The Allegory of Chapter 3

"Front clawed feet reached forward but did not touch, As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic the efforts of the land turtle." In Chapter 3 of The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck tells the allegorical story of a land turtle traveling on the same highway as the families. Everything the turtle experiences somehow represents not only the Joads as a microcosm, but all of the migrant families as a macrocosm. Through determination the turtle overcomes every hardship and adds hope to an almost hopeless story.

At the beginning of the third chapter, "The concrete highway was edged with a mat of tangled, broken, dry grass." This represents the migrant families at the beginning of their journeys. The "concrete highway" can be interpreted to mean that the families had no other choice, they had to leave. This can be best represented by Ma Joad when she states, "I never had my house pushed over before. Never had my family stuck out on the road. Never had to lose everything I had in life." She realizes they cannot turn back, she realizes their choice to leave is "concrete."The "mats of tangled, broken, dry grass" represent the problems of the Joads before they even left home such as their lack of money and even greater lack of desire to leave home. They had to sell almost everything they owned, and then still barely had enough to make it. A glimmer of hope is created when the turtle is described as "stopped, his head held high. He blinked and looked up and down." This seems to parallel the part of the novel when the family stays in the government camp. At the government camp they are treated with respect and for the first time in the book, they were treated like humans. The family seems to be able to relax, and the reader feels relief from all

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the hardships so far. It seems like the turtle too is relaxing, almost taking a break from its surroundings. Then the reader is told that the turtle is "turning aside for nothing." This represents the fact that the Joads and the migrant families were forced to face many obstacles and could not turn back. "Okie use'ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty-son-of-a-bitch. Okie means you're scum. Don't mean nothing itself, it's the way they say it." And they were seen as dirt, as scum, as the lowest form of human. That was the biggest problem they had to face. They had to face unjustified prejudice and hatred everywhere they turned. This truly tests the families and shows just how strong-willed they were. Another symbol is the Sedan driven by the 40 year-old woman. When the woman swerves to miss the turtle, she represents all the acts of kindness displayed the book such as: the government camp that accepts everyone they can and helps the families in every way possible, the mechanic who gives them the parts they need for the truck, and the Wilsons who open up to the Joads and help them in every way they can. The most predominate symbol in the book is the truck that tries to