Saturday, July 18, 2015
Chapter 9
Chapter 9 gives us an example of what is was like for the farmers who had to leave everything behind and start a "new life" in California. The farmers plan to move on and go to California to start their new lives, but then they realize that there are no restart buttons in life. The past will always be apart of them and they can either try to forget it or accept it. In addition it talks about how difficult it was for them to sell their belongings because to them they weren't just objects in their lives, they had a story and meaning behind them. Then it states, "This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us." The farmers put so much time and effort into their land; generation upon generation grew up on that land and they probably planned to keep it for their children's children and so on. They went through so much there and now the banks are taking it away and there's nothing they can do about it. Later on in the novel it says "And some day- the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll all walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it." Is this some form of foreshadowing what will happen later on in the book or is this just a dream statement?
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Yes, we will see a terror but type of joy and caring for another rather than a terror of wrath and dissatisfaction.
ReplyDeleteAli always spoiling, jeeze.
DeleteI think the last quote is foreshadowing of a time in the future where they learn that the only way to get through a difficult time is to be with the ones you love and the ones that have fought the same battle. The mother also slightly states how she dreams of all the people that got kicked out to fight against them and they can't arrest them if they all go together. So I would say it's foreshadowing only because it's mentioned more than once.
ReplyDeleteI really like the quote you chose, since there are so many different possible interpreatations. Although, when I read this quote I feel that Steinbeck is alluding to the day everyone who lost their homes, their farms, and their livelihoods, begin to take what they feel is theirs. The book constantly goes over how unfair it is, that these farmers had everything taken from them. How equally unfair that the people prosperous and happy in California, are unwilling to share any of their wealth or land. But if all of the farmers, and their families were to begin to take what they feel they deserve, is that in any way right? If all of these dislocated families turned towards violence and fear to solve their problems, will it solve anything? Is it fair to hate a man just becuase he has not had the same misfortune? It is wrong how the farmers of California have taken advantage of these misplaced and desperate people. However, if the roles were reversed, and the Californians came crawling to the "okies" for help. Would the "okies" act any different?
DeleteI really like your viewpoint on the subject. Your last statement really had me thinking Chris. If the roles were reverse, I would like to think the "okies" would help and not treat the Californians as they treated the people moving West, but I think the "Okies" would feel the same way the Californian's are through out the novel. They have families to feed as well, although it is no excuse to treat anyone the way they treat innocent people trying to survive. Kimberly, I also think it is foreshadowing an event that will happen later on in the novel. There is going to come a time where the "okies" are going to fight back and it is not going to be nice nor pretty.
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