Seperation of reality and fiction, blurry

"Turning wine into water: Water as privileged signifier in The Grapes of Wrath."    Papers on Language & Literature. 29:1 (1993) 67-95.

This was a rather dense essay and made for a challenging read. I liked the use of the garden myth and the frontier myth as conflicting forces for The Grapes of Wrath.  However, because of the historical references and discussing of Steinbeck's other works it was a little difficult to follow the 30 pages of prose. I'm not familar with formating such a lenghtly paper, but wouldn't subtitles have been helpful? With the advanced terms and educated suport it seems odd that the thesis statement began with, "I will argue that."  Also I was confused over arguing in the real world somthing that is fiction, or perhaps he was arguing that the real world issues influenced Steinbeck's fiction. But it does appear as though The Grapes of Wrath and reality become the same thing:

"Since Steinbeck failed to acknowledge the inherent oligarchic nature of irrigation-based societies, he creates the false impression that equitable land distribution and a classless society will return the region to ecological stability. Historically, there are no precedents for this vision being realizable. In fact, returning the family farm to the arid region without altering the national capitalist infrastructure will, given the Plains example, cause devastating ecological harm."

Cassuto is acting as if Steinbeck wrote a documentary on migrant workers and put in misleading information.

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