Rhetorical Strategies

• Paradox: “The fields were fruitful, and starving men moved on the roads. The granaries were full and the children of the poor grew up rachitic.”
• Simile, zeugma: “On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food.”
• Personification: “And the anger began to ferment.”

Steinbeck’s style is to use paradox in order to show how paradoxical life is in regards to social class. The use of paradox could indicate socialist tendencies in Steinbeck, because it shows the unfairness and the absurdity of the capitalist system of having very disparate social classes. Steinbeck also uses simile throughout the book to characterize the migrant farmers. For example, by comparing them to ants shows how the “Okies” were treated like insects and were just nuisances that did not have any feelings. Personification is predominant through the novel. This could be because the author wants to show how it is inevitable and is a natural process that the migrant workers will rise up against their suppressors. However, more likely it is just because personification is a great way for Steinbeck to tell the story in a more engaging and interesting way. Also, Steinbeck includes a lot of detail in his novels and compliments it with figurative language and other rhetorical strategies to immerse the reader in the novel and keep the story lively and interesting.