Different Styles in The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck used a lot of different styles in The Grapes of Wrath. He liked using language that was in keeping with his characters. He was also really big on symbolism. Steinbeck also used intercalary chapters to provide some of the background information.
John Steinbeck must have loved using slang and natural dialect. All of his characters spoke with a very heavy accents. "Tell 'em ya dong's growed scence you los' your eye." (P. 180). Granted, this does add some realism. But sometimes, its just a little too thick. This can make the book harder to read (as if it really needs any help in that department...). That style of writing is very useful when working on something that is going to be heard, but it doesn't work quite as well when it is read, I have noticed. Slang is also another element that can both help and hinder a book. Some words change meaning in time. A good example would be "cool". 100 years ago, if someone were to say that the clothes were 'cool', people would think "I should wear those during the summer, to stay cool". Some other words just don't have any meaning now. The phrase "tom-cattin'" was used to describe Al. That term is rarely, if ever, used today. The only reason that you can tell what it means is by its use in the sentence.
Another style that Steinbeck used was symbolism. Practically everything was a symbol for something. There was a chapter that had a turtle trying to cross the road. The turtle then got hit by a truck, the driver of which tried to hit the turtle. Some people say that the turtle symbolizes the "little people", and the driver symbolizes the capitalists who owned the land. Another symbol in the book was Jim Casy being Jesus Christ. Sheesh, I just don't see it. Yes, both of them have the initials "J.C.", and yes, they both sacrificed themselves for the nobler good. I still don't think that there is enough there to really say that Casy was based on Jesus. Some people will think anything... oh, wait. You were the one who told us that... Hmm, never mind me talking bad about it. Symbolism is wonderful!
One of the styles that I DO like is the use of intercalary chapters.
Intercalary Chapters The use of Intercalary chapters is a complex technique. Writers use this structure to break up the plot with separate excerpts inserted into the novel. Intercalary chapters help to give the reader background knowledge or important information. This can help further develop the novels impact on readers. John Steinbeck displayed this strategy throughout The Grapes of Wrath, interrupting the Joad family’s journey with chapters describing other aspects of the novel’s setting.
When times get tough, many people turn away from everyone and everything. It must be part of human nature to adopt an independent attitude when faced with troubles. It is understandable because most people do not want to trouble their loved ones when they are going through problems, so it is easier to turn away than stick together. Maybe their family is going through a rough patch and they reason they would be better off on their own. This path of independence and solitude may not always be the best option for them or their family, though. Often times it is more beneficial for everyone to work through the problem together. It is not always the easiest or most desirable option, but most times it is the most efficient and it will get results in the long run. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck makes this point very clear through several characters. Many characters throughout
Steinbeck's relationship to the transcendentalists [Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman] was pointed out soon after The Grapes of Wrath appeared by Frederick I. Carpenter, and as the thirties fade into history, Jim Casy with his idea of the holiness of all men and the unreality of sin seems less a product of his own narrowly doctrinaire age than a latter-day wanderer from the green village of Concord to the dry plains of the West.
Despite Hester never fitting the description of what a Puritan actually stands for, she emerges and transforms into a respected young woman of society during her revolution. Even though Hester’s humanity degrades itself based on her imprudent actions that resisted Puritan society, the scarlet “A” transforms her rebellion. Hester creates her own symbol for herself rather than one that masks her all along. In writing the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne highlights the importance of being a nonconformist. Evidently, through the character of Hester Prynne, self-awareness is key in order to achieve happiness. To repress defining characteristics of a human being is to ultimately destroy their individuality.
A fairytale is a fictional fantasy fable that passes through generations of children as source of interest to them. Though used for the intent of entertainment, fairytales often indirectly advocate a moral or message to readers (whom are usually children), in hopes that they will grow up to apply these ethics and lead a righteous life. This criteria, however, often originates from the occurrence of a magical transformation; it is this paranormality that introduces the characters of the story to a side of life far from what they have grown to know and learn to adapt to the dramatic amend in their life. This is evident in the characters in world-renowned tales such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.
Hester isolated herself from what her society, the Puritans, believe is right, and did what she wanted to. Hester gained freedom by breaking these boundaries. “She had cast aside her link to society like pieces of a broken chain. The world’s law did not restrict her mind (Hawthorne 180). Hester didn’t follow society's expectations and by doing so, she had a mind of her own. She proved that women weren’t bound to seek men or social approval. Hester began believing hopelessly in equality
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, transition is defined as a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, style to another, or simply just change. The book Grapes of Wrath have displayed many transitions by the characters and the society that is portrayed in the novel. The two characters that made significant transitions in the book are Tom Joad and Ma Joad. Tom transitions over the course of the novel from an ex-convict that had killed a man, independent, stubborn, and lives his life day by day to exhibiting thoughtfulness, a person with high morals, and compassion. In the beginning of the novel, Ma Joad was just a mother figure and care giver in the family, but later on she slowly begins to become the center for strength and the decision maker in the family when Pa Joad was not effectively able to assume that role. Another significant transition in the novel is the changing in society that
In fact, much of the suffering incurred from Hester’s sin results from her own actions. She, by her own choice, wears humble, dismal clothes; she moves to the outskirts of her town, but refuses to run away to a place where no one knows of her crime; she excludes herself from society, while society does not always exclude her. Instead of escaping her crime, Hester embraces it. She declares, “It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge... Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport,” realizing the crime she committed and the fairness of her punishment—the scarlet letter (163).
In the Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the various themes of the novel, as well to set the tone of the novel".
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic novel that mimics life and offers social commentary too. It offers many windows on real life in midwest America in the 1930s. But it also offers a powerful social commentary, directly in the intercalary chapters and indirectly in the places and people it portrays. Typical of very many, the Joads are driven off the land by far away banks and set out on a journey to California to find a better life. However the journey breaks up the family, their dreams are not realized and their fortunes disappear. What promised to be the land of milk and honey turns to sour grapes. The hopes and dreams of a generation turned to wrath. Steinbeck opens up this catastrophe for public scrutiny.
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
Fairy tales are one of the longest lasting forms of literature. Though now they bring to mind classic movies engendered by Disney, many of these stories were first passed on in an oral manner, meant to convey a message, moral, or lesson. Alison Lurie’s “What Fairy Tales Tell Us” covers a broad range of classic tales, discussing how under the guise of an entertaining story comes life lessons we would all do well to follow. To begin this paper, some of the tales Lurie examines in her article will be looked at and critically examined beyond what she discusses. This will then move the text towards its remaining sections, which will take Lurie’s ideas and have them applied to folk and fairy tales that have not yet been contemplated; for the purpose
Vickery, Olga W. The Novels of William Faulkner A Critical Interpretation. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959
Fairytales and folktales have been told around the campfire, in the living room, the class room, and before bedtime for centuries. First told orally, the “… stories had to have remarkable features in order to remain memorable (Nodelman 246).” These stories were passed down from storyteller to audience until they were eventually written down and collected for consumption by the public. Due to the passing of time and fallibility the stories have changed throughout the years and slightly differ from culture to culture, however, “Stories similar to “Cinderella” can be found in historical records from as far back as the seventh century, and from a variety of places around the world (Nodelman 246).” Although the classic tales differ in various ways from their modern counterparts (such as Disney films, etc.), the characters and their journeys are still very much identifiable.
Hewson, Marc. "'My Children Were Of Me Alone': Maternal Influence In Faulkner's As I Lay