How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #1
"I forgot, you never caught a freight, did you?"
Jim spread his stride in an attempt to walk on every other tie, and found he couldn't quite make it. "Seems to me I never did much of anything," he admitted. "Everything's new to me." (28)
Jim begins his journey by "waking up" from the stupor of hopelessness that defined his early life. But when he awakens, he finds that there's a lot about his life that isn't great. It's not simply the injustice that he faced back home; it's all the missed opportunities (and the lack of opportunity) in his life, and it all comes back to him as he travels to the countryside with Mac to begin his new life.
Quote #2
"You know when you're about to get fightin', crazy mad, you get a hot, sick, weak feelin' in your guts? Well, that's what it is. Only it ain't just in one man. It's like the whole bunch, millions and millions was one man, and he's been beat and starved, and he's getting' that sick feelin' in his guts." (53)
Old Dan has been around the fruit-pickers for a long time, and he can sense when trouble is brewing. He's really talking about the ability to pick up on the discontent and general misery of the crew, which is so strong it's almost palpable to the old-timer. And although he doesn't have the words for "mob psychology," that's pretty much what Dan is describing when he talks about the bunch becoming one in its discontent. This is a new lesson for Jim, who will have some very dicey encounters with disgruntled mobs in this book.
Quote #3
"I joined unions," he said. "We'd elect a president and first thing we knowed, he'd be kissing the ass of the superintendent, and then he'd sell us out. We'd pay dues and the treasurer'd run out on us. I don't know. Maybe you young squirts can figure something out." (52)
Jim tries to involve Dan in a discussion about the possibility of a strike, but Dan's experience of organized labor advocacy hasn't been so fantastic. His criticism of labor unions points up the difficulties that workers meet when they try to gain power against the incredibly organized and powerful companies. When the workers organize themselves, the same type of hierarchy and corruption takes over the show.