How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
This you may say of man – when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. (14.1)
When we think about change, we think about it as being something that happens easily and naturally. Here, however, we encounter a kind of change that is messier, more painful, and harder to detect.
Quote #8
[Casy:] "They's gonna come somepin outa all these folks goin' wes' – outa all their farms lef' lonely. They's gonna come a thing that's gonna change the whole country." (16.111)
When Reverend Casy says these words, he almost senses, can almost hear the great migration out of the Dust Bowl and toward California. What does it mean that over 300,000 people left their homes? How does Casy feel about the change that's about to take hold of the country?
Quote #9
[the man swimming in the Colorado River:] "Well, Okie use' ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty son-of-a-b****. Okie means you're scum." (18.72)
Here we see change in a different light. We've already seen examples of physical change; that is, we've seen a slice of America empty out as families move west, and we've seen families' lifestyles shift completely as they adopt the routines and habits of migrant workers. Here, we see an example of change of meaning: a word used to mean one thing, and now it means something entirely different. The fact that meanings can change so easily scares us a little bit, and we don't know exactly why.