How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #4
"All the time at home we were fighting, fighting something—hunger mostly. My old man was fighting the bosses. I was fighting at school. But we always lost. And after a long time I guess it got to be part of our mind-stuff that we always would lose. My old man was fighting just like a cat in a corner with a pack of dogs around. Sooner or later a dog was sure to kill him; but he fought anyway. Can you see the hopelessness in that? I grew up in that hopelessness." (19)
Jim's life has been no picnic: there's been poverty, violence, drunkenness, depression—and the loss of his young sister. It's no wonder that he's lost his will to continue in that loop of misery. Jim can't find a way out within himself, but he does find it in the idea of community. He will later understand that defeat isn't so bad if you're not on your own. If he can share losses with his fellows, it makes it possible to hope for something better on the next go around.
Quote #5
Mac said, "Listen, London, even if we lose we can maybe kick up enough hell so they won't go cuttin' the cotton wages. It'll do that much good even if we lose." (65)
Mac articulates here the value of defeat: much has been learned on both sides of the table. He focuses here on what the employers in the Southern markets will learn: that they won't have such an easy time abusing the workers now that they've had the experience of organizing and striking. This show of strength trumps a local defeat any day, so Mac can feel a little satisfaction even if the strike dissolves.
Quote #6
"If we don't win, we got to start all over again. It's too bad. We could win so easy, if the guys would only stick together. We could just kick Billy Hell out of the owners. No guns, no money. We got to do it with our hands and our teeth." (95)
Even though Mac has said that defeat won't be so bad—since the workers at least have learned to organize—he's fond of the work he's done so far and doesn't want to give it up for lost. It's a personal feeling, something that he doesn't often allow in his line of work. It's also a feeling of frustration, since he knows how powerful the workers can be when they suck up their personal discomforts and keep the larger picture in focus. And even though they're down, Mac has a high level of optimism about what can be done if only the workers had the will to do it. Which, of course, they don't.