Well, folks, we've finally reached California and guess what. Go ahead, guess. No really, guess. Ok, I'll tell you: IT SUCKS JUST LIKE EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS BEEN TELLING US IT WOULD FOR 300 PAGES ZOOOOMMMMGGGG *explodes.*
Except, except, except it sort of doesn't suck for our friends the Joads because they just so happen to find a nice government facility that so happens to have one space for a family. And while horrible things have been happening left, right and center, we know things aren't as bad as they're going to get for the Joads- which MEANS that we're 300 pages into a 500 page sermon and it's only. Going to get. Worse. I AM SO EXCITED.
And you know what else is just AWESOME? How all the bad people are two dimensions: bad and worse. There's Very Bad Rich People and Very Bad Cops and also Very Bad Religious Crazies. The Joads? All the dimensions! THEY ARE THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM! Which means (and we all know this already) that Steinbeck is perfectly capable of writing complete characters and is choosing not to. Which THEREFORE means he's being purposefully manipulative.
I hate that shit.
Anyway, pet peeves aside, can we talk about how Ma Joad's habit of brandishing blunt weapons whenever she gets annoyed is sort of the greatest? And while that sort of behavior would usually have me whinging about how immature the person is, a poverty-stricken, uneducated woman in the Depression? You beat those idiots, lady. You beat them hard.
OHOHOH so I went and did a bit of research about the Dust Bowl sitch and it turns out that it was the biggest emigration in American history AND back when I was all WHY DIDN'T THEY GO OTHER PLACES THAT WEREN'T CALIFORNIA? They did. About 2.5 million people left the affected states, and about 200,000 of those went to California. Everyone else was taking my advice. Way to retroactively take my advice, past people. Well played.
So, to summarize: yay human dignity, go proto-feminist Ma Joad, Steinbeck, you're pissing me off.
Except, except, except it sort of doesn't suck for our friends the Joads because they just so happen to find a nice government facility that so happens to have one space for a family. And while horrible things have been happening left, right and center, we know things aren't as bad as they're going to get for the Joads- which MEANS that we're 300 pages into a 500 page sermon and it's only. Going to get. Worse. I AM SO EXCITED.
And you know what else is just AWESOME? How all the bad people are two dimensions: bad and worse. There's Very Bad Rich People and Very Bad Cops and also Very Bad Religious Crazies. The Joads? All the dimensions! THEY ARE THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM! Which means (and we all know this already) that Steinbeck is perfectly capable of writing complete characters and is choosing not to. Which THEREFORE means he's being purposefully manipulative.
I hate that shit.
Anyway, pet peeves aside, can we talk about how Ma Joad's habit of brandishing blunt weapons whenever she gets annoyed is sort of the greatest? And while that sort of behavior would usually have me whinging about how immature the person is, a poverty-stricken, uneducated woman in the Depression? You beat those idiots, lady. You beat them hard.
OHOHOH so I went and did a bit of research about the Dust Bowl sitch and it turns out that it was the biggest emigration in American history AND back when I was all WHY DIDN'T THEY GO OTHER PLACES THAT WEREN'T CALIFORNIA? They did. About 2.5 million people left the affected states, and about 200,000 of those went to California. Everyone else was taking my advice. Way to retroactively take my advice, past people. Well played.
So, to summarize: yay human dignity, go proto-feminist Ma Joad, Steinbeck, you're pissing me off.