Just over half of the thirty chapters of The Grapes of Wrath are intercalary chapters, chapters deviating from the main narrative of the Joads that focus on a broader picture of the landscape and history of the Joad era. The Grapes of Wrath is as much historical record and social commentary as it is a narrative of one family’s odyssey through the Great Depression West. While criticized by some as distracting from the Joad narrative, the intercalary chapters cannot be ignored as fluff attached to the novel. The intercalary chapters buttress the main story by interweaving details among the chapters and bringing a specific situation into a larger historical picture. These chapters are not merely common literary techniques such as metaphors and symbols. Along with historical context and social commentary, these chapters reach out to prior events and foreshadow future events, while bringing these events to a universal level. At a base level, Chapter Three is an account of the movement of a land turtle and it struggles across the Oklahoman land. In less than three pages, John Steinbeck uses the techniques of the intercalary chapters to represent the turtle as a symbol of the Joad family and their struggle, along with the trials of other migrant families, and as an inspiring message for the human race as a whole.…
The Nobel Prize winner for literature, John Steinbeck, in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath, illustrates the hardships of the migrant farmers as they moved from their homes. Steinbeck’s purpose is to establish how much the Joads and other migrant farmer families struggled during their journey and to . Through the use of personification, allusions and symbols, Steinbeck successfully gets his message across to his readers.…
Friendship and choices and consequences are the two themes that may stick out alittle more than the others. First friendship can be seen all throughout the novel of The Bean Trees; when Taylor befriends Mattie, Lou Ann, or Estevan. Without the friendships the characters made they would not have been able to adapt to the struggles in their lives. They were not only friends to them, but they were their therapists, their babysitters, their family, and their backbones. “...she entertained me with her vegetable-soup song, except that now there were people mixed in with the beans and potatoes: Dwayne Ray, Mattie, Esperanza, Lou Ann and all the rest. And me,”(Kingsolver 246).This quote shows how each character has its own struggles, its own flavor, but in the end to make the soup taste magnificent it needs all of them. All the different flavors or character. If it didn't have just one the whole moral of the story or taste of the soup would be off. The friendships that the characters build is like soup, the better the friendships are the better the soup…
Most authors convey an important message or idea throughout their noevls to give a greater understanding to their readers. In Barbara Kingsolvers novel, 'The Bean Trees', a strong idea that was developed was the possiublity of new beginnings. 'The Bean Trees' is the story of the protagonist Taylor Greer, who starts off on a journey from her home town of Kentucky to Arizona. Along the way she she is given an abandoned child which is the start to her learning about motherhood, becoming a women, the power of friendships and also learns to be capable. The idea of new beginnings is the ability for characters to start over and leave their past behind them. It was mainly developed through Taylor, Turtle, and also a Guatamalan couple Estevan and Esperanza.…
On her journey to self-discovery, Taylor Greer manages to overcome her weaknesses and start a new way of life and while traveling she obtains a small Indian child (whom she subsequently names Turtle) who would later prove to have a huge impact on the course of her life. Throughout the novel, The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, one discovers Taylor and Turtle’s process to obtain a better life: to escape, to seek a new way of life and to discover oneself by depending on one another. Symbols constantly present inside of the storyline appear as subtle details throughout the plot. Kingsolver uses subjects such as birds to represent Taylor and Turtle's situations and plants to symbolize growth and dependence.…
Writer, John Steinbeck, in his historical fiction novel, The Grapes of Wrath, describes the hardships that the poor migrant farmers faced during the depression as they moved westward, searching for a better life. Steinbeck’s purpose is to inform about the difficulties poor farmers faced during the depression, as well as to entertain the reader by the story of the Joads. He adopts a somewhat depressing, yet quite detailed, tone in order to fully showcase the troubles that the Joads face, the same problems all the poor faced during the time of the depression. Steinbeck’s theme throughout the novel is the importance of family. Whether it’s the family values that help you succeed, or staying with family to keep you safe; Steinbeck exemplifies both through the story as he uses the Joads and their journey west to exemplify the importance of family.…
The main theme from 'The Bean Trees' by Barbara Kingsolver is the burden of womanhood. This theme was expressed how the characters' change. Firstly, Taylor Geer has changed from a strong and practical girl to become more worldly by a tough decision in her life when the woman from the reservation told her to 'Take this baby'. Secondly, Lou Ann Ruiz has changed from a woman that is insecure and frighten of everything to become self determined by the support of Taylor. Thirdly, Turtle has changed from a quite and anonymous girl to become confident enough to respond.…
In conclusion, there are many uses of symbolism and each of these symbols used they each played an important role in the book which include; the color red, winter, and the farm. Also, symbolism can mean all of different types of meanings…
In the early chapters of the Grapes of Wrath, John Steinback wasted no time in describing in which way humans can provide for one another. Jim Casey had been roaming the farm lands for quite sometime, a-thinkin’ an’ a-wonderin’ about humans and God. However, over the years he had grown lonely. He…
In the novel, Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, the Joad Family makes the long arduous journey from the Dustbowl of Oklahoma to the promised lands of California. On their journey the family is subjected to many trials and tribulations. They witness the rampant poverty of the country and the harsh ignorance their government and industries afford them. However, throughout all these hardships, the family holds true to certain values and practices that allow them to carry on in their struggle and become part of greater community. Steinbeck conveys several philosophical theories throughout his novel through the Joad Family’s experiences.…
The Grapes of Wrath chronicles the story of two “families”: the Joads and the collective body of migrant workers. Although the Joads are joined by blood, the text argues that it is not their genetics but their loyalty and commitment to one another that establishes their true kinship. In the migrant lifestyle portrayed in the book, the biological family unit, lacking a home to define its boundaries, quickly becomes a thing of the past, as life on the road demands that new connections and new kinships be formed. The reader witnesses this phenomenon at work when the Joads meet the Wilsons. In a remarkably short time, the two groups merge into one, sharing one another’s hardships and committing to one another’s…
Being part of a community is something everyone should relate to, yet hard times make people feel alone and alienated. They feel as if they can relate to no one, and no one has the same problems as them. However, in The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck writes about a family of migrants who lose everything. They are left homeless with no money, and are forced to travel to California, where they hope for work. Despite all their hardships they even grow closer as they learn the importance of family and community. They realise that life is not only about personal happiness, but the happiness and wellbeing of others. In The Grapes of Wrath, it is seen that hard times bring people together. This can be seen through the Joad family, the migrant community and how people’s thoughts and actions change throughout the story.…
The garden is a source of life for the family in the book. This is so because as times get harder they grow together and the garden also becomes more and heartier. They begin to have more food for their dinners, this helps the family keep their spirits up and continue to hope for good blessings to be brought to the family such as the mines opening. As the family grows stronger they begin to add to their source of food. Instead of eating only soup and vegetables and potatoes, they add begin to eat meat. They own a guinea Chicken which starts to lay a large amount of eggs they…
In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman's life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy's predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy's self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his "American Dream".…
Definition according to Miriam-Webster: Compassion is the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” This definition reveals that to be compassionate, you must first be conscious to other’s suffering around you. If you have compassion, the observations you make then evoke a desire within you to not just leave someone in distress, but to do something to change their situation.…