Culture and community
One of the ways that all these stories converge is that they frequently discuss how people are thought of by others in the community. This extends past personal reputation too. For instance, the culture of these central Californian towns is often very oppressive toward women. One woman kills herself for the fear of shame—she is pregnant with a half-Chinese baby. Also, there are lynch mobs that tacitly accept the most hateful, racist opinions about Black people. The culture of a community is shown in this book to be a burden of hurtful assumptions.
Innocence and death
There are many symbols throughout the novel that point the reader towards innocence. For instance, the white quail in "The White Quail" is killed, though it is a symbol of hope for the gardener wife. And again, in "The Raid," Root finds himself hurt by a mob for his Communism. He wonders if he is like Jesus, but for communism. In "The Harness," Peter is haunted for cheating on his innocent wife, who died, etc. The theme is continuous with other works by Steinbeck. He frames life as a journey from innocence to death.
Religion and God
Without actually discussing God theologically, the book demonstrates a theology. For instance, in "Saint Katy the Virgin," the religious process is repeated for the audience. The formation of Katy's veneration goes like this: Katy is a pig. She is so evil that she attacks strangers and eats her young. Then, someone converts her to Christianity and she ends up becoming a local saint. Her bones are venerated as relics for healing, and they say she was a virgin, even though she wasn't. The portrait is an argument about religion, that religion is a social process and that it is subjective.
