FREE ESSAY ON THE GRAPES OF WRATH

THE GRAPES OF WRATH

David Rosen
English 3H, Period 2
Mrs. Carmody
September 26, 2000
The Inter-Chapters and Symbolism in The Grapes of Wrath
Authors often use many different writing styles and techniques when creating their
novels. They use these certain methods in order to make their stories more descriptive
and easier to understand. John Steinbeck uses many literary techniques in The Grapes of
Wrath to help the reader better understand the story. For instance, by writing the
inter-chapters, Steinbeck often foreshadows the regular chapters and the events that will
occur in them. Another literary tool used very well by Steinbeck is his use of symbolism
throughout the entire novel. He is able to produce a great deal of symbols which can
provide for a clearer understanding of the novel through things such as animals,
machines, and nature. In The Grapes of Wrath, many different literary techniques are used
to further describe and bring to life the novel, but the two that Steinbeck uses the most
are the inter-chapters and symbolism. 
The inter-chapters are a purely unique creation by John Steinbeck. Because of the extent
of description that he writes with, these chapters fit very well into the novel. Clearly,
the author's goal is to have the reader picture the harsh situations that the Joads and
other families have to go through. By thoroughly describing each setting, this creates a
more vivid image for the reader. Also, these inter-chapters contain a more of a general
picture as to what is going on during the time period of the Joad's journey. While the
regular chapters are written to tell the specific story of the Joad family and document
their journey to California, the inter-chapters, usually, correspond with the story line
of the novel. The inter-chapters, eventually, become very intriguing as the story
progresses. After awhile, as the story progresses, the two different types of chapters
gives the story a rhythmical pattern. The inter-chapters are a key part in The Grapes of
Wrath because they provide indirect comments and show general situations which foreshadow
the personal tragedies of the main characters. These comments and situations help give
the reader an understanding of what the characters are facing through their journey by
either showing metaphorically their triumphs and struggles or explaining the history of
the period that they are living in. Chapter three is an inter-chapter. In this chapter,
Steinbeck describes a "concrete highway" (p. 20) that a land turtle struggles to cross.
The turtle has almost reached his destination when a truck hits it. This chips its shell,
and it is thrown on its back. The turtle then has to struggle with all of its might to
turn back over. Eventually the turtle flips back over and continues on its journey. This
chapter represents the continuous struggles and obstacles that the Joads would have to
cope with throughout the entire story. Throughout the novel the Joads meet many
hardships. They are forced to leave their home, lose family members such as the
grandparents and Noah, work for low wages, and suffer from hunger, floods, and cruel
prejudices in California. Like the turtle, the Joads refuse to give up and continue on
with their journey. Chapter five is another inter-chapter that discusses the tractors
that would come to the land and plow through it. It destroys everything in its path. This
chapter is an abstract conflict between the tenant farmer and the banks. The banks want
to take over the land to make more money, but it is very difficult for the farmers to
leave because the land has been settled by their grandfathers. One tenant farmers is so
upset that he threatens to shoot the driver by saying "(he'd) be in the window with a
rifle" (p. 51). Another chapter describes a tenant farmer that has to leave and is
cheated into paying too much for a car. Chapter nine describes the generalized families
who must sell their sentimental goods at absurdly low prices. These chapters represent
the situations which the Joads encounter very soon. The Joads must leave their land and
sell all of their things. Later in the novel, Grandpa threatens to kill the tractor
driver who was plowing their land just like the tenant farmer who Steinback described.
Also, the Joads buy a used car in order to get to California and are ripped off. The
inter-chapters provided general social situations which the "Okies" have to face.
Inter-chapters nineteen and twenty-one describe the development of land ownership in
California. Chapter nineteen explains how the Americans took California from the
Mexicans, and people known as squatters (p. 315) acquired lots of land and thought of it
as their own. They hired people to work the land and became great landowners. Soon, many
people from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas began to arrive and the owners did not want them
to become squatters so they hated them and called them Okies (p. 318). These owners cut
wages in order to pay policemen to guard and protect their property. In the next chapter,
the Joads are called "Okies". A young man explains to Tom that the people are afraid that
the "Okies" will organize a powerful group if they stay in one place for long enough, so
they push them around. This man also explains how no one can get people together to
organize groups because the cops arrest anyone who starts doing this. Chapter twenty- one
describes how the people with small jobs in California are afraid of the "Okies" because
they do not want to lose their jobs. The people from Oklahoma were being "pushed out (of
their jobs) and (they) swarmed on the highways" (p.385) looking for new work. Meanwhile,
the big companies can make wages very low because people are starving and would work for
anything. After the events in the novel have been told in a general sense by John
Steinbeck. They come to life through the Joad family. The inter-chapters describe general
situations and the chapters after them explain how that particular situation affects or
will affect the Joads. The reader can learn many details about the hardships that the
Joads went through by reading about the hardships of the migrant workers as a whole. 
Another literary technique Steinbeck uses is symbolism. Steinbeck's writing is filled
with symbols in order to clearly show the importance of the ideas and main themes of the
novel. Possibly the most important symbol in The Grapes of Wrath are the grapes. The
actual grapes are not the symbol in the novel, but the idea of grapes represents hope in
the beginning of the book. When Granpa tells his wonderful story about sitting in a tub
of grapes, this shows his and his families hopes of prosperity once they reach
California. Although the Joads start out as an optimistic family, the wonderful grapes
that they dream of soon will turn into grapes of wrath. The wrath is shown through the
many deaths and obstacles they have to face on their journey. A symbol of nature in the
novel is the dust that settles over the crops. The dust is a sign of death. This harsh
dust symbolizes the harshness that fell over many farms. Because of "the dust filled air"
(p. 4), the crops could not grow successfully, therefore, forcing the people off of their
land. The land that is owned by the farmers is their most prized possession. "It is a
part of (them)" (p.45). In a way, when the land of a farmer is taken away, a part of that
farmer dies. The idea of machinery also contains a lot of symbolism in the novel. The
"cat" (p.60) or tractor represents the bank people that take over the "Okies" farmland.
The tractors are dead, unemotional machines. A tractor at any point can be shut off, and
it does not know what it is doing. This is very much like the bankers. They are dead to
the world and to the needs of people. They do not consider the situation of the people
living in Oklahoma. The bankers only care about money. Another symbol which is closely
tied to the greed of the bankers are the tractor drivers. The tractor drivers, for the
most part, are normal people who used to live in Oklahoma. They will do anything the bank
tells them to in order to make some extra money. These people also have no emotion. They
are described as "robots" (p. 48) of the bank. Along with the images of machinery and
nature in this book, there are some animal symbols. The turtle is a symbolic figure. Like
the families, the turtle tries to make it to a certain place. As the turtle continues on
with its journey, it is intentionally hit by a truck and flipped over onto its back. The
truck driver intentionally hitting the turtle is symbolic for the many people in the
novel that try to hurt the Joads. The banks, car salesman, landowners, and citizens of
California all try to stop the Joads from living a prosperous and happy life. As well as
the turtle, the Joad family dog is a major symbol in the novel. The dog starts off with
the family on the journey. The dog one-day jumps out in front of the truck and gets run
over. The death of the family dog represents just one of the many obstacles to come for
the Joad family. Another symbol is Rose of Sharon's " blue shriveled little mummy" (p.
603) baby. This shows the reader that long, painful journeys with many problems sometimes
amount to nothing in the end. By relating many of the themes in the novel to events or
things, the reader gets a very clear understanding of John Steinbeck's reason for writing
this book.
In conclusion, the ideas of the inter-chapters and symbolism in The Grapes of Wrath are
very closely intertwined. Much of the book's symbolism comes from the inter-chapters.
Some readers, at first, may not understand the seemingly sudden chapters of vivid
description and background detail. As the story continues, however, they are imperative
to the novel. One can better understand the situation of the "Okies" by understanding the
details of the time period. In addition to the inter-chapters, Steinbeck does a great job
with his symbols. The symbols express his points very clearly. These two aspects of the
novel are very important, and because of them, the reader can feel as if they are right
with the Joads throughout their entire journey.