Point of View/Narration

In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the point of view is more complicated than just 'first person' or 'second person'. The point of view and narrative switch between different points of view for a more dramatic effect. In some of the chapters, the narrator describes events and people and places rather broadly, summarizing the experiences of a larger group of people and putting it into a sort of historical concept. And sometimes, the narration is picked up by a minor character in the story, such as a farmer or cars salesmen, expressing the thoughts and feelings and concerns that specific person is having.

And some of the time, the narration is by an unknown, anonymous individual, and sometimes this is easier to notice because the words take up an almost poetic tone, seemingly from the narrators mind and thoughts. Also, some of the chapters contain narration from a random observer that might notice something about the families they come across.

At certain points, the narration will switch from the family to an omniscient point of view, pointing out and explaining the characters thoughts, feelings, characters, motivations, and psychologies from a very detailed point of view.

Most of the time, the narrator is a person who is extremely sympathetic to what is happening to the characters in the novel. They are not only sympathetic to the migrant workers, but also to poor and unprivileged people in general. The narrator expresses sympathy with the situation that the people in the novel are going through, like when they figure out the stories told of California are really just complete lies, and when they have to practically fight to get the poor and hard jobs that are available. The narrator also has a lot of sympathy for the work done in the unions, and the problems that arise for the union organizers.

Overall, the narrator is just sympathetic and takes struggles and problems into consideration when judging and describing the characters that the reader comes across through the novel.