[inner] Chapter 26: "Why’n’t you go take some rat poison?"

"The two little boys played in the boat works yard until a cat climbed the fence. Instantly they gave chase, drove it
across the tracks and there filled their pockets with granite stones from the roadbed..." (26).

Photo in front of the Monterey Boat Works building on the Hopkins Marine Station grounds in Monterey, CA. Pictured are several members of the 2013 Steinbeck Institute with famed Monterey tour guide Tim Thomas.

A young John Steinbeck (photo hangs in the Steinbeck house in Salinas, CA). Steinbeck's dialogue in this chapter between Joey and Willard captures their juvenile personas perfectly. Steinbeck drew heavily on his experiences when crafting characters--where did Joey and Willard stem from?

“What’d he do it for?” “He couldn’t get a job,” said Joey. “Nearly a year he couldn’t get a job. And you know a funny thing? The next morning a guy come around to give him a job.” (Steinbeck 151)