How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I said we'd take the job. I said we could start next week."
"Are you crazy, boy? Look at me, I can't see straight, I can't hardly walk, my skull's 'bout to split open like a rotten pumpkin—" (1.75-76)
Since Mickey got knocked on the noggin with an iguana, he hasn't been able to work. But the Crays could lose their animals, truck, and house if they don't start making payments, so Wahoo takes the job for a good reason.
Quote #2
"Tell me about the TV thing," she said.
"It's real good money."
"But is it a good job?"
"Yeah, awesome," Wahoo said, thinking: When you're broke, any job is a good job. (4.20-23)
Mickey and Wahoo have to take this job despite their values and the desire to not work with Derek. In one way, it would be irresponsible to quit the job. In another, it is irresponsible to keep it.
Quote #3
"Hey! What about the gator?" Derek Badger shouted after them.
"Over my dead body," Mickey said.
[…]
"Four grand!" cried Derek. "Four thousand dollars!"
Mickey Cray turned around, smiling. "That I heard." (5.113-122)
After Derek attacked Beulah, Mickey knew he shouldn't handle any more animals. So why did he accept a four thousand dollar bonus so quickly? Did the money change the situation?
Quote #4
His father asked Tuna where she lived. She pointed to a dented old Winnebago at the far end of the parking lot.
"Okay, but where do you keep it?" Mickey asked.
"Right there."
"You live at the Walmart?"
"They let motor homes in for free," Tuna explained. "We got electric and water, everything we need. It's not so awful." (9.23-27)
The Crays are not wealthy, but at least they live in a house in the ground, and have their own business. Meeting up with Tuna and learning that she lives in the parking lot of a big box store is hard for them to take. On top of that, her dad beats her, so while the Walmart parking lot might not be awful, other aspects of Tuna's life are. Not only if she money poor, she's family poor, too.
Quote #5
"If we lose this job," Wahoo said, "the bank's going to take our house." (11.78)
This problem has been at the front of Wahoo's mind since his dad stopped working, and he seems more upset about this idea than Mickey does. This is a common issue with middle-class poverty, having lots of debt and no savings for emergencies.
Quote #6
"What if the cops just take a report and send her back home? Or lock up her old man, like you said—the where the heck's she supposed to live?" (15.63)
Many times, there are no good options for people who live in poverty. Many of their family members are also poor and can't take in another mouth to feed, or simply don't have the space, or they can't buy the ticket to fly to where they do have family. It is hard all around.
Quote #7
It was true that Link's airboat was the center of his life. It was also true that his life wasn't very complicated. He lived in a trailer near the tiny town of Copeland on Route 29. His interests were limited to fishing, hunting and tuning his boat's engine… (19.71)
Link doesn't have much but what he has makes him content. Poverty doesn't always have to be a bad thing, and looked at from the other angle, there are plenty of things besides money that can make us rich.