THE GRAPES OF WRATH Chapter 8

Page 70- They sky greyed among the stars, and the pale, late quarter-moon was insubstantial and thin.  Grey- symbolizing the depression  Pale- the idea of lifelessness, there is nothing left at the farms, everyone has left  Insubstantial moon- Even the moon has left Page 71- ‘you seen that car come las’ night when we had a little fire’  Money is power, the car is expensive and they are coming after people who can only afford to camp in the dark and eat food that they’ve caught. Page 71- The eastern sky grew fairer and it was possible to see the cotton plants and they greying earth.  Reinforcing the idea of depression with colours, everything is greying, the land is becoming depressed

Page 71- “I don’t recollect that John had a fambly. Just a lone man, ain’t he?...A lone man like that don’t live long”  The idea of family unity, without family a man is alone, and a man doesn’t do well without the support of his family Page 72- ‘Tom was silent too, as though he had said too intimate a thing and was ashamed. He quickened his pace and the preacher kept step.’  Men have to be strong, to break is to succumb, it is expected that they won’t show too much emotion, Tom thinks he has and is ashamed as people don’t expect a soft side to men.

Pa:  Black, dirty slouch hat  Blue work shirt over buttonless vest  Jeans held up by a wide harness-leather belt with big square brass buckle, leather and metal polished from years of wearing  Shoes cracked, soles swollen, boat-shaped from years of sun, wet and dust  Bulging, powerful muscles  Lean stomach and hips, short, heavy, strong legs  Brown eyes  Bristling pepper and salt beard

Ma:  Heavy, but not fat; thick with child-bearing and work  Wore a loose Mother Hubbard of gray cloth in which there had once been coloured flowers (Links back into colour imagery)  Strong, broad, bare feet  Thin, steel-grey hair was gathered in a sparse wispy knot  Face is full, not soft; controlled kindly  Hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy  ‘I never had my house pushed over... I never had my fambly stuck out on the road... I never had to sell ever’thing’ page 81 This quote shows the hardships in Ma’s life, there was lots of grey the description of her, showing depression, as a result of all she has been through.

Noah: (page 82)  Never angry  Moved slowly, spoke seldom... People who did not know him often thought him stupid  He was not stupid, but he was strange  Broad face, eyes too far apart, and long fragile jaw  ‘Pa thought he saw the twisted, warped skull of the baby’  ‘Noah could do all that was required of him, could read and write, could work and figure, but he didn’t seem to care’

Jim Casey’s prayer: (page 85)  Jesus lost his ‘sperit’ and thought ‘the hell with it’ and went of on his own  Jim Casey did the same  When mankind word together, that’s holy  When thing become one, that’s holy  Links back into the theme of family unity