How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #4
Dakin said, "They say we got a right to strike in this country, and then they make laws against picketin'. All it amounts to is that we got a right to quit." (64)
Dakin expresses the frustrations of the workers over conflicting federal and local laws. It means that the workers have the right to protest but not the means to do so—which leads to a totally hopeless situation. In this case, the workers really have only one option: to break the law. While Steinbeck refers to Thoreau's concept of passive resistance or civil disobedience, the strikers feel that passivity and peaceful protest aren't really options for them. They believe they have to lay it all on the line and risk the use of violence if they want to gain an advantage on the other side.
Quote #5
"You punks got something to learn yet. There's more to work than you ever knew. Like a bunch of horses—you want more hay! Whining around for more hay. Want all the hay there is! You make a good man sick, that's what you do, whining around." (77)
Dan has had enough of Jim and his radical, whippersnapper ways. He's discontented by lots of things, including what he sees as a "handout" mentality among the workers. Dan feels that the workers should be picking themselves up by their bootstraps and working harder to improve their lives under the current conditions—not striking to gain leverage against the companies and raise their wages. But Dan doesn't see the irony of his situation. At over seventy years of age, he's still climbing into trees to stay one step ahead of total financial ruin.
Quote #6
On the outskirts of the mob the men began to shout, "Look at the ladder! That's what they make us work on!" The growl of the men, and the growl of their anger arose. Their eyes were fierce. In a moment their vague unrest and anger centered and focused. (78)
The workers have been bubbling with discontent all day, and Dan's accident is just the catalyst they need to send them headlong into strike mode. The broken ladder gives them perfect fodder to spell out everything that is wrong with the current employment model: the company does not care about its workers' needs or well-being.
Mac later says (more than once) that the mob needs blood to focus its anger and turn it into action. Dan's accident proves the truth of this statement: it exposes a scary level of discontent among the workers.