Throughout the novel, The Grapes of Wrath there are intercalary chapters. The purpose of these chapters are to give the readers insight and background on the setting, time, place and even history of the novel. They help blend the themes, symbols, motifs of the novel, such as the saving power of family and fellowship, man’s inhumanity to man, and even the multiplying effects of selfishness. These chapters show the social and economic crisis flooding the nation at the time, and the plight of the American farmer becoming difficult. The contrast between these chapters helps readers look at not just the storyline of the Joad family, but farmers during the time and also the condition of America during the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck uses these chapters to show that the story is not only limited to the Joad family, …show more content…
but other migrants during the time. Many readers feel that intercalary chapters are very useful in literature. Intercalary chapters describe the events that take place in the Dust Bowl in a broad sense, while the chapters including the Joad family focus in on their journey, and the events that happen to them and directly affect their lives. For example, “Ma sighed. ‘I’ll keep my eye on you. Wisht we could have a doctor’ Rose of Sharon moved nervously about the car. She put on a light coat and took it off. ‘Take a blanket’, Ma said. ‘Then if you wanna rest, you can keep warm” (Steinbeck 582). This quote is an example of a hardship that the Joad’s family had to go through during the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck decided to talk about hardships broadly in the intercalary chapters, and then focus in on a certain situation with the Joad’s family. Intercalary chapters benefit me personally as a reader.
They help me see that the events that are being discussed are happening to families and farmers such as the Joad’s family. They provide specific evidence to support the experience of the Joads, which strengthens the novel as a whole. These chapters also provide the reader with historical background which explain much of the social standards of the time period, giving the reader a better understanding. The realistic depiction of the times presented in the intercalary chapters allows the reader to identify with the Joads as well as feel for them as people. However, many readers may not enjoy Steinbeck’s use of intercalary chapters. This could be because they do not like the transition from the Dust Bowl information to the storyline of the Joad’s family. In addition, they could also feel like the intercalary chapter take the focus away from the Joad’s family and feel the background information they provide is unnecessary. To conclude, the novel The Grapes of Wrath has intercalary chapters that serve as a literary device designed to show the general social and economic elements of America during the Dust
Bowl.
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. These chapters help readers envision a time period that otherwise may seem alien to them. They can better connect to the people of that time period and their struggles.
The Grapes of Wrath explicates on the Dust Bowl era as the reader follows the story of the Joads in the narrative chapters, and the migrants in expository chapters. Steinbeck creates an urgent tone by using repetition many times throughout the book. He also tries to focus readers on how the Dust Bowl threatened migrant dreams using powerful imagery. As well as that, he creates symbols to teach the upper class how the Dust Bowl crushed the people’s goals. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck utilizes imagery, symbolism, and repetition to demonstrate how the Dust Bowl threatened the “American Dream.”
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".
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
Most of Steinbeck’s work conveys a deeper meaning or message to the readers, and The Grapes of Wrath presents no exception, as redemption’s prevalence influences the growth of each character. Although the book ends with a tragic flood after the family has faced the loss of Rose of Sharon’s newborn baby, the novel still ends in happiness, since characters such as Jim Casy, Uncle John, Tom Joad, and Rose of Sharon attain redemption and in doing so, become saviors for migrant families. Steinbeck manifests the idea the migration did not necessarily implicate the Joads would find prosperity in the promised land of California, but would instead fulfill the quest for absolution, which results in their heroic
In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck illustrates the Joad’s endurance by his use of extended metaphors in intercalary chapters. Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the various themes in the novel. He effectively foreshadows upcoming events by telling of the general state of the local population in the intercalary chapters. He then narrows it down to how it effects the main characters of the novel, which are the Joads. Setting the tone of the novel in the reader’s mind is another function of Steinbeck's intercalary chapters.
In the 1930s, America’s Great Plains experienced a disastrous drought causing thousands of people to migrate west. As their land was devastated by the Dust Bowl, deprived farmers were left with few options but to leave. The Grapes of Wrath depicts the journey of the Joads, an Oklahoma based family which decides to move to California in search of better conditions. Coming together as thirteen people at the start, the Joads will undertake what represents both a challenge and their only hope. Among them are only four women embodying every ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II).
Steinbeck's intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath have nothing to do with the Joads or other characters of the novel, but help describe the story in different terms. They are similar to poems, offering different viewpoints of the migration, and clarifying parts of the story that the reader might not understand. An excellent example of this use can be seen in chapter 21, where an examination of the attitudes of migrant Okies and the residents of California reveals the changing nature of land ownership among the changing population of California and gives greater meaning to the fierce hostility that the Joads meet in California.
In conclusion the Grapes of Wrath is a literary masterpiece that portrays the struggles of man as he overcomes the adversity of homelessness, death, and the wrath of prejudice. Steinbeck fully explores each faucet coherently within the boundaries of the Joad family’s trials and
Although both the novel and movie form of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath are considered to be American classics, the novel provides a deeper understanding of the story's time and meaning. Absent from the film, the novel's interchapters provide a greater understanding of the time in which The Grapes of Wrath takes place. First, in the movie it is unclear why the Joads are forced to abandon their farm. It is described very briefly by Muley Graves, leaving the audience in a state of confusion. However, in the novel, Chapter 5 explains exactly why the farmers are forced to leave. In this interchapter, Steinbeck uses a dialogue between a farmer and a representative from a bank; the farmer is forced to leave because the bank, or the"Monster" as Steinbeck says, needs to make a profit, and if the farmer cannot produce any goods to pay off debts, then the bank forecloses the land. This happened to many farmers in the 1930's due to a dr...
The tale of The Grapes of Wrath has many levels of profound themes and meanings to allow us as the reader to discover the true nature of human existence. The author's main theme and doctrine of this story is that of survival through unity. While seeming hopeful at times, this book is more severe, blunt, and cold in its portrayl of the human spirit. Steinbeck's unique style of writing forms timeless and classic themes that can be experienced on different fronts by unique peoples and cultures of all generations.
The Use of Interchapters in The Grapes of Wrath & nbsp; 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 migrants, and Stienbeck would not have been able to provide very effective commentary. & nbsp; 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. For example, Steinbeck writes chapter seven using a newsreel technique. By using small pieces of spoken conversation, and half-thoughts, Steinbeck is able to create a mood of confusion and chaos. He creates an image of how the migrants were taken advantage of and gives In addition, chapter five creates a clear image of the devastation that the farmers faced and their hatred for the "monster" bank. This interchapter allows the reader to experience the passion that the farmers have toward the land and the choices they had to make concerning betrayal of their own people. It presents the reader with a broad perspective of what is happening to the tenant farmers before applying it directly to a single family-the Joads. Furthermore, chapter nine provides the reader with and give away, sell or burn their lives and their past. This interchapter sets the mood of misery and despair and is one of the most touching because it captures the sympathy of the reader and allows them to realize the tough times the migrants faced and overcame. Had these few pages not been included in the work, the novel would suffer greatly because it would not capture the sympathy of the reader towards the migrants. Steinbeck is able to create the mood and tone of the novel in these interchapters which and allowing the reader to understand what life was truly like for the migrant families. & nbsp; The interchapters provide Steinbeck with the opportunity to insert his own subjective commentary and help to interpret the novel for the reader. For example, chapter three of the novel is an extended metaphor that demonstrates endurance and perseverance; qualities that are demonstrated by the Joads, as well as other migrants, throughout the novel. Steinbeck highly admired the migrants because they endured much suffering but never gave up. He uses this interchapter to depict the struggles of the Joads, as well as other migrants, and to commend their praiseworthy determination and persistence. In addition, in chapter twelve Steinbeck challenges the idea that America is afford to buy real estate. The migrants argue that they live in a free country, but they are forced to face the fact that they are not free unless they can pay for it. This chapter allows the reader to see that the migrants were virtual slaves because they were told where to go and were forced to work for nearly nothing. Furthermore, chapter fourteen gives Steinbeck's views on socialism. This chapter is important because it demonstrates one of the novel's major themes; the change " 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. Without interchapters that give Steinbeck's own commentary on the subjects, the novel would lack the social background that gives the reader insight into the lives of those affected by the Dust Bowl and would not allow the reader to feel sorrow for the migrants. & nbsp;
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is considered a classic novel by many in the literary field. The trials and tribulations of the Joad family and other migrants is told throughout this novel. In order to gain a perspective into the lives of "Oakies", Steinbeck uses themes and language of the troubling times of the Great Depression. Some of these aspects are critiqued because of their vulgarity and adult nature. In some places, The Grapes of Wrath has been edited or banned. These challenges undermine Steinbeck's attempts to add reality to the novel and are unjustified.
The Grapes of Wrath was a book written by John Steinbeck and portrayed life during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. It followed a family of Oklahoma tenant farmers as they traveled westward to California while undergoing dark and gruesome circumstances. One theme in this story is altruism and another is the greed of the banks. Though these two themes heavily contrast, the migrants in this story understood in order to survive they would need to help each other out. Steinbeck really puts these two themes against each other, but he also shows how altruism can keep you going in a time of need.
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930's live under. The novel tells of one families migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930's. The Joad family had to abandon their home and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California. How they survive the cruelty of the land owners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work.