Character Analysis
Steinbeck remembers a conversation he had with this storekeeper about politics. Apparently, he'd gotten the storekeeper philosophizing on the topic. Typically, though, the storekeeper had been as reluctant to talk politics as many of the other people Steinbeck had encountered across America. According to Steinbeck, the storekeeper had explained his reticence by saying that "he had to do business with both sides and could not permit himself the luxury of an opinion" (3.3.24). Regardless of his scruples, Steinbeck got him talking.