The novel opens with an evocative, "big picture" description of
the "Dust Bowl," the devastating drought conditions that
characterized the Plain States in the 1930s. Steinbeck paints
vivid word pictures of "the last rains" falling, in vain, upon
the earth. Raindrops bounce off of dying corn. Stinging wind
attacks the crops. Dust fills the air, even blotting out the
stars at night. Farm women and children wonder if the harsh
weather and the crop failures will cause their men's spirits and
wills to break. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
alternates macrocosmic (or what might be called "big picture")
chapters with microcosmic chapters that illustrate the effects
of large scale social changes. The novel begins by depicting the
misery that was brought on by the drought that hit the Great
Plains in the 1930's. This dust-blown landscape is the
environment wherein the sharecroppers, including the Joads live.
Steinbeck describes in vivid detail the setting of the novel
before introducing the characters. With