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Literary devices in the grapes of wrath
Literary devices in the grapes of wrath
Literary devices in the grapes of wrath
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During the great depression, the midwest underwent a long drought. Exposed dry earth swept away with the wind and caused huge dust storms that prolonged the dry weather. With the lowered selling prices and the lack of crops the farmers had some major economic trouble. In Black Blizzard and John Steinbeck 's Grapes of Wrath, the literature develops the ideas of the poor distribution of wealth within the populations and the social aspects of people of different economic class. Social differences arise in the wealthy, the employed, and the unemployed throughout this period of hardship.
The tone of chapter 11 in John Steinbeck's, “The Grapes of Wrath,” is sympathetic, sad and hopeless. His word choice and syntax show how the sad houses were left to decay in the weather. His use of descriptive words paints a picture in the reader's mind. As each paragraph unfolds, new details come to life and adds to the imagery. While it may seem unimportant, this intercalary chapter shows how the effects of the great depression affected common households.
In between each narrative chapter of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck wrote intercalary chapters to add to the narrative. These sixteen chapters were a very effective way for Steinbeck to make his points, and progress the theme of the novel. The intercalary chapters were a wise way to summarize the entire struggle of the suffering people during the dust bowl. They showed how Joad family was one example of the millions of families who migrated to California during the dust bowl, and the general rage and resistance felt in the innocent farmers, brought on by rich privileged men who gain their power from the unstoppable big banks. These chapters strengthen my knowledge of the struggles of the time, and give me more information of what is not seen from the Joad’s struggles alone.
For farming families of the Southern Plains, the plight of the Great Depression was made all the more harrowing by the onset of the Dust Bowl, as readers of The Grapes of Wrath will remember well. But, for environmental historian Donald Worster, the twin calamities of the Depression and the Dust Bowl were no unlucky coincidence. " My argument," Worster declares, "is that there was a in fact a close link between the Dust Bowl and the Depression -- that the same society produced them both, and for similar reasons. Both events revealed fundamental weaknesses in the traditional culture of America, the one in ecological terms, the other in economic.
Community, so close to Steinbeck’s heart, is exaggerated in every possible way in this novel. In an eloquent way, he molds the reader’s hearts to believe that a communal soul (or oversoul) is best for the people as well. Truly, the language and rhetoric applied in order to encourage this philosophy is unlike any other writing by Steinbeck, or any other socialist writer for that
In the well-written novel, The Grapes of Wrath, author, John Steinbeck, uses detailed descriptions to describe the land of Oklahoma during the 1930’s Dust Bowl migration. The Dust Bowl migration was a period of time when farmers from Oklahoma and other states in the midwest began moving to California due to the many severe dust storms that ruined the land and agriculture. Steinbeck demonstrates the effects of the major dust storms early-on in the novel. “All day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the next day it sifted down. An even blanket covered the earth.
The spirit of unity emerges as the one unfailing source of strength in Steinbeck’s novel. He tries and accomplishes in conveying it to the reader, through imagery. On multiple accounts,
John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” is set in the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s, a time period in which many Oklahomans were faced with economic hardships due to the condition of the land. The novel is centered on the Joad family, farmers who are being forced by the bank’s takeover of their land to move to California in search of work. “The Grapes of Wrath” begins with an in-depth passage incorporating imagery, repetition, and diction with negative connotations to depict the state of the land. Steinbeck states the “surface of the earth crusted” and “the sharp sun struck day after day” (Steinbeck, 3). Steinbeck’s detailed imagery makes it easier for the reader to visualize the setting (and, later, empathize with those who live off of the
Intercalary Chapter Literary Analysis During the Great Depression, the nation as a whole was stripped of financial security and forced into a survivalist way of living. This changed the ways that people interacted with one another and the overall mentality of society. In the Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family is torn from their land and find themselves with nothing, a common story for migrant farmers of that time, derogatorily called “Okies” by Californians. But this is not the only group that is struggling, the entire county was in a state of panic and bruteness, no matter how “well off” they seemed to be.
The Joads find their motivation by helping each other through tough situations. Steinbeck shows the determination of the human spirit
In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck follows the Joad family as they suffer the hardships caused by the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. The most important lesson people can learn from the novel is the value of a human life. Although the 1930’s was a low point in American society, the ill-treatment of human beings is still relevant today. Just like Jim Casy’s philosophy, it is important to fight for the rights of the people and their dignity. There are several examples of oppression in The Grapes of wrath.
During the Great Depression a series of unfortunate events happened in the south. The Dust Bowl occurs as well as the Scottsborro’s Trial; many traumatic incidents happen. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus FInch is responsible for teaching his children to have good morals no matter what anyone else thinks. Throughout the story Atticus Finch helps teach his two children Scout and Jeanne to have an understanding of the world around them and to ever judge someone based on others beliefs on things.
Throughout the first half of The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck sets up the characters for disappointment by making their hopes for
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe” (Douglass). In Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl Age novel, The Grapes Of Wrath, protagonist Tom Joad, and his family are forced from their farm due to the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, believing to set out to refuge for California, along with many struggling migrant workers. Including the family, thousands of migrant workers are in search of jobs, land, and the hope for having a brighter future. Steinbeck also includes the aspect of characters who come along such as Jim Casy, whose characteristics rely on human unity and love as well as the need for cooperative rather than individualistic ideals during hard times. Steinbeck uses Jim Casy’s significant role to criticize society’s hunger and the crimes against humanity, where he brings up helpful ideas however society refuses to accept his ideology or his philosophies due to having the inability to adapt to new ideas, alienating Jim Casy from workers’ values of their culture but use that disadvantage to spark a plausible unity to keep migrant workers from salvation.
In the book “The Power of Myth” by Joseph Campbell, there is much discussion on new mythology and a “demythologized” world. The idea that our culture needs a “new mythology” because we live in a “demythologized” world is inaccurate regarding our modern culture. We still have myths and rituals that we follow in our daily lives. There are many people that still respect the Earth the way the indigenous people did in the past, which shows there is a mythology that we follow today. We also still have rituals such as marriage, giving gifts to people that are experiencing a significant life event, standing for a judge, etc.
