Personal Philosophy

CH 16-19 D

     In the beginning of this novel, the Joad family is very separated from each other and disconnected. When Tom Joad comes home from prison he shows up to an empty house and when he was in prison he only heard from his family once or twice in 4 years. The family dynamic was very insecure and free.
     with the change in location, the family is forced to change their dynamic. At one camp along their way to California, "the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of the all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream" (Steinbeck, 193).
     As the family moves west, the importance of family and sticking together in desperate times is curtail for the survival of a family. This quotes talks about multiple families coming together and acting as one, which is symbolic of the new transcendental beliefs that Steinbeck promotes through this text. Sticking as one allows communities to be created in which a society is successful. It is when people of different interests meet that conflict arises. This quote addresses the first journal that we had for this unit and it shows that Steinbeck though that sticking together, with your family is the right thing to do in extreme situations. When the multiple families come together they are able to help each other out when needed. Since they all have the same goal and interest of making it to California, they are able to bond together and become stronger.
  

*CH 16-19 A

The 10 Rules

Right of privacy in a tent 

Right to keep secrets of the past

Right to talk and listen 

Right to refuse or accept help 

Right to offer or decline help

Right of son to court and daughter to be courted 

Right of hungry to be feed 

Rights of the pregnant and the sick to transcend all other rights

Forbidden to steal 

Forbidden to murder

     The right to maintain secrets from the past was an essential part to the overall atmosphere of the camps because it allowed the families and individuals to start off with a clean slate. This helps eliminate biases that people may have towards on another based on certain aspects of their past. It also allows people with dark pasts to not have to be ashamed of what they have done or who they are. Because he can keep his past to himself, Tom Joad's identity will not be based off of his time spent in prison. When people move, they are generally looking for a new start, and the best way to start new is to have a clean slate. This policy allows you to do that, but it also does not restrict you from telling things about your past which can help people become more connected based on old hobbies or things they used to have in common. 

     For any society to function well there needs to be a certain level of compassion and love.  That is why it is vital to have the rights of the pregnant and the sick transcend all other rights.  Pregnant women are the ones who are furthering their family's lineage and helping the population grow.  It is important that their needs are met and they are always taken care of.  Taking care of the sick can be costly and strenuous, but it helps build a society that loves one another and will sacrifice for each other.  When a person is willing to take care of some one who is sick, it shows that they are not only compassionate but they have a sense of integrity and strength that not everyone has.  When you have an entire society of people who are willing to take care of the sick, it means that they are emotionally strong and can handle whatever their tough live throws at them. 

*CH 11-15 C

September 12, 1935

     Today, like any other day I went to work at the coffee shop and I was minding my own business. Serving the truckers that came in as quickly as possible as to make a lasting impression so that they would want to come back. You see it's very important to have happy costumers on trucker route because they talk to each other, and word will get around weather it be good or bad, word will get around. 
     Now you see not every trucker is one for business, some of them just wanna come in an take advantage of you. They is come in and try talking you up. When that happen, well Al takes care of them and then we don't see them no more at our coffee shop. Our coffee shop isn't like that. We is just trying to make it by peacefully. We don't ask for no trouble and hope that no trouble comes our way. 
     Sometimes like today there are rumors that truckers will come in an try an steel something from you. When evers I hear that I gotta be extra careful an protective of my shop. Ain't no one gonna steel from my shop. 
     So when I see a  man coming in with two children I is thinking to myself that maybe he's kidnapped them. I don't like thinking this way, but I gotta in order to protect my shop. He came on in and asked me for a loaf of bread for 10 cents. I tried telling him off until Al stepped in. You see Al has a better eye for the good and bad people than I do. He knows them all well. Anyway when I see that they were just there for a loaf of bread my head started running well again and I saw that those two little children were eyeing some of the nickel candy, So I told their old man that they were a penny each. Figured I'd come off as a nice person and make up for my wrong mistake. 
     Sometimes they just make you feel bad for judging them. Other times they get into your head and take advantage of you. Just the way it is out here. Can't change it.
     If there was one thing I learned today is that being nice will pay off and give you good karma, cuz Ill tell ya straight up, when those children left, the people sitting at my shop saw it, and when they left, they left me a dandy tip for what I did. Maybe the world isn't all bad after all, but what do I know I'm just some waitress at a coffee shop along route 66.


Mae

CH 11-15 D

"It ain't that big.  The whole United States ain't that big. It ain't that big. It ain't big enough. There ain't room enough for you an' me, for your kind an' my kind, for rich and poor together all in one country, for thieves and honest men. For hunger and fat. Whyn't you go back where you come from?"
     This quote highlights the conflicts between groups of people that have different motives and beliefs. Reflecting on the journal that we did in the beginning of this unit, people with different values and beliefs will not be willing to help those in need, while those with common interests will stick together and help each other out. This problem did not only occur during the 1930's but has proven to be the case throughout history where indigenous people don't like outsiders moving in. As families are being separated and forced to move away there becomes a great migration west where the land is better and there are more jobs and opportunities in this "promise land". Due to the fear of separation, those families that are still together and living at their home are extra cautious and protective over what they still have, which is where this quote come in.
     During the 1930's as the veterans and country was coming out of their phase of disillusionment new families were starting to pop up and more people were having babies. This rapid increase in population frightened many puritans and conservatives as they thought that they would be radically outnumbered by these young new families.
     After this quote addresses the problems and conflicts it infers that the people would all be better off if they could get together and become equals socially and economically. This philosophy underscores one of the main beliefs of transcendentalism. The fact that we all need to unite together to be successful and that we each cary our own part of God that we are responsible for maintaing and withholding.

CH 1-10 H

"The man's clothes were new-- all of them, cheap and new. His grey cap was so new that the visor was still stiff and the button still on, not shapeless and bulged as it would be when it had served for a while all the various purposes of a cap--carrying sack, towel, handkerchief.  His suit was of cheap gray hardcloth and so new that there were many creases in the trousers.  His blue chambray shirt was stiff and smooth with filler" (Steinbeck, 6). The repetition of the word new is used to underscore the economic status of the location. The deep south during this time was experiencing many hardships economically which is why the new things are "cheap and new ". The use of new is also applicable because Tom Joad has just been released from prison and paroled. The irony of the new clothes that Joad receives are the only new things mentioned in the first 10 chapters, and many of the other object described are either old or being sold. 

CH 1-10 F

 During the Dust Bowl era, many families were investing money in cars and new appliances with loans from the bank, so when the stock market crashed, these banks forced many foreclosures of properties forcing farmers off their land. In the Grapes of Wrath many of the characters personify the bank as a monster and blame it for the bad things happening to the land. "If a bank or finance company owned the land, the owner man said, The Bank-or The Company--needs--wants--insists--must have-- as though the Bank or Company were a monster..."(Steinbeck, 31). This quote is a general description of the bank and the first time it is referred to as a monster. After being told that they will have to vacate their house so that tractors can destroy it for a cotton rotation, the man in the tractor states " It's not us, it's the bank. A bank isn't like a man"(Steinbeck, 33). The use of blame towards the bank develops from a saying to a reality as we see that the bank is the reason for all bad in the country, or at least they are the root cause according to Steinbeck.