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Style
Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of The Grapes of Wrath is casual, informal, and conversational as a result of Steinbeck’s attempt to capture the voices of ordinary people in the American Southwest. At many points in the novel, Steinbeck provides snippets of conversation that represent everyday interactions. Often, the individuals speaking in these scenes are not specific, named characters, and they have no clear relationship to the Joad family’s story. Rather, these conversations reveal the competing interests and needs of different groups, such as migrant workers and those attempting to take advantage of them. In one such scene, a man attempts to buy a tire from a salesman:
In California they got high wages. I got a han’bill here tells about it.
Baloney! I seen folks comin’ back. Somebody’s kiddin’ you. You want that tire or don’t ya?
Got to take it, but, Jesus, mister, it cuts into our money! We ain’t got much left.
Well, I ain’t no charity. Take her along.
Got to, I guess. Let’s look her over. Open her up, look a’ the casing— you son-of-a-bitch, you said the casing was good. She’s broke damn near through.
The hell she is. Well—by George! How come I didn’ see that?
The figures speaking here are unnamed, and they do not interact with the Joads in any way. Instead, this conversation represents a typical interaction during the migration from Oklahoma to California. A migrating man optimistically proclaims that he seeks “high wages” in California to another man who attempts to sell him a tire. Desperate, the migrating man acknowledges that he needs the tire, despite it cutting into his savings, but then notices that the tire is faulty and accuses the salesman of attempting to rip him off. The salesman, in turn, pretends that he was unaware of the faulty state of the tire. The tone of their conversation, like much of the novel, is casual and quotidian, reflecting both everyday interactions and the very real risks experienced by those migrating to California for work.
Related Themes:
