How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #10
"Mac—like I said, you always hear about reds is a bunch of sons-of-b****es. I guess that ain't true, is it, Mac?"
Mac Chuckled softly. "Depends on how you look at it. If you was to own thirty thousand acres of land and a million dollars, they'd be a bunch of sons-of-b****es. But if you're just London, a workin' stiff, why they're a bunch of guys that want to help you live like a man, and not like a pig, see?" (221-222)
Mac points out something that Dakin alluded to earlier: a person's identity is never absolute. It depends largely on whose side you're on or what your self-interest dictates. Mac uses this relativity to his advantage when he has to confess to London that he and Jim are, in fact, "reds." He makes sure to tell London what his position about communists should be, since he is a working man. Does Mac believe what he's saying? Or is this just another one of his tactics to win support? We'll probably never know for sure, since he's such a "shape-shifter." But Steinbeck surely does seem to believe in the relative nature of man's identity, since he's made similar statements through other characters, like Dakin and Doc.