Summary Chapters 8-16

Chapter 8: In chapter eight, Tom and the preacher walked down the road. They were making their way to Uncle John's house, where the family had gone. When they are walking up to the house, Tom seen Pa in the back of the truck, loading things to be taken to the auction. Tom, Pa, and Jim went to the door of the house and seen Ma at the sink cleaning the dishes. Tom just stood there looking at his mother from outside the house while Pa told her he had invited guests for dinner. Then, she was really surprised to see that it was her Tom that had come home and found them before they had left. When grandma, had heard the news about Tom being home she shouted "Pu-raise Gawd fur vittory!" Grandpa is a very blunt and funny character. When Tom asks him how he has been he says, "Full a piss and Vinegar." Now, the family is sitting around and catching Tom up on what he has missed within the past three years.


Chapter 9: In chapter nine, it talks about the auction that they family is going to sell their unmovable possessions. So, they can use the money for their journey to California. Once they got to the auction, they sold their possessions that they could not take with them. Such as; the stove, their bedsteads, chairs and tables, and tubs and tanks.

Chapter 10: In chapter ten, Tom sticks around the house while the others go to the auction. While Tom is at the house, it gives him time to have a talk with his mother. She asks him, if they were mena to him in McAlesters, and if they abused him. After the family returns, they sat around talking about when they were going to leave for California.They decide that they are going to leave first thing in the morning, and they are going to pack tonight. First, they have to slaughter the two pigs and put them in the salt kegs. this helps to take out bacteria and keep it fresh on the road. the next morning they are getting ready to take off when Muley Graves stops by to wish them good luck and pa gives him the two dogs that cant go along. Then they go to get grandpa, and he tells them that he aint goin. So, they give him so coffee with medicine in it to knock him out, so that way they can get him on the truck to go.

Chapter 11: In this chapter, it describes how vaccant and lonely the town is left. Steinbeck is now trying to get you to kind of imagine what it would be like if you were walkin through the town at this point.

Chapter 12: Here Steinbeck is now telling you what it was like on highway 66 with car breaking down on the side of the road. How hard it was to live in this time period and showing you thing that really did happen. So, in a way he just setting the scene in a different place now.

Chapter 13: In this chapter, the family is all packed and ready to leave for california, but there is one small thing holding them back. This is that grandpa says that he is not coming with them. So, Tom comes up with a way to get him to go. Ma goes and gets come caugh medicine and puts it in gandpas coffee, so that he falls asleep and they take him with them.

Chapter 14: This chapter talks about how the hardships that happened to most families on their way west.

Chapter 15: This chapter is where a family pulls up to a dinner and asks the waitress to used her fauset andto get some bread. So, you see the first sign of friendliness.

Chapter 16: In this chapter the family meets another family. They are the Wilsons. This family consisted of Ivey and Sairy Wilson. They begin to travel with the Wilsons as well in this chapter.