Blog #18 Tone (The Grapes of Wrath)

The author has many different tones throughout the story. In the beginning when the tractors come to take the land, the words have a very panicked and worried tone. The reader can tell that the people are worried because they are being kicked out of their home. As the story progresses and Tom comes home, the tone changes to positive and happy. The family is happy that Tom is home and can make the long trip to California with them. They start to have a positive attitude about the move, almost like they accepted the fact that they could not do anything and they are now in search for something better. For a couple chapters after that, the family is very optimistic. They are presented with many challenges during the trip, but each time they picked each other right back up. As I was reading, I could tell how close the family was to one another because each time they had a new challenge they were always there for each other and found a new solution. In the middle of the book when the travelling became very difficult, the family started to become doubtful. They really didn’t know if they could find work, if their truck was going to make the trip, and if they would have enough food and money to provide until they got back on their feet. As the travelling became better and they stopped at a really nice camp, the tone changed back to happy. The reader could tell how happy the family was to have a bathroom with hot water, and to dance, and to be able to go down to the market and buy meat after they worked. The tone was happy until Tom got in a fight with authority and was in hiding. The tone became suspenseful. The reader was always questioning if Tom would get caught when he sneaks at night to go visit his family. Once he is in the clear, the tone was very subtle until the end of the book. The family had new jobs and new struggles to deal with, but they dealt with them one by one. The tone changed in the end of the story when Rose of Sharon went into labor. The reader had an emotional connecting with the book when the baby died because in the words you could hear the sadness and disappointment. In the very last chapter of the book, the tone changes to humorous. The author uses a very humorous ending to sum up the travels and hardships the Joad family faced, Each tone helped the reader to better understand the emotions of the characters throughout the book.

 Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York. Viking Penguin Inc. 1939