John Steinbeck describes the life of a poor family through his exquisite and eloquent
use of imagery in The Grapes of Wrath. He shows the struggles of the Joad family as they
move to California in hopes of finding work and money in a genious story of the life of the
1930's. In this story, he accentuates anger, fear, strength, and camaraderie as a driving
force for families in the early twentieth century. Steinbeck's metaphors affix emotion to the
story and highlight what makes the lower class a respectable group of people. He uses
intercalary chapters to emphasize on particular points and develop mental pictures of the
Joads' life as the way of life in the early twentieth century. According to Steinbeck, life as
the lower class in the early twentieth century was difficult, unfair and the only thing that
kept the people moving on was the determination and hope that life would take a turn for
In the early twentieth century, life as the lower class was very austere in the eyes of
John Steinbeck. Early on in The Grapes of Wrath he tells us of a turtle who is crossing a vast
road in the middle of nowhere when a large pick-up truck drives by and knocks the turtle on
its back. "Lying on its back, the turtle was tight in its shell for a long time. But at last its
legs waved in the air, reaching for something to pull it over" (22). This example symbolizes
the struggle of the Joads as the proletariat in society. They are constantly "flipped" on their
backs by the "greater" people in their community. They struggle to live and survive just as
the turtle does on its back. As the novel progresses, Steinbeck describes the struggle for
money, food and shelter. The Joads are malnourished, homeless and unemployed through
out the majority of the novel. The Joads complete odds and ends tasks in every little place
they stop just to earn a "pocket ...