The Great Gatsby - October, 31 - Pages - 5 - 27

In only the first few pages of The Great Gatsby we are introduced to quite a few characters. Nick, the main character, who is also narrarating the story. The Buchanan's, Tom and Daisy, a married couple that lives across the bay from Nick. Daisy is also Nick's second cousin, but they don't know each other very well. We are also introduced to Jordan Baker, whom at this time is just the girl who lives with the Buchanans, and Mr. Gatsby, Nick's neighbor.
At the beginning of the story Nick tells us that he has moved east, to New York, to work with bonds, because that's what everyone else is doing. He is renting a very cheap house that sits unnoticed between two very large mansions on Long Island Sound. Nick goes across the bay to have dinner with the Buchanans. At first the two women, Jordan and Daisy, don't seem very friendly. As the evening goes on, the conversation picks up though, and it doesn't seem too bad. Tom, a once great football player, gives the impression that he is better than everyone else though, and therefore makes every conversation a little uneasy. During dinner Tom gets a phone call, and Jordan informs Nick that it his probably his "other woman", in New York. Daisy also mentions something about Nick being engaged, but Nick denies it, and then says something about that's why he moved east. I don't know if I interpreted that right though??? It seems weird to move a long ways away just because of some rumor.
After dinner Nick goes back to his house, and for the first time, sees Mr. Gatsby. He is just standing outside staring at the stars. Nick thinks about calling him, but as soon as he turns back around, Mr. Gatsby is gone. This gives me the feeling that Mr. Gatsby is going to be that interesting/mysterious character that will play a big part in this book.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 29 - 30

Chapters 29 and 30 is the end of The Grapes of Wrath. Chapter 29 tells of the rain storm that is beginning to ruin the land. So much rain has fell it has ruined the cars and the people fear that it is going to come up into thier rail cars and ruin all of their belonings, too. Some people are trying to find higher ground to stay dry, and some have tried to get relief from t he government, but the government won't help them. People are stealing or begging for food, but still there is not enough to feed everyone. Disease starts to spread, and there are not enough doctors to see everyone. Finally, the rain stops. The people can finally look out and see how much damage has been done. They also realize that there will be no more work until spring.
In chapter 30 Rose of Sharon goes into labor. While she is trying to have her baby, the men of the camp try to build a sort of damn to stop the water from rushing into the rail cars. They build a high damn, but a cottonwood tree falls and and is too much for the damn to hold. The damn breaks and the water begins to rise under the rail cars. Meanwhile, Rose of Sharon has her baby, but it never even took a single breath.
Since the damn didn't work, the Joads, and most others, try to take the siding from their trucks and build high platforms in their rail cars to put their stuff on and keep it dry.
The next day, Ma decides that they have to get out and find a dry spot or Rose of Sharon is not going to make it. The adults carry Rose of Sharon and the kids through the chest high water until they reach the road. They walk for a short while before spotting a big barn. They decide to check it out, but as they start to head for the barn it begins to rain again. Once they reach the barn they find a man and his son that are also being sheltered by the barn, but the man is going to die because he has been giving all of the food to his son. The story ends with the rest of the family leaving Rose of Sharon and the boy alone in the barn.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 26 - 28

At the start of chapter 26 Ma takes control of the family and decides that they must leave the gov't camp because they only have food left for one more day, and there is no work to be found anywhere near. They leave the next morning without a clear destination. After driving for a while the Joads truck runs over a nail and they must stop to patch the tire. While stopped along the edge of the road a man in a suit stops and tells them they are looking for people to pick peaches about forty miles away at the Hooper Ranch. The Joads are pretty happy that there is finally some work so they decide to go. A little ways outside the ranch they are stopped by a police man and told to follow the cars through. The Joads assume there was some sort of accident or something because there are so many policemen. As they are led through they seem a crowd of people in the ditch yelling at them, but the Joads can't make out what they are saying. When they arrive at the gate of the ranch they are asked how many can pick peaches and are assigned a house. The house they are assigned is not more than a shack but it has a roof and a floor and that is all that Ma wanted. They begin picking peaches that afternoon and make one dollar in store credit which Ma eagerly spends at the store. After supper Tom decides he wants to go see what all the people and police were doing at the entrance of the ranch. He doesn't tell anyone besides Al. He makes his way out of the ranch by slipping under barb wire. He comes up to a tent where a few men are sitting around talking and before he realizes it he is face to face with Casey. Casey tells Tom that they are all on stike because they were promised 5 cents a crate, but when more workers showed up they dropped it to 2.5 cents per crate. As they talk some policemen begin to move in on their little group and oen of them has a board and strikes Casey along side the head and kills him. Tom is also hit, but it only breaks his nose. In anger, Tom picks up another board and swings at the man that killed Casey. After that, Tom has to run, and he makes his way back to the house before he is caught, but he knows that they wil be after him now. In the morning he tells the family what happened and they decide if it is best if he just hides out in the house and pretends to be sick because everyone will know it was him in the fight because of his face.
They pick peaches for a few more days, but they drop the price to 2.5 cents per crate. Also, everyone is on the lookout for Tom, because he killed the policeman, so they decide they should get out while they can. They put Tom between two mattresses and they get out without any problems. Once again they do not know where they are going so they decide to head North on the back roads as to avoud the most cops. After driving for a while they come across a bunch of rail cars and a sign that says "cotton pickers wanted". They pickers stay live in the old cars and pick cotton during the days. They Joads decide to try this, but Tom can't stay with them because his face is still very beat up. He decides then to stay and hide out in the brush not far from the rail cars and Ma will just bring him food and leave it in a culvert everyday. They do this for quite a few days and it is working quite well. Al also meets a girl and they are going to get married.
One day, Ruthie is eating Cracker Jacks that Ma had bought her and she gets in a fight with another girl. She accidentally tells the girl that Tom has already killed two people. Ma gets worried and runs and tells Tom. They decide that it would be best if he takes off and tries to go far away where nobody will look for him.
At the end of the chapter they pick cotton in a a new cotton field about a mile up the road. So many people show up that they can only pick until about noon though. On their way back to their rail car it starts to rain and Rose of Sharon gets the chills. The chapter ends with the rest of the family gathering sticks for a fire in the rain, while Ma tries to keep Rose of Sharon warm.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 23 - 25

In these chapters the Saturday night dance takes place. Everyone in the camp gets dressed up and puts on their best clothes. In the previous chapters, they found out that there were going to be men that tried to start a riot so the cops could come in and break up the camp, but the camp officers were going to be ready. They set people all around the gates to watch, and then Tom and another man near the entrance to watch for suspicious people. A little way into the night Tom and his partner noticed three men that came in and looked suspicious. The three men told the guard that Mr. Johnson had invited him, but he hadn't. As soon as one of these men asked a girl to dance, the group of men closed in on all three of them. One of them let out a high whistle that indicated there would be a riot so the deputies came to the gate. The only problem with their little plan was that all three of the men were taken to the edge of the camp with their hands tied and mouths covered, therefore, they couldn't start a riot and the deputies had no reason to be allowed in. They threatened the three men and threw them back on the other side of the fence.
The last section doesn't really talk about the Joads, but intead about how the farmers are beginning to go broke. They can't make enough money to even harvest and sell their fruit so instead they must dump the fruit in the river, or burn it. They do this because if they just allow the people to come get the fruit for free nobody would ever buy any. The people are starting to get angry, their children are dieing from malnutrion as they watch them burn piles of oranges and guard them from fishing the potatoes out of the river.
I predict that in the coming chapters the government camp is going to be broken up by the deputies because whenever they want to push the Okies around they always find a way. I also think that the people are going to start getting together and figuring out ways to get to all of this food that is being burned our dumped into the rivers.