Describe how the balance between specific stories about the Joad family and broader description of the migration of Dust Bowl farmers impacts the novel as a whole.
The zoom out and zoom in effect that Steinbeck used throughout the book was a decent way to get me as a reader to think a little more about what was going on back then. First, I would read about the Joad family, and their personal struggles which sort of developed a connection between me and the characters. Then, when the chapter would be more broad, it would give me a chance to realize that the Joads were not alone in this. In fact, one fourth of the entire population was going through similar struggles. Each chapter would relate to the last in one way or another, so that you could see the connection between all of the migrants.
This technique was brilliant, but I didn't think it was very well established. The Joad family was displayed as "strong" by showing a lack of emotion throughout the book, although a little more emotion came out towards the end. However, throughout the book, these sad events were happening (such as granpa dying) and no one really seemed to care. This happened in the zoomed in chapters, which I'm guessing were meant to make me feel a more personal connection to the story. However, the lack of emotion made it difficult to relate to the characters at all. They didn't seem human. In books, important characters should seem realistic, like they're actually out in the world. These characters seemed to stay in the pages. At most, they were just ink on paper. So, the zoomed in chapters did not get the desired effect out of me.
The zoomed out chapters had more of an effect because they made me think more, and made more valid and established points. However, a lot of them were pretty dull, which sometimes made it hard to read through. But then there were the chapters such as Chapter 14 that basically said that the farmers would need to work together if they wanted to survive. At that time, it was a dog eat dog world. If that pattern continued, there was no way that things would change. Most of the zoomed out chapters got straight to the point.
So the technique was there, but in the case of Grapes of Wrath, it did not succeed. Half of the technique (the zoomed in half) failed, which all in all took away from the effect of the book. Had the book been a bit more personal, Grapes of Wrath would have been much more thought provoking and emotional. But this was not the case.
"Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta - well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream - little eddies and waterfalls - but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way."
ReplyDeletewHAT CHAPTER IS THAT FROM?