The trucker in Chapter 2 plays a small but significant role. I almost didn't want to mention him, but I figured I'd give him some love in the form of his very own blog post.
His name is never mentioned, but we can tell a lot from how he looks. He is "thick in the stomach" and "broad in the shoulders." His size implies that he thinks himself a big and important person, someone who should be noticed, but his large stomach makes him seem like an easy-going guy who doesn't work very hard, or as hard as he could. He isn't living up to his full potential, but he wants to. His eyes are "long and slitted from having squinted always at a sharp light." While this could be because he is always lookign into harsh light, it also would give him a scrutinizing look, like he is always trying to pry into your mind and figure you out, something we find is true in the dialogue he has with Tom Joad.
The trucker is an average guy - he wants to be good, but he doesn't want to get in trouble for doing something good. For instance, he picks up Tom as a hitch-hiker even though he isn't supposed to by contract, but he does it in secret so that no one can get him in trouble. A lot of people are like that, even now eighty years later. Do the good deed, but only if you don't step on anyone's toes.
In the car, he begins to pry into Tom's personal life with shifty questions and glances. This helps the reader get a good idea of who Tom is and what he is like.
I just realized that I have no clue as to why I dedicated an entire blog entry to the trucker. His only purpose in my eyes was to let the reader learn more about Tom. I must be really tired. Maybe I should be a psychologist.
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