Symbolism of the dog's death

After the Joads sell all of their possessions and buy a truck to make the great trip to California, they are unaware of the tragic problems ahead of them. They set out for their new lives and they encounter the constant setback of their fuel situation. With all of the items they have and all of the family in one truck, it is much heavier and with it being a truck it does not get very good gas mileage in the first place, but with so many people they are using gas very quickly and are having to stop and use money on it. At one point they stop and as they are begging for gas their dog is killed by a new roadster(Steinbeck, Chapter 13), which symbolizes the misery of what is to come to the family and who it is brought upon them by, the wealthy.

The dog's death is symbolism and foreshadowing of the events that are to come on the journey. They lose some of the family to disease and age and the dog's death was a symbol of what was to come. They lose Grandma and Grandpa very early in the trip and do everything they can to give them a respectful funeral, but at some points the money is just to tight to afford it and they leave Grandma at the coroner's office. This makes some of them upset, but it is what they had to do to ensure that they survive the trip. They also lose a baby that never got to experience the world. It may be best for the child to have not lived too long because being born into a world and country of poverty would not be the way for any child to first see the world. It is born still and Rose of Sharon and the whole family is saddened by this because a face of occasional laughter may have lifted their spirit greatly. The dog's death is the sign of doom for some of the family members.

Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.