In Chapter One of the book Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck describes the erosion that happened in Oklahoma and the impact that it had on local people. Steinbeck (1992) talks about how the last light rains in the state came in May, after which the sun started scorching the area. What follows is the illustration of fields and plants that had barely come to life dying – slowly and painfully – from the heat of the impending summer. The roads became dusty, the wind grew stronger, the sun was hardly visible. Men tried to put on a brave face while attempting to measure the damage, so that their wives and kids knew that not all was lost. The author’s purpose in writing this chapter was to set the scene for the narration by illustrating how severe the drought that had occurred was, using various stylistic devices and expressive means.
First of all, Steinbeck uses personification when describing the forces of nature (The last rains lifted the corn quickly; the rain-heads […] hurried on; the wind […] dug cunningly). In doing that, he draws attention to how powerful it was in that particular context, as if had will of its own. Alliteration is another stylistic device used extensively by the author in Chapter One. Its’ purpose is to impart a certain emotional tone to the sentence with the help of repeated consonants.
This sequence focuses on fragility of the land and its people before the oncoming drought, so it is only fair that there are examples of phrases featuring rather light and airy sounds “h” and “f” (the clouds that had hung in high puffs; high heavy clouds, rain-heads; the dust from the roads fluffed up and […] fell into the fields; men and women huddled in their houses, and they tied handkerchiefs over their noses).
Moreover, the author uses syntactical devices to help him paint a particular picture. For instance, repetition is good at reflecting the chaos that was occurring (The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale; It settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on roofs). Additionally, Steinbeck employs syntactical parallelism to show how the people of Oklahoma seemingly hopelessly approached the tragedy (They awakened […]. They lay […]. They knew […]; Men stood […]. The men were silent […]. And the women came out […]. The women studied the men’s faces […]. The children stood […]. The children peeked […]), but than emphasizes that everything was going to turn out fine (But, it was all right. The women knew it was all right, and the watching children knew it was all right).
In conclusion, in order for the events described in Chapter One to make as strong of an impression as necessary, Steinbeck turned to various stylistic devices and expressive means. By utilizing them as he did, the author depicted the nature’s violence and the state’s helplessness before it. Being the beginning of the book, this chapter helped set the tone and prepared the reader for the following developments of the story.
Reference
Steinbeck, J. (1992). The grapes of wrath. Penguin Books.