Grapes of Wrath

I think that John Steinbeck and Robert DeMott, the authors of the novel Grapes of Wrath, used many techniques to engage the reader and to make the story effective. The use of a third person narrator allows the story to be told in a more matter-of-fact way. It is not being told from a specific character or group of character's point of view, so there are no opinions or personal thoughts effecting the story. This makes the historical part of Grapes of Wrath more accurate. Another technique that makes the story effective is the miniature stories that fit in between the plot. These little stories do not include the main characters, or any specific character for that matter, but they go along with what is happening in the plot. The purpose of these stories, in my opinion, is to give a more general outlook on what was happening during the time of the Dust Bowl. They are told from many different perspectives, so it paints a better picture of the time period in head of the reader. They help the reader understand what is going on in the plot, too. For me, the small stories better explain the situations that the main characters were in. An example would be when the people from the bank are at the homes of the farmers. At first, from the Joad family's point of view, the business are compelely horrible and are being unfair. The little story explains more about how the bank works, and the reader sees that it is a tiny bit more justified than it seems. Although the point of this certain story is not to convince the reader that the bank had every right to ruin the lives of so many families, it gives more information and history behind the plot. The miniuature stories are supporters of the main story. By using these supports, the story in Grapes of Wrath is more interesting and understandable.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006.