Those Earned, Bittersweet Oranges
     ["I was afraid we wouldn't get acrost," she said.  "I tol' Granma we couldn't he'p her.  The famblyhad ta get acrost.  I tol' her when she was a-dyin;.  We couldn' stop in the desert.  There was the young ones -an' Rosasharn's baby.  I tol' her."  She put up her hands and covered her face for a moment. "She can get buried in a nice green place," Ma said softly.  "Trees aroun' an' a nice place.  She got to lay her head down in California."]  I think this is the most important part of the chapter because it shows the reader how important the livlihood of the entire family is to the older folks.  I mean, they have come so far, and to be sent back at that time would've been devastating to the family.  Ma's caring and make-the-best-out-of-nothing attitude is explified by allowing Granma's death to occur, for the good of the family.  I think this quote is the basis for one of the main theme's of the chapter - what are we willing to do to survive.
   The second quote I picked involves reverend Casy and Uncle John, ["I got a feelin' I'm bringin' bad luck to my own folks.  I got a feelin' I oughta go away an' let 'em be.  I ain't comf'table bein' like this."  Casy said quickly, " I know this - a man got to do what he got to do.  I can't tell you.  I can't tell you.  I don't think they's luck or bad luck.  On'y one thing in this worl' I'm sure of, an' that's I'm sure nobody got a right to mess with a fella's life.  He got to do it all hisself.  Help him, maybe, but not tell him what to do..." You think it was a sin to let my wife die like that?" "Well," said Casy, "for anybody else it was a mistake, but if you think it was a sin - then it's a sin.  A fella builds his own sins right up from the ground'." " I got to give that a gon'-over,", said Uncle John, and he rolled on his back and lay with his knees pulled up."]  This quote struck me because I thought Uncle John was going down the same path the preacher was going down.  I mean that Uncle John is becoming more mature morrally - he's about to learn to get over what he did to his wife.  If I recall correctly, Casy was doing the same motions with his knees when he was in the company of just Tom and Muley Graves.  This leads me to believe that the preacher has spread his ideals to Uncle John.
     To me, wisdom is the most powerful knowledge any person could attain.  Wisdom is the knowledge one attain from experience, in particular, life experience.  Wisdom naturally comes with age - but I believe other factors are part of wisdom.  I mean, the wisdom of a mother is different from that of a father, because they have led different lives, among different experiences.  My mom doesn't know diddly squat about managing a plant or making ceramic glazes, she couldn't fix an engine.  Likewise, my dad couldn't tell me how to manage a gay man, much less deal with an anal retentive doctor.  I think the difference between knowledge and wisdom, is that wisdom is a more impactful, earned knowledge.  Knowledge can be earned too, but it doesn't go nearly a far.  It's like comparing life experience to a history book, no matter how well the book is written, that life experience has something that can't be met.  Wisdom has opinion, has scope, it has the most depth you could divulge from a single person's experience.  I grew up with my grandpa in our household, I loved my grandpa.  Not only because he was basically a third parent to me, but because he showed me wisdom.