One man, one family driven from the land; this rusty car creaking along the highway to the west. I lost my land, a single tractor took my land. I am alone and I am bewildered. And in the night one family camps in a ditch and another family pulls in and the tents come out. The two men squat on their hams and the women and children listen. Here is the node, you who hate change and fear revolution. Keep these two squatting men apart; make them hate, fear, and suspect each other. Here is the anlage of the thing you fear. This is the zygote. For here "I lost my land" is changed; a cell is split and from its splitting grows the thing you hate-"We lost our land." The danger is here, for two men are not as lonely and perplexed as one. And from this first "we" there comes a still more dangerous thing: "I have a little food" plus "I have none." If from this problem the sum is "we have a little food," the thing is on its way, the movement has direction. Only a little multiplication now, and this land, this tractor are ours. The two men squatting in a ditch, the little fire, the side-meat stewing in a single pot, the silent, stone-eyed women; behind, the children listening with their souls to words their minds do not understand. The night draws down. The baby has a cold. Here, take this blanket. It's wool. It was my mother's blanket-take it for the baby. This is the thing to bomb. This is the beginning - from "I" to "we".
-The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
3 comments:
That's a powerful passage. The political discourse in this country has been dominated for the last 30 years or so by the conservative emphasis on rugged individualsim and see where it has gotten us. Our economy is in shambles, our international reputation is in tatters and Americans have no economic security or stability.
We need to throw out the every-man-for-himslef conservatives in federal government and replace them with liberals who understand the advantage of we over I.
"Me?... We."
supposedly what Muhammad Ali said in response to an audience member shouting "give us a poem!" at a Harvard graduation ceremony of the late 60s.
I found that passage very moving and inspiring when I first read it, too. That whole chapter, just two or three pages long I think, is amazing.
And that's a great quote from Muhammad Ali, Matt!
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