LITERARY DEVICES

1. Symbolism: The use of an object or person to portray a greater idea or theme

The turtle from chapter three symbolizes families on their journey west.

2. Foreshadowing: Something that hints at future events in the story, allowing a reader to guess
what might happen.

“Now the going was easy… rolled it off the highway.” (page 15)

3. Alliteration: Repeating the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely
connected words

“and holes and burrows, of the brush, began again;”(page 60)

SETTING

The Grapes of Wrath begins in Oklahoma during the dust bowl in the 1930’s. The barren earth
forced the Joads and other familys off their land and on the road. Highway 66 is crowed with the
other families moving west as the Joads make their way to California. California meets the Joads
with limited jobs, poor wages, and hostile locals.

THEME

The theme behind The Grapes of Wrath is that in trying times individual men think in their best
interest and not others, but close knit groups like families become even more dependent on each
other. Steinbeck’s novel also points out the infectious aditudes that can be gained through seeing
acts of kindness.

PASSAGES

1. ”Now the going was easy… rolled it off the highway.” (page 15)

This passage symbolizes families on their move to the west. The two cars represent
problems encountered on the way. Both scare the turtle and it retreats to the saftey of its shell,
which could be conisdered family. The sedan misses the turtle and this would be good fortune
enountered by the family, however; the pickup represents the bad things that happen.
Nevertheless the families will try to pick themselves up and continue to California just like the
turtle got up, because that have no where else to go.

2. “He pointed in the case at big long sticks of striped peppermint… then he went back to his
work.” (page 160)
 This passage is Steinbeck’s way to point out his theme of infectious good will. Steinbeck
shows that even in hard times the good will of people can spread and make good things happen
to more people. To me it seem as if Steinbeck is saying that the dust bowl would’ve been less of
a tragedy if everybody had spread a little good will to each other.

3. “For a moment Rose of Sharon… and smiled mysteriously.” (page 455)

In this final passage of the book Rose begins nursing a dying man back to health. This
could be symbolic of the land in Oklahoma beginning to come back to life, and that after all the
hardship endured the land simply needed the motherly love from the good farmers of the land.

TOPICS

 Why is it so similar to The Road?

 Was California really better than Oklahoma?
 What did Rose breastfeeding the dying man really symbolize?

DEFINITIONS