How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Once over the line maybe you can pick cotton in the fall. Maybe you can go on relief. Why don't you go on west to California? There's work there, and it never gets cold. Why, you can reach out anywhere and pick an orange. Why there's always some kind of crop to work in. Why don't you go there? (5.32)
The landowners don't promise monetary wealth in California, but they promise a different kind of wealth. They promise that whoever visits will never go hungry, and will never want for anything.
Quote #8
[the tractor driver:] "Three dollars a day. I got damn sick of creeping for my dinner – and not getting it. I got a wife and kids. We got to eat. Three dollars a day. Is that right?" (5.49)
Hard times can make people greedy rather than generous. The tractor driver makes a larger wage by far than any of the tenant families can make working in California. By giving into The Man, the tractor driver saves his family.
Quote #9
And now they were weary and frightened because they had gone against a system they did not understand and it had beaten them. They knew the team and the wagon were worth much more. They knew the buyer man would get much more, but they didn't know how to do it. Merchandizing was a secret to them. (10.50)
The migrant families are trapped by the system, and by the economy. They have no choice but to be cheated. If they do not understand this system that governs their lives and decides their fate, are they free people? Do they have free will?