Grapes of Wrath

A detailed Summary of Grapes of Wrath


Literary Analysis of Chapter 23 of The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, he describes, in Chapter 23, how the migrants entertain themselves when they are unable to find work. Some migrants turned to music while others turned to storytelling, alcohol, or listening to radical ministers preach about redemption and salvation.

The tone of the intercalary is that of desperation. "And the people listened, and their quite eyes reflected the dying fire." (Steinbeck, 444). The people will do anything just to be relieved of their boredom, thus the tone of desperation in found to be present. "And when they were all in, waist deep in the water, and looking with frightened eyes at the master, he knelt down the bank and prayed for them..." (Steinbeck, 450). The people will do anything just to feel that they will obtain some form of relief, therefore showing the desperation at hand in the intercalary. "The hard edges gone, and the warm


Dialogue is used to show how migrants are on the verge of going insane because of their current state of living. "'You want to hear this, or not?' 'Well, go on then. Sure, I wanta hear it, but if I was rich...'" (Steinbeck, 446). This quote shows how they are so tired of living in such terrible conditions that they begin to take it out on one another quite easily. The migrants try to amuse themselves, but there is only so much they can take, the madness in getting to them.

The style of the intercalary is description. "The migrant people, scuttling for work, scrabbling to live, looked always for pleasure, dug for pleasure, manufactured pleasure, and they were hungry for amusement." (Steinbeck, 444). Steinbeck tells of how the atmosphere the migrants lived in, repetition like "looked always for pleasure, dug for pleasure, manufactured pleasure" give the reader a heightened feeling of the desperation and anxiety the migrants were feeling.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Grapes Wrath, Uncle John, Joads Steinbeck's, chapter 23, Analysis Chapter, grapes wrath, pleasure dug pleasure, looked pleasure dug, migrants described intercalary, true migrants described, dug pleasure manufactured, looked pleasure, pleasure dug, migrants described, described intercalary, true migrants, government camp, tone desperation, music escape,

Approximate Word count = 636
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.