Most unusual and unique is Steinbeck"s insertion, in the otherwise linear text, of the sixteen relatively short, generalized "intercalary chapters", as Steinbeck himself called them (Owens, 28), not about the Joads in particular, but about the entire phenomenon of displacement and westward movement of migrant farm workers in general

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             The book has three main characters, Tom Joad, Ma Joad, and Jim Casey, who, together and in combination, propel the major action of the story. Tom is a good-hearted individual, but with a tendency to be a hothead, which foreshadows his fate at the end of the novel. As the novel opens, he is returning home after serving a prison term. Ma Joad, his mother, is the glue of the family, steady, long suffering, practical, and optimistic, even in the face of enormous discouragement. Jim Casey is a preacher who accompanies the Joads, who understands, before any of them do, that their plight and that of others like themselves represents not just a natural phenomenon, but a breakdown in the system. The first five intercalary chapters, Chapters 1; 3; 5; 7, and 9, have to do with Midwestern migrant workers" preparations, en masse, to travel westward, from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and other Midwestern states, to California in search of work. The opening chapter of the book, rather than describing any of the Joads right away, instead details the general condition of the land that the Joads (and countless others) will soon be leaving, since the Midwestern soil can no longer support these workers and their families. Within Chapter 1, then, Steinbeck is making a general statement of the American Midwestern migrant workers" problem, not a specific one about the Joads. In this essay, I will explore, compare, and contrast the significance of Steinbeck"s intercalary chapters in relation to the rest of the novel. .

             Clearly, Steinbeck tells a riveting story of enormous magnitude and immense human tragedy.