How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He said his slice of the American pie is too thin in this town. (22.58)
"Piece of the pie" is a figure of speech for getting a share of the country's wealth. And something about using a pie metaphor: there's only so much pie. If I get a big piece, someone else is going to get a smaller piece. Jack's dad sees the world as having an economy of scarcity. There just isn't enough to go around, so you've got to take what you can. But Jack's mom doesn't seem to see the world in that way. She sees the world as full of abundance: there's plenty for everyone, as long as we all share.
Quote #8
"In the Depression, you had pie made out of grass clippings." (22.59)
This is a bit hyperbolic, but yes: people during the Depression were desperately poor. Grapes of Wrath poor. Wearing-flour-sacks poor. Grass-clippings poor? Maybe not quite.
Quote #9
"This was during the war and so having a birthday cake was pretty rare because of the rationing of flour and sugar. We all had eggs and milk because of our chickens and dairy cows. But somehow the friends of Mrs. Vinyl managed to save up enough tablespoons and teaspoons of flour and sugar and they made her a huge cake, and it had to be huge because they also made their own hand-dipped wax candles which were thicker than normal birthday candles and colored with cherry, dandelion, and grape juice." (23.35)
Mrs. Vinyl's gigantic Dr. Seuss-esque birthday cake was the product of self-sacrifice by many different people in the community. We bet that makes it all the tastier.