How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Stanza)
Quote #1
As summer wheat came ripe, / so did I, / born at home, on the kitchen floor, / Ma crouched, / barefoot, bare-bottomed / over the swept boards, / because that's where Daddy said it would be best. (1.1)
And that, friends of Shmoop, is how you write an opening line. What an image—right from the start, Billie Jo makes it clear that her life has been hard from day one.
Quote #2
Daddy says, / "The potatoes are peppered plenty tonight, Polly," / and / "Chocolate milk for dinner, aren't we in clover!" / when really all our pepper and chocolate, / it's nothing but dust. (11.4)
Sometimes our circumstances are so challenging that the only response is to joke about them. That's what Daddy's doing here. Infusing a dark situation with humor is a common response to suffering.
Quote #3
Mr. Hardly's been worse than normal / since his attic filled with dust / and collapsed under the weight. / He hired folks for the repairs, / and argued over every nail and every / little minute. / The whole place took / shoveling for days before he could / open again and / some stock was so bad it / had to be thrown away. (9.4)
Some of the book's most vivid portraits of suffering come from minor characters like Mr. Hardly. We get a clear picture of how, even though farmers' livelihoods were most damaged by the Dust Bowl, they weren't the only victims—the dust shows no partiality in the lives it affects.