How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #7
"Why, they're the dirtiest guys in any town. They're the same ones that burned the houses of old German people during the war. They're the same ones that lynch Negroes. They like to be cruel. They like to hurt people, and they always give it a nice name, patriotism or protecting the constitution. But they're just the old n***** torturers working. The owners use 'em, tell 'em we have to protect the people against the reds. Y'see that lets 'em burn houses and torture and beat people with no danger. And that's all they want to do, anyway." (131)
Mac explains to Jim exactly who the vigilantes are—and he doesn't hold back. If you're thinking that you hear authorial intrusion in this piece, you'd be justified. Mac offers us a snappy historic overview of the type of people who join these kinds of mobs to terrorize innocent people who happen to be associated with the demonized group of the day. Steinbeck would have had two major groups in mind back then: those of German descent (Germany was our enemy in World War I, and German Americans were definitely ostracized) and people of color. Mac tells Jim that vigilantes are particularly dangerous because they don't need to find culpability beyond descent, skin color, or political affiliation to justify violent behavior.
Quote #8
"Guy after guy gets knocked into our side by a cop's night stick. Every time they maul hell out of a bunch of men, we get a flock of applications. Why, there's a Red Squad cop in Los Angeles that sends us more members than a dozen of our organizers. An' the damn fools haven't got the sense enough to realize it." (156)
Mac comments on the irony of institutionalized violence: it's meant to beat conformity into the heads of people, but it often actually encourages rebellion. This is, again, perhaps Steinbeck on a soapbox, but we'll forgive him because of the accuracy of his statement. There's not much in this world that will inspire revolution better than oppression.
Quote #9
"Y'see, he wasn't very bright. But some way he got it into his head something was wrong. He didn't see why food had to be dumped and left to rot when people were starving. Poor little fool, he could never understand that. And he got the notion he might help to stop it." (161)
Mac "eulogizes" Joy in London's tent. Though Joy was never able to articulate the aims of the Party with his tongue (he was much better with his fists), he did comprehend what it meant for people to starve and to have basic human needs go unmet. It is this very basic comprehension of injustice that kept Joy going to the end—which kind of makes him one of the most stand-up guys in the whole work.