Grapes Of Wrath Style Analysis

In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses many styles and techniques to engage his reader. The intercalary chapters in between those of the Joad family experience is one example. John Steinbeck, through the addition of the aforementioned chapters, aimed to provide background knowledge and similar encounters so the reader could build knowledge of the topics within the novel. As I began reading, I found that it was difficult to keep up with the storyline and be able to understand the purpose of the intercalary chapters. Subsequently, the intercalary chapters interfered with the flow of the story. Conversely the intercalary chapters added pertinent outside information that I would not have known previously about the dust bowl and some family experiences. These said chapters also add to Steinbeck’s ultimate message. As a result, I am a fan of the intercalary chapters. For many of the intercalary chapters, some of the information does not directly relate to the Joad’s experience, but it …show more content…
By including these intercalary chapters, it gave him a chance to expand beyond the path of the Joad’s and include outside information. In the chapters about the Joad family, it reads mostly dialogue or summarizes events around them. In the intercalary chapters, the reader understands more about everything going on because of the dust bowl. I have learned how people adjusted, what they were forced to do, how all the migrants became one community, and how everyone reacted. “The families learned what rights must be observed….And the families learned, although no one told them, what rights are monstrous and must be destroyed...” (p. 265). Learning these rights is just one example of the changing existence of the migrant people. By learning these facts through these chapters, the themes of Steinbeck’s novel, the importance of community, family, strength and growth, became clearly