... army outpost, killing "only" about 15,000 men. No comment on the tragedy. No explanation about how 15,000 men are of such little value to the people running the war. Just a line or two that imply the tragedy and the waste without overdoing it. Then he moves on with the story. If Steinbeck did that, The Grapes of Wrath would be much easier to read; his prose is so precise ... than let the story make a more subtle point. The Joads exist to add specificity to the "short lyrical" informational chapters, which are the core of the book. The book begins with one of those chapters, not with the...

• Word Count: 1715
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School