"The night draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket--take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning--from "I" to "we"." (152)
"For the quality of owning freezes you forever into "I", and cuts you off forever from the "we"." (152)
"The Western States are nervous under the beginning change. Need is the stimulus to concept, concept to action. A half-million people moving over the country; a million more restive, ready to move; ten million more feeling the first nervousness. And tractors turning the multiple furrows in the vacant land." (152)
I was very much captivated by all of page 152 from The Grapes of Wrath. The idea of unity really captures my attention because I strongly believe in movements of masses. I found these 3 quotes to be the main ones to support the idea of unity. To begin the process of unity, you need to take action, especially in times of need. Wholeness focuses on the basic concept of action, & that of rational action. In grasping this concept, our minds easily correlate this idea with wealth, value, price, cost, abundance, scarcity, advantages, disadvantages, success, profit & loss. These ideas are implied when the course of action is taken. Action is usually triggered by dissatisfaction. There is always a possibility of alleviating that dissatisfaction by taking action. This is what we begin to see in the novel The Grapes of Wrath. There is a shift in society, with a gradual emergence of unity rather than loneliness. "I" changes to "we". In the chapters before, Steinbeck describes the growing anger & bitterness of the tenant farmers. In the wake of weariness, fright, dissatisfaction & hunger, these people join together. They are victims under the same circumstances & share the same struggles, & they realize this. They recognize that there is strength in numbers. They share what little they have with eachother, & know that by being together they will survive.
I enjoyed your discussion on this topic.
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