Inter-chapters in the "Grapes of Wrath"

Paper Summary:

This paper shows how, without the inter-chapters, the "Grapes of Wrath" would simply be the sad story of dust bowl migrants in California. By adding social, political, and historical background Steinbeck has transformed a sob story into social analysis.

From the Paper:

"These interchapters serve two main functions. First by presenting the social background they serve to amplify the pattern of action created by the Joad family. 13 of the 16 interchapters are largely devoted to this purpose. For example, chapter 1 describes in panoramic terms the drought that forces the migrants off their land. Chapter 5 is mostly a dialog between two generalized forces, the banks and the farmers, presenting in archetype the conflict in which the Joads are enmeshed. Chapters 7 and 9 depict, respectively, the buying of jalopies and the selling of household goods. Chapter 11 describes at length a decaying and deserted house that is the prototype of all the houses abandoned in the dust bowl. Other chapters explore, through the collage technique of chapters 7 and 9, the nature of that new, nomadic society which the Joads are helping to form. (14, 17, 23). Almost every aspect of the Joads' adventures is enlarged in the interchapters and seen as part of the social climate."

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