Music and Symbolism
John Steinbeck conveys a sense of continuation with the ending of The Grapes of Wrath since the ending symbolizes that the life of the Joads goes on despite the hardship they face and the loss of family members they suffer. An article on symbolism in The Grapes of Wrath points out that “[the ending] round indeed as the final chords of a symphony—whose quality is not only finality but also a balanced suggestion that the music really continues…” (Carlson, 174). Carlson’s comparison between the ending of the novel and the final chords of a symphony aligns to the music that the Okies listen to in real-life because the Okies songwriter tend to end a song with the same opening chord to form a round-ending to suggest the music continues. To illustrate my point, you can listen to “Shady Grove” and “Bully of the Town” and refer to the score of the songs.
As shown in the score, the first chord in “Shady Grove” is Am, and it also ends with the same Am chord. Besides the chord, the lyric of “Shady Grove” also have a similar rounded structure. The song begins and ends with the same lines if you listen closely to the audio recording. Likewise, the dance music “Bully of the Town” also begin and end with the same chord: G. The rounded ending seems to suggest that the Okies music mentioned in The Grapes of Wrath may have greater significance than the readers thought.