The Grapes of Wrath is primarily a story about the Joads, an all-American farming family, and their journey westward, but through the use of inter chapters, the novel also depicts the hardships faced by the general population during the Great Depression. These chapters are added to give more detail and history about the economic and familial circumstances simple people must go through. The use of inter-chapters in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath adds to the novel stylistically, thematically, and symbolically by allowing readers to experience the struggles of average American families and relating those situations back to the Joads.

Steinbeck’s use of inter-chapters add to the novel stylistically by using them as a foreshadowing technique. In chapter 7, it says “Squirt in a couple quarts of sawdust. Put some in the gears, too. We got to move that lemon for thirty-five dollars” (). Steinbeck is telling the readers about corrupt car salesmen who tamper with cars to take advantage of desperate families for profit. This chapter is foreshadowing the events in chapter 16 when the Wilson family’s car breaks down and the Joads stay back to help them. Another example is chapter 9 foreshadowing the …show more content…
Through foreshadowing events that occurred in the interchapters, Steinbeck reveals the Joads are just average Americans trying to survive. Interchapters allow readers to understand the themes of the novel better, as they contain more information about life during that era. The characters in the regular chapters are magnified as they symbolize the events of the interchapters to paint a bigger picture of all people on their way to California. The interchapters intensify the importance of the Joads reaching their destination and the hardships they face along the