FREE ESSAY ON JOHN STEINBECK - GRAPES OF WRATH: PURPOSE OF INTERCALARY CHAPTERS

JOHN STEINBECK - GRAPES OF WRATH: PURPOSE OF INTERCALARY CHAPTERS

Purpose of Intercalary Chapters
The purpose of the intercalary chapters is to give the reader a brief, non-specific idea
of what the world was doing at this time. These chapters present the plight of the
migrants in a general sense. The intercalary chapters act as support for the commentary
chapters, and also to give historical information. I think Steinbeck wanted to tell the
reader the general picture of the community in which the Joads were involved. 
The intercalary chapters set the tone in the reader's mind. For instance, in the first
intercalary chapter (chapter 1), we find that the last rain droplets had come in early
May., the weeds turned color to guard against the sun, and the dust was so bad that
people had to use handkerchiefs to cover their noses for protection against the sun. This
sums up that there was a very bad drought in Oklahoma. I know that if I was living in
conditions like these, I would definitely save up enough money to find some way of
transportation to another place that had weather conditions much better than in Oklahoma.
This chapter shows the reader the background situation that will cause the vast migration
towards a better-conditioned place, California.
Steinbeck also criticizes the economic system in some of the intercalary chapters. So,
not only are the intercalary chapters used to give a general idea of what was happening
in the world, he also throws in his views on some things. In chapter 5, Steinbeck tells
us about the owner men, and that some of them were kind but hated what they had to do,
while others were angry and hated to be cruel. He also says some of them were cold
because they had long ago found that one could not be an owner unless one were cold.
Later on in the chapter Steinbeck refers to The Bank or the Company as a monster.
Steinbeck criticizes the bank or the company by telling us that the bank or company is
like a monster, and that they have the power to do whatever they want to do.
The intercalary chapters act as analogies. In chapter 3, Steinbeck writes about a turtle
trying to make his way up the embankment and across the highway. A car driven by a
forty-year old woman passed the turtle, swerving to miss it. Then a truck came down the
road driven by a young man who swerved to hit the turtle. He ended up clipping the edge
of the turtle's shell and flipping the turtle off the highway on his back. The turtle
struggled for sometime before I could turn itself back over, but once it did, he
proceeded on his way. At first, I was baffled as to why this was in here. Then I realized
as I progressed through the novel that the Joads were like the turtle. The Joads
struggled many times in the novel, and had meet with such hardships.
Throughout the novel, Steinbeck uses the intercalary chapters to throw in his views on
the world, and to give the reader a generalization on what was happening in the world.