Week 1- October 31, 2007

"Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." This quote, by the narrator's father, will be significant throughout the entire book. In my opinion, it means that just because someone doesn't have as many material possessions as you do, does not mean that you should make fun of or comment about them. In speaking about them, all you will do is misunderstand them.
In the beginning of the book, I was very confused. I didn't begin to understand the book much until I read the first chapter. Then it became a little easier to follow. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the book, tells us that in the summer of 1922, he moves to New York from Chicago to work in the bond business. He lived in a house located in West Egg, which is on Long Island. Unlike East Egg, West Egg was for people who weren't familiar with the area or the people. Nick knew many of the people from East Egg and graduated from Yale, yet he still dwell in West Egg. This house that Nick lives in is neighbor to the Gatsby mansion.
Nick goes to visit two of his friends, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, that live on East Egg. When Nick arrives there, Tom is on the porch, and Daisy and her friend, Jordan, are sitting on the couch. They have dinner, and as Nick is leaving, Tom and Daisy hint for him to get together with Jordan. When Nick gets home he sees Gatsby standing on the lawn reaching for the water and a green light towards the end of the dock.
As Tom and Nick are on the train to New York City, Tom gets Nick to follow him at on the the stops. He leads Nick to George Wilson's garage. Tom's lover is George Wilson's wife, Myrtle. Tom makes fun of Wilson, and then Tom, Nick, and Myrtle take the train the rest of the way to New York City to an apartment that he keeps for his affair. While there, the couple that lives downstairs, the McKees, and Catherine, Myrtle's sister join them. They drink a lot and Nick says that it is the second time that he has ever gotten drunk. Nick then tries to leave, but becomes fascinated by the way the others are acting. Myrtle becomes very loud and obnoxious, and she begins to talk about Daisy. Tom tells her to stop, but Myrtle says that she will talk about whoever she wants whenever she wants and repeats Daisy's name. Tom breaks her nose, and this ends the party immediately. Nick leaves drunk and takes the train back to West Egg on Long Island.

Chapters 27-30

In chapter 27, they begin picking cotton, but in order to pick the cotton and make any money they are to purchase a bag. Also the men who weigh the bags change the scales to make sure that the workers don't make the amount of money that they are supposed to.
In chapter 28, the Joads finally have enough money from picking cotton to buy clothes and food, and they now live in a boxcar near a stream. Ruthie gets into an argument for showing everyone her Cracker Jacks and tells that Tom is hiding because he committed a murder. That night, Ma finds Tom in the woods. She wants Tom to take seven dollars and ride the bus to get away. Tom tells Ma that he is going to do what Casy had done, and he promises her that he will return. When Tom was gone, it began to rain and Ma went back to the boxcar. There, Al and Aggie announce to their families that they are going to get married. The next morning, they go out before sunrise to pick cotton. Many other families are out there already and it begins to rain causing Rose of Sharon to get sick.
In chapter 29, it continues to rain. It hurts many car, tents, and other shelters. There were relief shelters open during the storms, but one was not allowed to get relief unless they had lived in California for at least one year. Because of the storms, there would also be no work for at least three months. Many families began to starve, begging for food.
In chapter 30, it continues to rain, and Pa is afraid that the stream will flood so he and some other men try to build a damn. Also at this time, Rose of Sharon goes in labor, making it impossible for the Joads to leave with the Wainwrights. The water rushes through the damn, so Al, Pa, and Uncle John hurry to the car only to find that it will not start and Rose of Sharon gave birth to a stillborn. Unle John places the baby in an apple box in the stream and lets it float downstream. They begin building a flat surface on top of the car. The water continues to rise, and they remain on top of the car until they find shelter inside of a barn. In the barn, there is a starving man and boy. Ma orders everyone else to leave, and Rose of Sharon breast feeds them.
Throughout this book, everything just kept getting worse and worse, showing us no hope until the end. Rose took care of the man even after she just lost her child. This shows us the hope and how important family truly is.

Chapter 26

During this chapter, the family cannot find work near Weedpatch so they must pack up and leave. After Tom tells them of the work near Marysville, they head north, where the cotton is about ready to be harvested, and stay at the Hooper Ranch, which is much less comfortable than Weedpatch. The family soon begins to fall apart. Pa makes a comment about how women seem to be in control, and it might be time to get the stick out. Ma hears this and explains to him that the control has changed because the men no longer provide for the family like they are supposed to. After this, Ma become the head of the household.
Al becomes preoccupied with finding a girl to settle down with, along with a steady job as a mechanic. Rose becomes fearful of her child, and thinks that the murders her brothers committed will scar her baby for life. This shows us in some way how Rose is like Mrs. Sandry, the woman who told Rose not to hug-dance or act because it was sin and she would lose her baby.
A store near Hooper Ranch, has raised prices because it is the only store near the ranch where the workers can purchase groceries. Besides that, the wages are high enough to raise the prices because of a recent strike. While Tom is walking to the store, he is joined with Jim Casy again. Casy was released from jail and is now an activist who has found his religious side again. He is with a group of men that are also on strike. At this time, the police meet Tom, Casy, and the strikers. One of the men hits Casy in the head with a pick handle. This angers Tom, and he begins to fight with the man. He gets the pick away from the man and hits him with it, killing him. Tom leaves immediately.
Because of Tom's "heroic" act, Tom must leave Hooper Ranch so as not to get captured by the police. Tom wants to flee the area by himself but Ma will not let him split up the family anymore.

Chapters 22-25

At the beginning of what I was reading, Ma seems to be rather suspious about the camp manager when he comes over to have a cup of coffee. I don't understand why Ma talks to him as though she is trying to protect something. Is it because of all of the other cops and everyone else who act superior to them? Another event that I didn't really understand or found weird was when a woman walks up to Rose of Sharon and tells her not to hug-dance or act because other pregnant women who did that lost their baby. Rose gets worried, but the camp manager tells her that the woman just tells other people things like that to make them miserable and that the two women lost their babies because they were weak and didn't have enough to eat. At the end of the day, Al, Uncle John, and Pa come back to the camp and have to found jobs yet even though Tom had.
At this camp there is a lot of music and dancing, especially on Saturday night when they have their weekly dance. On that night, the Farmers' Association planned to start a riot on purpose just to get the camp shut down. Someone on the camp committee hires someone to watch for anything unusual that could start a riot. Tom and some other men see a couple of suspicious men. When one of the men tries to dance with another man's date, the men are evicted from the camp.
Chapter 25 talks about how beautiful California is in the spring.