told that they are not allowed to enter California unless they can afford to buy real estate. For example, Steinbeck writes chapter seven using a newsreel technique. Without the interchapters, the reader would not be able to fully understand the hardships these people faced and Stienbeck would not have been able to give his insightful commentary. Steinbeck uses some of the interchapters to set the tone and mood of the novel and to depict the life of the migrants that had to travel down Route 66 in the 1930's. Furthermore, chapter fourteen gives Steinbeck's views on socialism. Steinbeck highly admired the migrants because they endured much suffering but never gave up.
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Acceptance Essays
