Character Analysis
Steinbeck describes the very terse state trooper he encounters in Maine as "majestic" and "granite as any quarried about Portland, a perfect model for some future equestrian statue" (2.2.30). He is apparently a man of so few words that Steinbeck avoids saying "Thank you" (when the trooper offered directions via a nudge of his head) for fear that he would be seen as rambling.