How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
What is a paisano? He is a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and assorted Caucasian bloods. His ancestors have lived in California for a hundred or two years [...] He is a paisano, and he lives in the uphill district above the town of Monterey called Tortilla Flat, although it isn't a flat at all. (Preface.5)
The word paisano has a few meanings, but Steinbeck is giving us a very specific definition of the term here, explaining what it means in Monterey, California. The paisanos in that part of the country, according to the novel, are the descendants of Spanish conquistadors and other immigrants. Their race is, then, what defines them, but their race itself is very hard to define.
Quote #2
Danny was a paisano, and he grew up in Tortilla Flat and everyone liked him, but he did not stand out particularly from the screeching children of Tortilla Flat. He was related to nearly everyone in the Flat by blood or romance. (Preface.6)
Danny is the perfect protagonist for the novel because he represents the community as a whole. He doesn't stand out much, so that means he has a lot in common with everyone—and since he's related to everyone, we can tell that he really belongs in Tortilla Flat and is an essential part of the community.
Quote #3
Pablo and Pilon in their blue jeans and blue shirts walked in comradeship into the gulch behind the house, and after a little time they returned to sit in the sun on the front porch, to listen to the fish horns on the streets of Monterey, to discuss in wandering, sleepy tones the doings of Tortilla Flat; for there are a thousand climaxes on Tortilla Flat for every day the world wheels through. (4.3)
You might wonder why in the world Steinbeck might have wanted to write a novel about a tiny district in a town in California. What's the big deal? Here he's giving you the clue. Even though Tortilla Flat is a sleepy place, Steinbeck's showing us—by referring to those "thousand climaxes"—that every person is important and has an interesting story. It may also be that Steinbeck thinks of Tortilla Flat as a microcosm for any American community.
Quote #4
All Monterey began to make gradual instinctive preparations against the night. Mrs. Gutierrez cut little chiles into her enchilada sauce [...] A little group of men who had spent the afternoon in front of the post office, greeting their friends, moved toward the station to see the Del Monte Express from San Francisco come in [...] Little Miss Alma Alvarez, who was ninety years old, took her daily bouquet of pink geraniums to the Virgin [...] of the church of San Carlos. (5.7)
This description of the community getting ready for the evening tells us a lot about the people of Tortilla Flat and their culture. The food—chilies and enchiladas— shows us that there's a strong Mexican influence in this town. The old guys who spend their whole day at the post office and the train station show us that this is a small town that gets its news from outside, in the mail or by train. Finally, the woman who leaves her flowers with the Virgin shows us that this is a Catholic community.
Quote #5
Clocks and watches were not used by the paisanos of Tortilla Flat [...] For practical purposes, there was the great golden watch of the sun. (14.1)
Here we see the connection between the community of paisanos and the natural world. Clocks and watches represent order, civilization, and technology, but time is not so regimented in Tortilla Flat. People here would rather use the natural rhythms of the sun to order their days.
Quote #6
There is a changeless quality about Monterey. Nearly every day in the morning the sun shines in the windows on the west sides of the street; and, in the afternoons, on the east sides of the streets. Every day the red bus clangs back and forth between Monterey and Pacific Grove. Every day the canneries send a stink of reducing fish into the air. Every afternoon the wind blows in from the bay and sways the pines on the hills. (15.1)
Even though this is a description of the entire city of Monterey (not just Tortilla Flat), it also shows us something about the way people live in Tortilla Flat. The changelessness of this place is conveyed through the repetition of "every day" three times, followed by "every afternoon." You get the picture: things don't change much here. One day is pretty much like any other.
Quote #7
On Tortilla Flat, above Monterey, the routine is changeless too; for there is only a given number of adventures that Cornelia Ruiz can have with her slowly changing procession of sweethearts. She has been known to take again a man long since discarded. (15.2)
Cornelia Ruiz is a famous figure in Tortilla Flat, and her crazy love life is kind of like a calendar for the community. She's an important source of gossip, which brings everyone together, and also the steady rhythm with which she changes "husbands" gives people's lives a sense of moving forward.
Quote #8
The friends had sunk into a routine which might have been monotonous for anyone but a paisano—up in the morning, to sit in the sun and wonder what the Pirate would bring. (15.3)
Steinbeck attempts to make the paisanos seem like their own, special community, unlike any other, but presenting us with the idea that the paisano is the only one in the world who can enjoy the relaxing life of waking up, sitting in the sun, and waiting to be fed. Of course, Danny, the most representative paisano of all, does find the routine pretty monotonous, so we have to question this description.
Quote #9
They reported details of the love life of Tortilla Flat so penetratingly that they would have been of interest to a dissection class. Pilon winnowed the Flat for news and brought home every seedling of interest to Danny [...] (16.4)
The community of Tortilla Flat is made up of the relationships between its inhabitants. The friends think that by bringing Danny news, they'll somehow draw him back into the community, back from his depression. Their work is compared to a dissection class, as though the community were a body being cut up and studied. It's also compared to a field that is being winnowed or harvested for news. Both descriptions make us see the community as a living thing.
Quote #10
Although the faces of the people were recently and mournfully veiled with gloom, there was excitement in their hearts. The government has promised a military funeral to all of its ex-soldier sons who wish it. Danny was the first of Tortilla Flat to go, and Tortilla Flat was ready critically to test the government promises. (17.2)
After World War I, almost any man of a certain age was an ex-soldier. So when Danny dies, the entire community has its eye on the government to see whether it will offer Danny a military funeral. What the government does for Danny will be a sign of what the government will do for everyone else in the community who served in the war.