GOW+Chapter+10-12+Reading+Questions

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 * 1. What is the significance of the intercalary chapters in the novel?


 * Although it may seem the intercalary chapters are out of place and draw from the story of the Joads, Steinbeck uses the chapters to unify the story and strengthen his central theme. The chapters foreshadow many of the things that will happen to the Joads on their journey even though the family is not present in any of the chapters. They show the universal social conditions at the time and provide a historical background. Each intercalary chapter relates to the Joads migration and strengthens the theme. Chapter 11 discussed the loss of connection between farmer and land and the vacancy after the tenant farmers are kicked off. This relates to Muley and Grampa wanting to stay on the land that is a part of their families'. Chapter 12 is about the trials and tribulations one may face on highway 66 and clearly foreshadows what the Joads may face as they head west. These chapters also serve to show the reader that the Joad's misfortune was a wide spread social crisis that everyone faced together.


 * 2. What themes are present in chapters 10-12?


 * In chapter 10 we see see the importance of family and friends in such hard times as the Depression. The Joads work together as a family unit to prepare for the journey and allow Casy to accompany them saying, "I never heerd tell of no Joads or no Hazletts, neither, ever refusin' food an' shelter or a lift on the roads to anybody that asked." (p. 132) It is important that people work together and keep family and friends close to keep their morale up. Friends and family will be the saving grace for many migrants. In chapter 11 and 12 we see man's inhumanity and selfishness toward one another and toward the land. Chapter 11 talks about the vacant houses, dieing land, and man's disconnection from the land they work. All of this was originally caused by the bank kicking the farmer's off the land and inhumanely treating the families that have nowhere to go. The bank farmer's drive their tractors over the tenant farmer's houses and do it only to bring properity to their families. They no longer feel for other human's. In chapter 12 the car salesmen cheat the migrants out of money and are unhelpful. This shows that the hard times have made people turn against one another and do what is selfish and will bring the most happiness to themselves. Only the fellow migrants still act humanely toward one another.