How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Stanza)
Quote #7
[Joe De La Flor] gathers thistle to feed what's left of his cattle, / his bone-thin cattle, / cattle he drives away from the dried-up Beaver River, / to where the Cimarron still runs, / pushing the herd across the breaks, / where they might last another week, maybe two, / until it / rains. (56.2)
Joe's last-ditch effort to save his cattle occurs just after County Agent Dewey shows up to shoot the ones who are starving to death. Losing that many of his herd surely would be motivation enough to quit for most people, but not for our favorite singing cowboy. Instead he takes his chances, driving the cows to a water source in hopes that the rain will come and they'll revive.
Quote #8
I sit at the school piano / and make my hands work. / In spite of the pain, / in spite of the stiffness / and scars. / I make my hands play piano. […] It's the playing I want most, / the proving I can still do it. / without Arley making excuses. (68.1)
The Palace contest gives Billie Jo a sort of second wind with playing piano, and suddenly she's back in the saddle, ready to prove to everybody that she's still got the goods. Even excruciating pain, which is surely a reminder of Ma's absence and the events of the last several months, isn't enough to stop her, which reveals her determination to recover.
Quote #9
The way I see it, hard times aren't only / about money, / or drought, / or dust. / Hard times are about losing spirit, / and hope, / and what happens when dreams dry up. (111.3)
This quote might seem like a downer for something that illustrates determination and perseverance, but let's look at it a little closer. What does happen "when dreams dry up"? For Billie Jo, it means having to make a choice between surrounding herself with grief and pain and choosing not to go on, or deciding to overcome the hardship and do what's necessary to survive, no matter how much it hurts.
Maybe the story is telling us that when we come to the end of ourselves, at that place where things seem hopeless, we need to choose to rise up from the pain and bring ourselves "out of the dust."