The Structure Of The Grapes Of Wrath

Every book has a skeleton. The skeleton is the structure, it is what helps mold it into a full-fledged book, and not words thrown together. In The Grapes of Wrath, the structure is different than other books. The narrator does not only observe just the Joads, they also observe a broad number of people and sometimes the thoughts of a random, unnamed individual. This structure is referred to as interchapters, and this structure allows Steinbeck to provide background information, evoke a relation between the reader and the book, and evoke emotion in the reader. “Well, Okie use' ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty son-of-a-bitch. Okie means you're scum. Don't mean nothing itself, it's the way they say it.” (Steinbeck 139). A man tells the Joads this after they ask for information about California. The Joads become anxious for a
2 major themes to evoke emotion are hunger, and fear, which were rampant among America throughout the Great Depression. “In the barns, the people sat huddled together; and (...) their faces were gray with terror. The children cried with hunger, and there was no food. Then the sickness came, pneumonia, and measles that went to the eyes and to the mastoids.” (Steinbeck 298) .We sympathize, and possibly empathize with these people. They were people with lovely lives, reduced to almost nothing. Steinbeck’s choice of words in the interchapters are different than in chapters focusing on the Joads. They are more intense, and sting with a truthful venom. “How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him—he has known a fear beyond every other.” (Steinbeck 161). Again, Steinbeck uses fear and hunger, something we are all familiar with. The interchapters serve to connect the reader closer with the emotions and lives of the Okies during this