October 23, 2012

The Grapes of Wrath Part III: "Our people are good people; our people are kind people"

Well. It's Tuesday again. Which means we're 3/4 of the way through The Grapes of Wrath readalong! I'm sorry to those of you who haven't been able to follow along because of the spoilers and I swear I didn't plan on only posting about the wrathful grapes this month. Lucky for you, we only have one week left of these Steinbeckian shenanigans.

So last time we left off, poor Granma had died and The Joad's had just crossed over into California. Here's what's been going on since then:

First of all: NO HUMAN OR ANIMAL DIED OR WAS KILLED in this part!! High five, Steinbeck!

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So, Steinbeck paints us a pretty bleak picture of California. One in which there are more people than jobs and more mouths to feed than there is food. The people out West are basically threatened by the folks from out East. The more hungry men looking for work, the less money said man is willing to work for. Which pretty much fucks everyone over because then no worker can bargain for more money once those standards have been lowered. The fruit trees bear more fruit than can be eaten before everything spoils. People are starving but charity is not an option. It's a freakin' losing battle.
"There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates-died of malnutrition-because the food must rot, must be forced to rot."

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No one can eat this here food.

Then we have the LONGEST.CHAPTER.EVER: Chapter 20.  But lot's of things happen. The Joad's get their first real taste of Cali. They're starting to get it - that there aren't jobs-a-plenty afterall. Life in the camps is sketchy. No one has any food, everyone is starving and the police are scaring everyone. Then Steinbeck decides it's time to whittle down the character-load again.  So we see Connie wander off when he realizes he made a big mistake coming to California and just needs to "get on his feet", and leaves his pregnant girlfriend behind. No one goes after Connie. A scuffle breaks out in the camp, the police show up, and Tom forgets (FORGETS?!) that he's on parole so Casy takes the fall for him and gets hauled off to jail.

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Connie gets the hell outta dodge.

The Joad's know they can't stay in their current camp and when they catch wind of a government camp they quickly head out. This camp is too good to be true, guys. It's clean and orderly. There's running water, flushing toilets, hot water, committee's, Saturday night dances. And as luck would have it, there was ONE available spot when the Joad's showed up. How's that for convenience?

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There's only about a hundred pages left in the book...I'm nervous to see how Steinbeck is going to wrap things up. Everything seems to be going along ok right now. I mean, besides the lack of jobs. Who'll wander off next? Will we see Casy again? What about Alfred the turtle? Noah? Connie?

19 comments:

  1. Connie did just kind of wander off... but I'm hoping he can come back and say "Oh yeah I went and studied and then got this awesome job so I'm coming to take my wife and go live an awesome life." Probably ain't gonna happen, but I can dream!

    And I'm curious to see how things wrap up too- timeline wise, I doubt anyone is going to starve, unless he fast-forwards a few months. Hmmmm...

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    1. Gah! I just started reading the next chapter...and...yeah. Already it's all going downhill.

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    2. Oh great. I predict Rosasharn loses her baby and Tom kills another man and/or goes back to jail.

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  2. I think we'll definitely see Casy again. But I'm afraid Connie and Noah are gone for good. It's crazy how quickly Steinbeck has axed so many characters. Didn't the group start with 12 people? And now it's down to 8. I'm worried about who will be next...

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    1. Yes, he's SO quick! There's not even any forewarning. One minute you're reading about them setting up camp, and the next they can't take it and wander off. I really hope we see Casy again!

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  3. *steals Dumb and Dumber GIF*

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  4. OMG that panda gif. Fantastic and depressing.

    I hope Alfred comes back. But I also think that would mean there is some hope left in the world and while things are SO GOOD with the government camp we have too much of the book left and Steinbeck is totally going to ruin things for the family. It's like the calm before the depressing storm.

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    1. Definitely the calm before the depressing storm. Sometimes while I'm reading this book, it's hard to believe that we were able to bounce back from the depression...feels like everyone should have died. The books gotta end with some sort of "the moral of the story is...", right? It can't just be "and then everyone died. The end."

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    2. Seriously! How does anyone come back from this?

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  5. Hahaha Brie where do you find those movie clips!?!? They are hilarious, especially the panda ones, they are my favorite! PS I miss Saigon Sundays :( Bring it back!!! ;)

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    1. Aren't the best? Mostly I find them on Tumblr.com. It's so much fun searching for them! :)

      I have some Saigon Sundays in the works...

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  6. That panda is a BULLY, and Steinbeck would not approve.

    I think I did that thing where your mind wanders but you keep reading, and when I came back to the book Connie was gone and I was like, HUH? When did that happen? So then I had to go BACK...and it did seem like he just went out for a stroll. He better be doing something productive out there in the world and not just tom-cattin' around.

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    1. I just want to shake Connie! How is wandering off into the bush going to get him back on his feet! Men *shakes head*

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  7. Did we pick the same quote? We picked the exact same quote! *feels all close to you*

    I kind of... forgot that things are all bleak because the government camp is SO lovely. Like, the only lovely part of the book. Hence why I'm all like 'YAY this section was so nice!' when DUDE, a woman got her hand shot off. I'm such a dumbass.

    Also, TOM KEEPS FORGETTING HE'S ON PAROLE! WTF dude!

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    1. We did! *high-five*

      Didn't the woman get her hand shot off in the first camp though? That camp wasn't THAT nice, not as nice as camps can apparently go! Yes, how do you forget you are on parole!!

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  8. Noooo bad things are going to happeeeen.

    I'm reeeal worried about the end of this. Must set aside super-happy book for right after it's done.

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  9. you're loving this book, yes? ;) It does sound somewhat interesting. Glad that you're able to get through it without throwing in the towels. that's what I've done with every classic I've read so far haha

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  10. Most excellent use of gifs. You're getting good at it!

    I forgot there was this interlude of "everything's sort of okay"-ness in the middle.

    Regarding the ending - no way will I spoil... it's not "everyone dies" but it's... interesting. I'm interested to see what you thing about it!!

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