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How Is Imagery Used In The Grapes Of Wrath

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Oftentimes, people are unable to realize what they possess until it has been taken from them. John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath portrays an Oklahoman family of farmers forced to migrate west after their lives were crushed in the 1930 Dust Bowl. The passage near the exposition of the novel illustrates a severe dust storm followed by the family’s discovery that their hard-earned crop had been lost. This scene depicts the struggle of midwestern families during the Depression. Steinbeck demonstrates this battle for survival through the use of symbolism, imagery, and characterization.
The suffering experienced by families within the Dust Bowl is exhibited through Steinbeck’s use of symbolism within the text. Once the great storm fully …show more content…

As the family waited, the storm worsened; gusts of wind raged across the open fields and with them masses of dust carried. Steinbeck, describing the gales, writes how “the wind cried and whimpered over the fallen corn”(1). Through the implementation of auditory imagery, Steinbeck evokes an eerie, unnerving feeling that is felt by the family trapped within their dwelling. The emotions of the family demonstrate how hearing the raging wind and understanding that it will destroy all in its path is a clear example of the unbearable nature of farming during the Dust Bowl. Likewise, progressing further into the excerpt, Steinbeck correspondingly continues his use of different imagery to exhibit the somber nature of the scene. In the following morning of the aforementioned day, the wind began to abate and the dust started to settle on the land. The new dawn is portrayed as Steinbeck illustrates how “the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood”(1). The depiction of the sun being compared to ripe new blood arouses a nightmarish quality to the atmosphere which is ultimately reflective of the nature of the events that had occurred. Losing their only hope to survive the depression, the image of the fields engulfed in a red sun was a nightmare for families of the midwest in an era of hardship. Overall, through varying

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