The Reivers Technology and Modernization Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

It was a Winton Flyer…You cranked it by hand while standing in front of it…it had kerosene lamps for night driving and when rain threatened five or six people could readily put up the top and curtains in ten or fifteen minutes…also, all of us, grandparents, parents, aunts cousins and children, had special costumes for riding in it, consisting or veils, caps, goggles, gauntlet gloves and long shapeless throat-close neutral-colored garments called dusters. (2.22)

Modernization is accompanied by other changes, such as changes in proper riding attire. That's a good example of the way a change in one kind of technology can inspire changes in other kinds of technology, or even in everyday things like clothing. It's like a domino effect.

Quote #5

"I don't think nothing about it," Ned said, "Boss Priest could a bought the best two-hundred-dollar horse in Yoknapatawpha County for this money.

"There aint any two-hundred-dollar horse in Yoknapatawpha County," Boon said. "If there was, this automobile would buy ten of them." (2.37-38)

People like Ned still don't quite understand the value of the automobile. He, like others in Jefferson, believes that horses are more beneficial than cars. He'll stick with what he knows, thanks. Also, we're getting a bit of foreshadowing here, since we all know that Ned will end up trading a car for an expensive horse.

Quote #6

It was as if the automobiles themselves were beating the roads smooth long before the money they represented would begin to compel smoother roads.

"Twenty-five years from now there wont be a road in the county that you cant drive an automobile on in any weather," Grandfather said. (2.63-64)

Grandfather is a man of long vision, as Lucius claims. He can foresee the value of the automobile, and he goes on to explain how his bank will buy bonds for automobiles to stay on top of the market.