Grapes of Wrath

Literary Analysis of Chapter 23 of The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, he describes, in Chapter 23, how the migrants entertain themselves when they are unable to find work. Some migrants turned to music while others turned to storytelling, alcohol, or listening to radical ministers preach about redemption and salvation. The tone of the intercalary is that of desperation. “And the people listened, and their quite eyes reflected the dying fire.” (Steinbeck, 444). The …

…work, neither could the Joads for a time. Steinbeck’s purpose in this intercalary is to show the reader that as a whole all of the people involved in the migration could not find work and they were forced to find ways of amusement. Chapter 23 is significant because in both Chapter 22 and 24 members of the Joads are unable to find work and must amuse themselves in other ways, just like what was described in Chapter 23.