[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1918]]
  HONORING JOHN STEINBECK AND CALIFORNIANS' COMMITMENT TO DISCUSSION, 
        DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY THROUGH ``THE GRAPES OF WRATH''

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. FARR of California. Mr. Speaker, during this centennial 
anniversary of John Steinbeck's birth, I would like to honor the 
efforts of the Californians participating in the statewide reading and 
discussion of ``The Grapes of Wrath.'' Steinbeck's powerful novel 
details the difficulties and blessings involved in diversity, 
migration, and the pursuit of the American Dream. By reading ``The 
Grapes of Wrath,'' we are all able to see the continuing relevance of 
these issues and the necessity of encouraging dialog within our 
communities. One of my favorite passages, in Chapter 25, addresses the 
richness of the land and the bountiful produce that can be grown 
through the effort and determination of hard-working people. Here is a 
quote from that passage:

       The spring is beautiful in California. Valleys in which the 
     fruit blossoms are fragrant pink and white waters in a 
     shallow sea. Then the first tendrils of the grapes, swelling 
     from the old gnarled vines, cascade down to cover the trunks. 
     The full green hills are round and soft as breasts. And on 
     the level vegetable lands are the mile-long rows of pale 
     green lettuce and the spindly little cauliflowers, the gray-
     green unearthly artichoke plants.
       And then the leaves break out on the trees, and the petals 
     drop from the trees and carpet the earth with pink and white. 
     The centers of the blossoms swell and grow in color: cherries 
     and apples, peaches and pears, figs which close the flower in 
     the fruit. All California quickens with produce, and the 
     fruit grows heavy, and the limbs bend gradually under the 
     fruit so that little crutches must be placed under them to 
     support the weight. . . .
       . . . And all the time the fruit swells and the flowers 
     break out in long clusters on the vines. And in the growing 
     year the warmth grows and the leaves turn dark green. The 
     prunes lengthen like little green bird's eggs, and the limbs 
     sag down against the crutches under the weight. And the hard 
     little pears take shape, and the beginning of the fuzz comes 
     out on the peaches. Grape blossoms shed their tiny petals and 
     the hard little beads become green buttons, and the buttons 
     grow heavy. The men who work in the fields, the owners of the 
     little orchards, watch and calculate. The year is heavy with 
     produce. And men are proud, for of their knowledge they can 
     make the year heavy. They have transformed the world with 
     their knowledge. The short, lean wheat has been made big and 
     productive. Little sour apples have grown large and sweet, 
     and that old grape that grew among, the trees and fed the 
     birds its tiny fruit has mothered a thousand varieties, red 
     and black, green and pale pink, purple and yellow; and each 
     variety with its own flavor. The men who work in the 
     experimental farms have made new fruits: nectarines, and 
     forty kinds of plums, walnuts, with paper shells. And always 
     they work, selecting, grafting, changing, driving themselves, 
     driving the earth to produce.

  I thank my California colleagues for rising with me in honor of this 
classic novel and the enduring spirit of Californians.

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