In this chapter, the family finally leaves for California. The characters of Rose of Sharon, Connie, Ruthie, Winfield, and Uncle John are introduced. I love Rose of Sharon's name. In the footnotes in my version of the book, it explained the Scripture verse the family must have seen the name in the first place, and I thought the verse was pretty as well. It seems to fit her character well.
This chapter was pretty good. My reaction to it was sort of like "Finally". I thought this book was supposed to be about their journey to California, but it's the end of chapter ten and they're just now leaving. That's one third of the book gone and they're only starting out. I'm not a very patient person most of the time, especially when it comes to books. Guess it shows.
Steinbeck's attention to detail and the time period aren't under appreciated with me. I love how he describes the family hierarchy as they gather to talk about what they're going to do next. That really helped me to visualize the scene, and it helped me to understand the interior workings and where everybody stands with the rest of the family.
I was really surprised when Grampa decided he wasn't going to California with the rest of the family. I suppose I shouldn't have been, but I didn't see it coming. He seemed so eager to go in the earlier chapters and the beginning of this one. I love how the family decides to make him go with them. It's always funny when a person's own family decides to drug them for their own good.
By now, I'm starting to feel sorry for this family. Tom seems to be the only one who has any idea of what California will actually be like. The rest of the family is under the impression that it's all peaches and grapes and oranges, when they're most likely to find it harder there than the home they just left. I hope things would be different for their sake, but that seems really unlikely.
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