How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You were born blessed, boy, with land of your own. If you hadn't been, you'd cry out for it while you try to survive . . . like Mr. Lanier and Mr. Avery. Maybe even do what they doing now. It's hard on a man to give up, but sometimes it seems there just ain't nothing else he can do." (9.87)
Do you blame Mr. Lanier and Mr. Avery for giving up? Why or why not?
Quote #8
"What good's a car? It can't grow cotton. You can't build a home on it. And you can't raise four fine babies in it." (10.164)
So they drive the same car... so what? Here's the big difference between Uncle Hammer and Mr. Granger. Even though they're both fairly well-off, and both drive the same slick Packard car, in the end, Uncle Hammer is a generous man willing to sacrifice for his family, while Mr. Granger is just a greedy man who cares more about his land than about human life.
Quote #9
"You see that fig tree over yonder, Cassie? Them other trees all around . . . that oak and walnut, they're a lot bigger and they take up more room and give so much shade they almost overshadow that little ole fig. But that fig tree's got roots that run deep, and it belongs in that yard as much as that oak and walnut. It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it'll never get as big as them other trees. Just keeps on growing and doing what it gotta do. It don't give up. It give up, it'll die. There's a lesson to be learned from that little tree, Cassie girl, 'cause we're like it. We keep doing what we gotta, and we don't give up. We can't." (9.91)
If you guessed that this passage is important because it's one of the only extended metaphors in the novel, you're totally correct. The fig tree is one of the major symbols in the book, and stands for the Logan family and its connection to the land.