How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
For myself, I try to keep the line open even for things I can't understand or explain, but it is difficult in this frightened time. At this moment in North Dakota I had a reluctance to drive on that amounted to fear. (3.4.2)
Okay, good—at least now we know Steinbeck is human because he admits he's scared of what he can't understand or explain. This only seems natural, right? We like people who own up to when they don't know about something—and who are open to learning about such things, even when they're scary.
Quote #8
And there is another monolithic tale which never changes. Two prospectors in partnership discover a mine of preternatural richness—of gold or diamonds or rubies. […] Sometimes in the story the survivor dies after leaving directions with his rescuers, or again he is nursed back to strength. Then a well-equipped party sets out to find the treasure, and it can never be found again. That is the invariable end of the story—it is never found again. I have heard this story many times, and it never changes. There is nourishment in the desert for myth, but myth must somewhere have its roots in reality. (3.12.20)
Steinbeck is relaying a yarn that he's heard often over the years. Even though he seems to doubt that it's all true, he suspect that there are "roots in reality." Hey, that's kind of like this story. Sure, he might have gotten some of his dates flubbed and made dialogue up, but there are probably some "roots in reality" in a lot of his interactions and observations about the country, right?
Quote #9
But if there is indeed an American image built of truth rather than reflecting either hostility or wishful thinking, what is this image? What does it look like? What does it do? If the same song, the same joke, the same style sweeps through all parts of the country at once, it must be that all Americans are alike in something. (4.2.3)
Given that Steinbeck set out on this whole trip to try to figure out what America is, or was, it's not really surprising that he muses about what it means to try to describe one "true" America when everything (and everyone) within her borders is so different. His argument seems to be that if a song, joke, or style can have broad national appeal, there must be something that unites us—he just can't quite pinpoint what it is.