Organized Chaos

Throughout Grapes of Wrath, there is an interesting focus on familiar and social organization. In Chapter 17, Steinbeck describes, in detail, the social organization that emerges amongst the families moving west. Uprooted from their former lives and communities, the immigrants find a new social norm amongst their fellow travelers and each evening “a new unit was formed”(197). “In the long hot light, they were silent in the cars moving slowly westward; but at night they integrated with any group they found. Thus they changed their social life—changed as in the whole universe only man can change. They were not farm men any more, bit migrant men”(196). The families discovered new social rules, rights, laws, conduct government, and they created these mini-communities every night, and then dismantled them in the morning. The process seems it would be exhausting for the characters, but perhaps this is a way to create order and classification within a life situation that is rife with upheaval, movement and uncertainty. Or, this means of social organization is a natural progression from the importance placed on hierarchy within the family. Steinbeck puts a lot of emphasis on each family member’s “role”, and the characters, so far, don’t seem to push those boundaries. Each character knows their place, and the Joads organize themselves very naturally, automatically, and without much discussion: “And without any signal, the family gathered by the truck, and the congress, the family government went into session”(99). Before they leave for their trip they convene to discuss their journey, and in a very literal moment, the family place themselves physically to mirror their position within the family hierarchy. Pa, Uncle John and Grampa form “the nucleus;” Tom, Connie, and Noah form around them; the women stand behind them with their hands on their hips; and the children quietly play around in the background. This set family structure is a apparent and set – but whether it will uphold or shift during the journey to California is yet to be determined.
- ANS