Steinbeck accomplishes a number of goals in the first chapter of his story. He sets the tone and atmosphere of the story's location, introduces his two main characters, begins some thematic considerations, adds imagery, and foreshadows later events in the story. All of this is accomplished with great economy and careful attention to word choices and repetition. When the story opens, for example, the setting is a few miles south of Soledad, California, near the Salinas River. "Soledad" is a Spanish word that translates into "loneliness" or "solitude," a reference to one of the novel's main themes.
Steinbeck's novel is written as though it is a play (in fact, after its publication, Steinbeck turned it into a play that opened on Broadway). The novel has six scenes (chapters), and each begins with a setting that is described in much the same way that a stage setting is described. For example, in the first "scene," there is a path, a sycamore tree near an ash pile from past travelers' fires, and a pool. All the action in this scene occurs in this one spot, much like a stage setting. After the main action in the scene, the focus pulls away from the action, preparing the reader for the next scene. In the first chapter, for example, when the characters settle down to sleep for the night, the focus pulls away from the men to the dimming coal of their campfire, to the hills, and finally to the sycamore leaves that "whispered in the little night breeze."
