Seventh Discussion Question for Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck uses details and dialogue to engage readers. Through details the reader can imagine the landscape of America during the 30s as well as the various places the Joads went through tout the book. The first chapter was just description of Oklahoma and its "grey country" with "dry little streams" and dust as "high as his waist" (Steinbeck 1-2). Imagining the dry and inhospitable land helped me connect with the farmers through their frustration at the skies that won't produce rain and the land for not producing crops. Chapter 29 also described the land, but this time the California land being drenched with rain. "The dry sucked the moisture down and blackeded" (Steinbeck 432) and then the "rain fell steadily, and the water flowed over the highways" (Steinbeck 433). The rain was too much and the people suffered from sickness and the lack of any work, which meant more people dying of starvation as well as pneumonia and measles. The description about the never ending rain and the despair it brought people, when rain would have once been met with celebration, was a nice connection to realizing that situations change. One great thing can easily turn into a horrible thing if the timing, conditions, and perspective change.

The dialogue helped the reader connect with the characters, therefore become interested in their story. The Oklahoma accent and the drawls of the other characters allow the reader to feel like they know the characters and be more comfortable with them. Having good dialogue between characters and writing in a style that the reader is comfortable with (I will take southern accents over Shakespearean, old English accents any day) makes the book a more pleasant read and not a forced book that has to be read for class. The conversation between Tom, Ma, Al, and Floyd (Steinbeck 259-261) showcase some of the different accents in the book. Steinbeck doesn't say where Floyd is from but he is not from Oklahoma. All of the people that the Joads meet in their journey talk in different ways. That shows the diversity among migrants in California. Even though they are all from different places, they bond together in the pursuit of work and food.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.