Essay, Research Paper: The Grapes Of Wrath - Joads Journey

Through out history man has made many journeys, far and wide.
Moses's great march through the Red Sea and Columbus's transversing
the Atlantic are only, but a few of mans great voyages. Even today,
great journeys are being made. Terry Fox's run across Canada while
having cancer is one of these such journeys. In every one of these
instances people have had to rise above themselves and over come
emence odds, similar to a salmon swimming up stream to fullfill it's
life line. Intense drive and extreme fortitude are qualities they had
to possess during their travels. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
shows the Joads endurance by his use of extended metaphors in
intercalary chapters.

Steinbeck uses intercalary chapters to provide background for the
various themes in the novel. This effectively forshadows upcoming
events by telling of the general state of the local population in the
intercalary chapters and then narrowing it down to how it effects the
main characters of the novel, the Joads. Setting the tone of the novel
in the readers mind is another function of Steinbeck's intercalary
chapters.

In chapter three, Steinbeck emaculatly describes the long tedious
journey of a land turtle across a desolate highway. From the onset of
his journey, the turtle encounters many set backs. All along the way
he is hindered by ants, hills, and oak seeds under his shell. The
turtles determination to reach his destination is most apparent when a
truck driven by a young man swerves to hit the turtle. The turtle's
shell was clipped and he went flying off the highway, but stop the
turtle did not. He struggled back to his belly and kept driving toward
his goal, just as the Joads kept driving toward their goal.

Much like the turtle from chapter three, the Joads had to face
many great hardships in their travels. The planes of Oklahoma, with
their harsh summer weather, was the Joads desolate highway. The truck
driver represented the Californians, whom Buried food and killed live
stock to keep the Joads and others like them away from their dream.
And sickness was their ants and hills. But even through all of this
the Joads persevered. They were driven by great motivating powers -
poverty and hunger. Just as the turtle searched for food, the Joads
were searching for paradise, "the garden of Eden."

The Joad's journey is second to none in terms of adversity and
length. The Joads incredible ability to over come all odds and keep
going is epitomized in intercalary chapter three. Steinbeck uses his
rendition of facts, the "turtle" chapter, to parallel the Joads
struggle to reach the promise land. Just as the turtle endured, so did
the Joads. Never digressing from their strait and narrow path to
California.