Grapes Key Quotes/Gatsby Key Quotes
The land:
“Central ribs”, “weeds frayed”
“He had to kill the Indians
“They heard from their grandfathers how easy it is to steal land”
“The tall green hills are round and soft as breasts”
“The limbs bend gradually under the fruit so that little crutches must be placed under them to support them”
- When something becomes too big, it breaks”
“The vineyard will belong to the bank”
Gender:
“The man sat still – thinking – figuring”
- The nature and the land are linked with the patriarchy – symbiotic interdependency. The patriarchy
was failing as the farming was failing – everything is interlinked (mutual dependency,
interdependency, dispossession, purpose finding; the land needs humans and the humans need land).
“I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little
fool.”
Nature:
“Each leaf tilted downwards”
- Nature reflects the people – as the nature is going down, so are the people
Individualism and consumerism:
“A huge red transport tuck” with a “no riders” sticker
- Everyone is in it for themselves
- There is no sharing in capitalism, it owns its employees; there is strength in big business in this book
- The awe of the vehicle – it also highlights the inequalities
Displacement:
“Croppers going fast now… one cat’ takes and shoves ten families out”
- Machinery so easily moves them out
- Technology replaces the patriarchy
“One man on a tractor can take the place of twelve or fourteen families
- Again, technology taking over
“Tom and Gatsby , Daisy and Jordan and I, were all westerners, and perhaps possessed some deficiency I
common which made us subtly unadaptable to eastern life”
Morality:
“Been in McAlester” – Tom Joad
- He is supposed to be the hero and protagonist of the novel yet there is now moral ambiguity
- The people have been corrupted by society – there is a lack of morality
“Her lips came together and smiled mysteriously”
- Rose of Sharon helping the man shows the progression/redirection of her character. She has become,
morally, a new person
Struggle:
“Pushing hind legs strained and slipped...the armoured tail clamped in sideways...straining like elephant legs”
- Symbolises the struggles of the plight of the Joad's
“Go on down now… maybe they’ll know then” (Rose of Sharon’s baby)
Religion:
“Ain’t got the call no more”
- He knows that he can’t lead people when he does the things that he does
“Don’t hurt ‘em. They don’t know what they’re doin’”
“You fellas don’ know what you’re doin”
- From Luke in the Bible – from story of Christ and crucifixion
- Arc of redemption: he begins a sinner, now he has returned to some religion and morality
The land:
“Central ribs”, “weeds frayed”
“He had to kill the Indians
“They heard from their grandfathers how easy it is to steal land”
“The tall green hills are round and soft as breasts”
“The limbs bend gradually under the fruit so that little crutches must be placed under them to support them”
- When something becomes too big, it breaks”
“The vineyard will belong to the bank”
Gender:
“The man sat still – thinking – figuring”
- The nature and the land are linked with the patriarchy – symbiotic interdependency. The patriarchy
was failing as the farming was failing – everything is interlinked (mutual dependency,
interdependency, dispossession, purpose finding; the land needs humans and the humans need land).
“I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little
fool.”
Nature:
“Each leaf tilted downwards”
- Nature reflects the people – as the nature is going down, so are the people
Individualism and consumerism:
“A huge red transport tuck” with a “no riders” sticker
- Everyone is in it for themselves
- There is no sharing in capitalism, it owns its employees; there is strength in big business in this book
- The awe of the vehicle – it also highlights the inequalities
Displacement:
“Croppers going fast now… one cat’ takes and shoves ten families out”
- Machinery so easily moves them out
- Technology replaces the patriarchy
“One man on a tractor can take the place of twelve or fourteen families
- Again, technology taking over
“Tom and Gatsby , Daisy and Jordan and I, were all westerners, and perhaps possessed some deficiency I
common which made us subtly unadaptable to eastern life”
Morality:
“Been in McAlester” – Tom Joad
- He is supposed to be the hero and protagonist of the novel yet there is now moral ambiguity
- The people have been corrupted by society – there is a lack of morality
“Her lips came together and smiled mysteriously”
- Rose of Sharon helping the man shows the progression/redirection of her character. She has become,
morally, a new person
Struggle:
“Pushing hind legs strained and slipped...the armoured tail clamped in sideways...straining like elephant legs”
- Symbolises the struggles of the plight of the Joad's
“Go on down now… maybe they’ll know then” (Rose of Sharon’s baby)
Religion:
“Ain’t got the call no more”
- He knows that he can’t lead people when he does the things that he does
“Don’t hurt ‘em. They don’t know what they’re doin’”
“You fellas don’ know what you’re doin”
- From Luke in the Bible – from story of Christ and crucifixion
- Arc of redemption: he begins a sinner, now he has returned to some religion and morality
