*Repetition*



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Ch. 1-10, Assignment H

In Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath,  the author often repeats words and phrases/set of phrases throughout the chapters. Repetition is a useful writing style that is often used in descriptions. When repetition does occur, it is usually to apply emphasis on the repeated subject. Chapter one for example, contains repetition to emphasize the dry conditions of the land during the Dust Bowl tragedy:


"To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth." [...]The last rains lifted the corn quickly and scattered weed [...]so that the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover.[...] The sun flared down on the growing corn day after day until a line of brown spread along the edge of each green bayonet. The weeds grew darker green to [...] The surface of the earth crusted, a thin hard crust, and as the sky became pale, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country." (1)


          The phrases the red country and the gray country are repeated multiple time in just the first paragraph. Steinbeck repeats these phrases to emphasize what parts of the country were being affected by the Dust Bowl. The red country is considered to be from the western portion of Oklahoma. The color red is due to the high amount of iron in the soil. However, the gray country is considered to be the eastern portion of Oklahoma. During the Dust Bowl, people in Oklahoma would claim to know from what part of the country the dust came from, due to its color. This repetition of colors characterizes where the majority of the storms came, further adding to the description of the dust, not only in color but location as well.
        The earth and its crust is also repeated quite a few times throughout the first paragraph. When the word crust is read, it often represents something very dry. Steinbeck repeats the earth's conditions as being crusty to emphasize on how dry the conditions really were during that time. To further emphasize the dry conditions, the author also repeats the phrase last rains. If it does not rain the weather eventually will become very dry. Due to high temperatures, the land was mostly hard and dry. As a result, a majority of what was growing in the land was grass and weeds (use of repetition for green and weeds used as well to emphasize the problems and conditions of this). As a result, the dry weather and weeds nearly choked out the crops, causing many farmers to have to reseed again.