Nineteen chapters down and a little over halfway through. One of St. Mary's Professors, Dr. Richard Pressman, always tells his students that they should pay attention to what happens at the exact middle of the book because it's often times important. Exactly halfway through The Grapes of Wrath is when Gramma dies - I'm sure this will have some significance father down the line.
I found it very interesting the way Steinbeck portrays the "guards" posted throughout California trying to keep the unwanted out of the state - like border guards at the Mexican border. Very interesting - I don't know if that is historically accurate or not, but even the concept is astounding to me. But all the tenant families hitting California just found it commonplace, never thinking to complain or fight back. Something like that happening nowadays would send anyone into an uproar, replete with a "How dare you!" and a "This is America - you have no right!" The times are definitely different now.
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