The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter Two

The imagery in chapter two sticks with me because I know it better than the back of my hand. Right off the bat we know that we as engaged readers are placed somewhere near central Oklahoma. To be honest, I don't know that I would have had such an easy time iwth this book had it not been placed somewhere I was nearly indigenous to- Oklahoma is close enough for me to say "I fully connect with these people because it is my homeland" yet at the same time I'm given distance when it comes to my advantage or benefit because I'm really a girl who was born in Mississippi and raised from my second year of life in the Arkansas River Valley. I can comment on how bad the drivers from Oklahoma are, and laugh, because I have the ability to disassociate. *no offense to those of you from Oklahoma!*

"And the flies buzzed excitedly about the doors and windows, butting the screens," this is a timeless occurance that seems to e. It never occured to me that people from other parts of the country may be new to this image that happens during the hottest months of the year down here in the South, although Oklahoma quickly melts into the classification of Central U.S. territory. The man is a truck driver, sitting in a diner, flirting with the waitress while washing down pie with coffee.

Joads attire is confusing, and I believe Steinbeck includes it so that he may bring closure to the reader at the end of the chapter when we learn that he was recently released from prison. Thank goodness that is cleared up because I was going a little bit crazy trying to figure out from where Joad hailed.

The waitress is fingering a lump. Is it cancerous, a zit, or neither? An inflamed lymph node? My pre-medical mind lingered on this inclusion, and if she was going to have it looked at- she probably should.

She said crossly, "Don't let the flies in. Either go out or come in." Once again, I thought this was something everyone heard as children regardless of where they lived...but now I'm beginning to have a little bit more reflection upon my childhood and her geographical specifics.

"Why, I'm thinkin' of takin' one of them correspondence school courses. Mechanical engineering. It's easy." hahahhahahah yeahhhh, what does he know?

I grew up licking my finger to find the breeze. Joad does this in chapter two.

Although I've left out much of what I had highlighted, I would like to end this post by noting that chapter two ends the same way it began by talking about the vertical exhaust pipe and its barely visible blue smoke.