Personal Philosophy

“Cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey.”-Jack Lanton. It is very important to cherish every moment spent with your loved ones. Often, we take advantage of our family members because they tend to be the ones who will always be on our side no matter what. It is easy for us to blow off a family party or a cousin’s birthday to go to our friends birthday party or hang out with our boyfriend. It is ok for us to spend time with our friends, but we also need to make time to spend with our family, because before you know it they can be out of our life forever.

            Before you experience a family member’s death, it is often hard to feel the emptiness and sorrow of a loss. For me, it was my grandmother’s death. My grandmother had died 3 days after my 13^th birthday. As I was celebrating my birthday with my friends, my mom’s phone began to ring. The caller I.D said Mom, so instantly my Mom had picked it up. My mom had always felt a little nervous when she would see my grandmother’s number on her screen. At this time my mom had been serving my friends and I food making it hard for her to keep up with the conversation and the food service. As a result, my mom told my grandmother that she was busy at the moment and would therefore call her the next morning. Unfortunately, we got another phone call at 3:00 in the morning when I heard my mom  say “Hello”, followed by a high pitched scream. I got out of bed to see what was going on when my mom had told me the sad news. My grandma had passed away from a stroke. Instantly my world had turned around. All I could think about was the time that I didn’t spend with my Grandma. The guilt of not talking to her on the phone when I was busy doing homework or working on something else had begun to take a huge toll on me. I was angry with myself because I did not take a few minutes out of my day to hear her voice on the phone and ask her how her day was. I would have never expected that this time would have come so soon. There was so many things that I had yet to experience with my grandma. So many memories that we had yet to share. At this moment, was when I took a minute to think about the importance of time and family. How fast someone could disappear from my life forever. I could only manage to think about the negative aspects of my relationship with her. All the times that I had done something wrong. I was blind to the positive memories we had together and all the laughing memories. The times when I went to Mexico and she would take me to the same local coffee shop to order a caramel frappuccino. I have now learned the importance of spending time with your family, because before you know it they can be gone. It is better to maintain a good relationship with your family members in comparison to the feeling of regret from the lack of a strong bond.

            Although we often see our family as a second priority to our daily life activities, it is very important to appreciate their existence. Many people ignore the presence and importance of their family members until it is too late. Life eventually ends for everyone. There is nothing we can do about it besides making it the best it can be with fun memories spent with the people that mean the most to you. It is important to cherish these memories spent with your family members because when they pass away they are the only things you have to keep them close to you even if they are not physically there. We must take time out of our life to spend time with our family and create memories that will stay with us forever before it is too late.

           

Grapes of Wrath Travel Journals Chapters 16-19(D)*

Family/Unity

1. " All we got is the family unbroken. Like a bunch a cows, when the lobos are ranging, stick together." (169)

This quote from Chapter 16 illustrates the importance of family in the life of Ma'. The fact that Ma' refuses to separate from the family and leave her son Tom and preacher Jim Casy behind is evident that her primary goal is to keep the family together despite any obstacles that may cross their path. The quote above shows the connection between the obstacles in life and family. The "lobos" represents the desperate need od the family members to find a job. The lack of a job is hunting down on the cows, or the Joad family. Although the Joad family may be suffering from their inability to find work and good wages they still stick together as a family. The Joad family are there for one another to fall back on in this time of need. They are all on this journey together to find a job. Although the Joad family may never find the work that they spend all their time looking for, in the end they will have each other no matter what. This idea of a family uniting together throughout the journey for their goals is shifted drastically. This shift in the idea of family and unity is illustrated through the several family members' abandoning of the family. In chapter 18, the first family member to leave and go his own way was Noah. Rather than going with them to continue looking for work, he decides to stay at the river and spend the rest of his life catching fish from the river. Noah gains a stronger connection with the river in comparison to his family. He had traveled with his family on the journey until he found the river, which resulted in the forgotten importance of his family and its unity. He is more concerned about where he would experience the best life for HIMSELF. He is more concerned about his welfare rather than the feelings of the family.  Similar to Noah, Connie and Rose of Sharon plan to leave the family behind in the morning. They go against the idea of family/unity because they use the family to get to the place they want to be and then instantly plan to abandon them without any thought about what the family gave up to go on this journey to California. Overall, the idea of family/unity changes because family members become more concerned about themselves compared to the family as a whole.

Grapes of Wrath Travel Journal Chapters 16-19 (B)

Ma

Grapes of Wrath Travel Journal Chapters 11-15(G)*

Motif of selflessness:
1. "It was in Mr. Wilson's tent.... He loaned his tent."(139)
2. "Oh-them. Well, no-them's two for a penny." (160)

In the first quote, a man who the Joad family had recently met at the campsite let Grandpa lay in his tent, where he ended up dying. Mr. Wilson who had never talked to or met Grandpa, was willing to give up his tent for the old man to rest. The fact that Mr. Wilson was willing to loan his tent to a stranger illustrates the theme of selflessness. Rather than Mr. Wilson allowing Grandpa to come into the tent, he could have ignored the Joads or claimed that his tent was personal and therefore did not want anyone in his tent. Mr. Wilson without any benefit or reward was willing to give up his tent for the wellbeing of the old man. In return, the Joads, including Al and Tom, offered to fix the Wilsons' broken car. The Joad family would not want the Wilson's to do such a big favor for them in no return. These actions of the Joad family also illustrate the idea of selflessness. The 2nd quote took place in a diner, with a server named Mae. A man came in with his two children whose clothes were torn up and ragged. Before they leave with the bread they had came looking for, the man sees his two kids looking at candies on the dinner, when he asks Mae how much the candies were. Mae, aware of the fact that the family did not have a lot of money claimed that the candies were two for a penny when in fact the candies were a nickel each. Rather than Mae telling the man that the candies were a nickel each Mae was willing to lower the price in order to see the poor children get their desires. This quote shows how Mae was more concerned about the family and the desires of the family rather than the income she could be making. The fact that Mae also did this good deed for a family she had just met also shows the theme of selflessness. These two quotes illustrate that humans are able to perform these good deeds for strangers that they have never met. We are able to see the good in people. Even though some individuals are not in the best place,  financially or physically, rather than making another being suffer they are willing to give them a hand and help them. This motif of selflessness is brought up in order to throw across the message that sometimes you cannot achieve your dreams unless you get some help from others. Just like in quote 1, if the Wilson's hadn't offered their tent they would not have their car fixed and they would not be able to continue their journey west.

Grapes of Wrath Travel Journal Chapters 11-15(B)

GOW Travel  Blog (B)                                                             

Route 66 Map

Bel-Air Drive Inn

Rest Haven Motel

         Highway 66 was significant for the Joad family and many other migrants because it was the main route used by families to migrate to California. The Highway 66 was created on April 30,1926 in Springfield, Missouri. Illustrated in the pictures above, there were many Drive-Inns, Motels, gas stations, etc that became very popular due to the fact that the demand for food and supplies increased after more people began migrating. Motels provided migrants with a place to stay overnight, while Drive-Inns provided migrants with food for the long trip west. Many families' land was taken away, forcing them to find a new beginning. California was seen as the most ideal and perfect place for many famers. California had good weather for agriculture and as a result had produce growing everywhere. Unfortunately, these migrants faced opposition by many Californians. At the California borders, the police had  "bum blockades" in order to prevent these migrants from coming into California. Some migrants instantly found jobs, while others were forced to live with family friends. Due to the fact that some migrants were able to find work quickly, many native-born Americans opposed their migration into California because they were forced to compete with them for jobs.


http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/route66geography.htm

http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/o/ok008.html

The Grapes of Wrath Ch.1-10 (H)

"He done a little bad thing an' they hurt 'im, caught 'im an' hurt him so he was mad, an' the nex' bad thing he done was mad , an' they hurt 'im again." (76).

The repetition of the phrase "Hurt 'im" is used to elaborate on the cruel actions and effects of violence. When he does something bad, his family hurts him, making him even more mad. The repetition of this word "mad" is used to show this cycle of the responses of his family towards his bad actions.  The physical action(Hurt 'im) acts as the stimulus of this cycle while "mad" acts as the response. His family continues to direct these negative actions toward him, forcing him to continue to act in this "bad" way. The phrase "mad" is used to illustrate the feelings felt by Floyd. He possess an angry, bitter feeling towards his family and the punishments. Overall, the quote is used to illustrate that violence can not be used to tame an individual and their actions because in result it leads to more outrage and fury.

Grapes of Wrath Travel Journal Ch. 1-10 (F)

Family(F)
1. " Your Ma got a bad feelin' she aint never gonna see you no more. She got that quiet look like when somebody died. Almost she don't want to go to California, fear she'll never see you no more." (72).
2."...Uncle John would have preferred not to sit in the honor place beside the driver. He would have liked Rose of Sharon to sit there." (96)

There are several instances of the theme of family being present throughout the chapters 1-10. In the 1st quote it shows how Joad's mother hesitated to move to California because she was so concerned about him and his welfare. She looks out for Joad and is aware of the regret should we feel if she were to move to California without bringing her son along. Despite the fact that she is aware of the great life that she can experience in the rich land of California she does not want to experience because she is more concerned about her son Tom and whether or not he would be ok if she were to leave. This shows how Ma is more concerned about the welfare of her family and is willing to put her family in front of herself. In quote 2, it shows that Uncle John is concerned about Rose of Sharon because she is pregnant. He wishes to give up his seat for her in order to make sure that she is comfortable and safe. This quote also shows the idea of family being more important than their own comfort. He worries more about how Rose of Sharon and her baby feel in comparison to the satisfaction of sitting in the seat. Throughout the chapters 1-10, we can see the close connections of the family.It is evident that family plays a big role in each of their lives. They are more worried about the security and well beings of their family members in comparison to themselves. The family sticks together even through hard times, such as the loss of a house and a journey west.