[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 21183-21184]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  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

[[Page 21184]]

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.

                          ____________________