Steinbeck’s focused plot, believable characters and his use of intercalary and narrative chapters allow him to successfully create the “fear and pity” Aristotle describes.
Throughout Poetics, Aristotle argues that a tragedy, “should be single in its issue” (Aristotle), and focus on a clear and cohesive story line. Steinbeck’s desire to inform the country of the suffering of tenant farmers during the Great Depression was his inspiration for writing The Grapes of Wrath. In the first eleven chapters of his story, the author effectively sets the scene for his tragedy and lets the reader get to know the Joad family, who are plowed off their land and forced to migrate to California to earn a