Mood - Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck uses very bold imagery to help create mood in the first chapter of The Grapes of Wrath. His word selection allows the reader to better visualize the setting, and the setting, when properly described, can help to set the mood. His use of adjectives is amazing as he uses them to describe otherwise common things. A few examples follow:

"In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood." (Page 3)

"The rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the field and drove gray plumes into the air like sluggish smoke." (Page 2)

Specifically, words and word phrases like "fog", "ripe new blood", and "sluggish smoke" help convey an ominous feeling in the setting. The sentences, without such describers, would otherwise be very dull. The verbs he uses are equally ominous and eerie:

"The weeds frayed and edged back toward their roots." (Page 1)

"When the night came again it was black night, for the stars could not pierce the dust to get down, and the window lights could not even spread beyond their own yards." (Page 3)

Steinbeck could have used verbs like "die" or "reach", but the verbs "frayed", "edged", and "pierce" insinuate something a little scarier and drawn out than simpler and more common verbs. They hint at a long, drawn out, and tragic death, almost like the world is falling apart. It fits, however, because for these tenant farmers, their world is figuratively falling apart since all they know how to do is farm.

On more thing adds to the setting of the mood in this part of the book's exposition, and that is the reacion of the women and children to the men and the destruction of the crops. In the book, Steinbeck says, "And the women came out of the houses to stand besides their men-to feel whether this time the men would break. The women studied the men's faces secretly, for the corn could go, as long as something else remained." This foreshadows the time when the men will break, making the mood even eerier.