Week 5: The Grapes of Rath

     I am still reading the Grapes of Rath, and I honestly didn't get a chance to read a lot this week. I am having trouble finding time to read. I am reading an independent novel for British Literature too, so I am trying to balance the two. I have found that after I get done with homework is the worst time to read. I get so frustrated and tired that I don't want to read. The best times for me to read are weekends, so I am trying to get both independent novels on the weekends.
     Anyway, back to the story. The Joads are now in a government camp, and they are looking for jobs. Tom instantly gets one right after he looks, but it only lasts a couple weeks. The other boys haven't found anything.
     Meanwhile, the camp is planning a dance. They have a dance once a week. However, they heard that some people were going to start a fight so the police could make them close down the camp. They had all of these men standing around on the lookout for someone starting a fight. Sure enough, only 2 dances in, a couple guys try to start a fight. However, they are quickly escorted off the premises.
     Now these dances always cause a big commotion because some of the people in this camp think dancing is unholy. These people aren't doing anything wrong; they are square dancing for heavens sake. Those people would have a heart attack if they came to one of our school dances.
     After the whole dance affair settles down, the Joads start looking for work again with no luck. They decide regretfully that they will have to leave the camp to go find work because they are running out of food.
This is when we finally meet the girl Al is always running off with. She is this sweet, though nieve blonde. She gets all mad because he says he is leaving, but he reassures her he is coming back and will marry her then. However, though I love Al and he is my favorite character, I highly doubt that even if they do come back, that he will marry her. I mean Al is said to always be "tomcatting" around. Well if you know anything about tom cats, they aren't exactly the "settle down, have 12 kids and live happily ever after" type. Al will more than likely soon move on to another girl.
     I did find it interesting that Steinbeck chose to put this part in the book. He generally doesn't talk too much about Al. His family will make comments about him going out, or Steinbeck will state that Al leaves to go find girls, but it never really gives you any specifics about who the girls are, or what they talk about or anything. I think this part may have been in the play to show how much comfort the Joads are giving up by leaving this camp.
      Speaking of Steinbeck, I'm starting to feel like Morgan feels while reading. While the description is nice, sometimes I just want to yell, "Okay we get the point! The ground was dry, the wind blew it away, now get on with the story!" That is basically a one line summary of something Steinbeck takes three pages to say. I have come to the conclusion that I am just going to start skimming the parts that get like that and really just focus on the story.