How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
To the sequoias everyone is a stranger, a barbarian. (3.10.4)
In a book that's pretty preoccupied with xenophobia and race-based fear and loathing, Steinbeck pauses for a sec and reminds basically everyone that, as far as the ancient trees in California are concerned, we're all interlopers (and "barbarians" too, for that matter). It kind of puts all this huffing and puffing about politics, civil rights, and what's "mine" and "yours" in a new light, huh?
Quote #8
A Texan outside of Texas is a foreigner. My wife refers to herself as the Texan that got away, but that is only partly true. She has virtually no accent until she talks to a Texan, when she instantly reverts. (4.1.3)
Although Steinbeck sees evidence of insularity throughout his trip, Texas is the only place where he outright states that a visitor is a foreigner. Hmm, it seems that people aren't kidding when they say Texas is like another country, huh?
Quote #9
In Europe it is a popular sport to describe what the Americans are like. Everyone seems to know. And we are equally happy in this game. How many times have I not heard one of my fellow countrymen, after a three-week tour of Europe, describe with certainty the nature of the French, the British, the Italians, the Germans, and above all the Russians? Traveling about, I early learned the difference between an American and the Americans. (4.2.2)
Steinbeck makes a really interesting point here: when we talk about other countries in the big picture, we talk about their people like they can all pretty much be summed up the same way. However, if you're doing this in front of a person from the country you're describing, you tend to say, "Oh, except for you." Ever have that experience? Or been on the other side of it, with people trying to generalize Americans and exempting you from the general wisdom about the U.S.? Well, it's pretty common, actually, as Steinbeck observes. It seems that human beings as groups kind of act and are similar (at least when viewed from afar), but they have a lot of particularity when, you know, you actually get to know them. There's a lesson in here somewhere about not generalizing about groups...