Grapes Of Wrath Literary Analysis

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck employs symbol, dialect, and poetic prose to create the unforgettable journey that the Joads undertake. The Joads family dog is utilized by Steinbeck to foreshadow the harsh struggles the family will take upon their arrival in California. The dialect in which the migrant’s use depicts the social status, it alludes to a poor uneducated person whom works peasant jobs. Steinbeck utilizes the poetic prose to convey the theme of man vs. nature while giving the reader a vivid image of the setting. These Three literary techniques exemplify Steinbeck’s unique style of writing, which created a powerful message for the reader. Steinbeck hints at foreshadowing throughout the novel by utilizing various symbols, in which they all have different meanings. As an example, the Joads family dog demonstrates this when it’s brutally executed by another migrant rushing into California looking for work. This alters the family’s previous image on California; originally the promise land was …show more content…
nature. For example, in chapter 1 when Steinbeck depicts the difficult conditions in Oklahoma that drive the people out, “The corn fought the wind with its weakened leaves until the roots where freed by the praying wind” (Steinbeck pg.2). In this passage, the phrase “freed by the praying winds” portrays the ingoing conflict that the tenant farmers faced with nature. This alters the plot of the novel, in that the tenant farmers shift into migrants on a journey to find a better life. It evokes in the reader a sense of how difficult the harsh conditions of nature were that shatter the farmers capability to provide for their families. This creates a sense of foreboding as the anger among the migrant farmers grow, which later alludes to the social unrest to come in order to get an