How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
At first Nardo didn't want to go to the fields. Not because of pride, although he'd have used that excuse at the beginning if he could've gotten away with it. It was more because, like anyone else, he didn't like sobbing out tears of sweat in 110-degree sun. […]
Although it was hard for Nardo to duck my mom's accusing eyes, especially when Magda, my sister, came home slumped from the laundry after feeding bed sheets all day into a steam press, he was refusing to work anymore. Whether one tried threats, scoldings, or even shaming, which my mom tried almost every other day, nothing worked. (1.10-11)
Nardo isn't the hardest worker around; in fact, he sounds like a slacker. Manny seems to have to perspectives on this, though: On the one hand, he's sort of sympathetic; after all, no one wants to work in terrible heat. But on the other hand, Magda's working so hard, and this makes Nardo's slacker attitude look pretty pathetic.
Quote #2
I wasn't like Nardo. I suppose years of not knowing what, besides work, was expected from a Mexican convinced me that I wouldn't pass from this earth without putting in a lot of days. I suppose Nardo figured the same, and wasn't about to waste his time. But I was of my grandpa Ignacio's line of useful blood. All his life, no matter what the job, my grandpa worked like a man trying to fill all his tomorrows with one solid say's work. Even in the end, when he got sick and couldn't move, he hated sitting on the couch doing nothing. He'd fumble around the house fixing sockets and floor trim, painting lower shelves and screwing legs back on to tables, although the finished chore was always more a sign of how much his mind had gotten older than anything else. (1.16)
Manny isn't hemming and hawing when it comes to hard work. He figures he should be a hard worker and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. What do you think of the reasons Manny gives? He is influenced by the stereotype that as a Mexican he'll spend a lot of his time working hard, but he also thinks hard work is in his "blood." Keep an eye out in this book for what other forces encourage Manny to persevere through thick and thin.
Quote #3
We'd been picking about two hours when the sun began scalding the backs of our hands, leaving a pocket of heat crawling like a small animal inside our shirts. My fingers were as rubbery as old carrots, and it seemed forever before the peppers rose to the center of my can. (1.33)
Nardo and Manny go to work in the chili fields. And when we say work we mean seriously hard work—it's hot as the sun and sounds pretty miserable. Did you notice Manny's descriptions about his body? The heat feels "like a small animal inside our shirts" and his fingers feel "as rubbery as old carrots." This work isn't just hard, it's really physically unpleasant.