Let's break for an essay

I must admit, my first love has always been the essay.

Described by Aldous Huxley as the, “device for saying almost everything about almost anything,” I’ve long valued the concise depth that characterizes the form.

So it should come as no surprise that upon my reading of The Grapes of Wrath, I would be particularly drawn to Chapter 14.

A description of the transforming American west, Chapter 14 cannot help but be seen as unique, even in this most unusual novel. Standing out from the other intermediate chapters of the work, it makes no use of unattributed quotation and is spoken from one specific, consistent perspective – void of the fluid switches of voice that characterize the majority of the book.

This consistent voice lends Chapter 14 extra authority, as does its use of cadence.
The chapter is crafted from a series of lengthy periodic sentences, with clause upon clause of added description serving not only to lend extra credibility to the piece, but also to add a rhythm reminiscent of sermons and speeches.

From this ‘pulpit,’ the speaker outlines an argument for the rising wave of discontent resulting in the westward migration, ultimately noting that the root cause of motion and change is hunger in a belly and the desire to rise up through ones work. These visceral symbols of humanity – the stomach and the products of one’s physical labor – serve to ground the speaker’s argument in relatable reality.

It is through this emphasis on similarity that the speaker’s intent to comment on mankind as a whole is revealed. Indeed, this is further evidenced as the writer speaks of “Manself,” broadly and confidently.

This chapter, unlike other intermediary chapters, is not included to bridge a gap or to introduce the theme for the following pages – both of which, it must be noted, are still noble tasks. But Chapter 14, uniquely crafted and structured, serves as the thesis statement for the entire work – appearing after an extended exposition, and setting up a lengthy resolution. It distills the intellectual framework upon which the plot is based, and explicitly reveals what Steinbeck sees as the logical end to continued capitalization and marginalization of the common man: revolt.