How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
They should have known Charley for a French national by his manners. (2.3.34)
Steinbeck makes friends with some French Canadians when he's up in Maine, and he implies that these French-speaking folks should have known Charley as one of their own (in a way) by his excellent manners. Sure...
Quote #2
Joe and I flew home to America in the same plane, and on the way he told me about Prague, and his Prague had no relation to the city I had seen and heard. It just wasn't the same place, and yet each of us was honest, neither one a liar, both pretty good observers by any standard, and we brought home two cities, two truths. For this reason I cannot commend this account as an America that you will find. So much there is to see, but our morning eyes describe a different world than do our afternoon eyes, and surely our wearied evening eyes can report only a weary evening world. (2.3.62)
Steinbeck reflects on how different two visitors' perspectives on a place can be. Of course, it's not just about being foreign—really, it's just about everyone being kind of different and foreign to each other, which means you're always coming at "reality" from different places. And that means that reality kind of shifts as a concept. (Deep thoughts, Shmoopers.)
Quote #3
Can I then say that the America I saw has put cleanliness first, at the expense of taste? And—since all our perceptive nerve trunks including that of taste are not only perfectible but also capable of trauma—that the sense of taste tends to disappear and that strong, pungent, or exotic flavors arouse suspicion and dislike and so are eliminated? (3.3.21)
Steinbeck observes that Americans have gotten pretty interested in sterile cleanliness, to the point where (he thinks) it's become more important than, say, taste. And that means that "exotic" things prompt "suspicion." We know he's just talking about food, but really, don't those word choices imply that this tendency is bigger than just food?