The Iron Road

1
The Iron Road

• a memoir by Al Purdy

2
Riding the Rails

• At the height of the Great Depression, two
  hundred and fifty thousand teenage hoboes were
  roaming America.  Some left home because they
  felt they were a burden to their families some
  fled homes shattered by the shame of unemployment
  and poverty some left because it seemed a great
  adventure.  Whether with the blessings of parents
  or as runaways, they hit the road and went in
  search of a better life. These young people,
  learned lessons of self-reliance and as adults
  carry memories of nostalgia and pain.
• http//web.olivet.edu/gradusers/nhenric1/Riding.ht
  ml

3
All Aboard!
Bakersfield, CA., April, 11, 1940. Two Oklahoma
boys headed back home standing on the edge of a
flat waiting for the freight to start.
4
. . . forced off the farm . . .

• Many people forced off the farm heard about work
  hundreds of miles away ... or even half a
  continent away. Often the only way they could get
  there was by hopping on freight trains,
  illegally. More than two million men and perhaps
  8,000 women became hoboes. At least 6,500 hoboes
  were killed in one year either in accidents or by
  railroad "bulls," brutal guards hired by the
  railroads to make sure the trains carried only
  paying customers. Finding food was a constant
  problem. Hoboes often begged for food at a local
  farmhouse. If the farmer was generous, the hobo
  would mark the lane so that later hoboes would
  know this was a good place to beg.

5
. . . the bulls . . .

• Riding the rails was dangerous. The bulls were
  hired to keep hoboes off trains, so you couldn't
  just go to a railroad yard and climb on. Most
  hoboes would hide along the tracks outside the
  yard. They'd run along the train as it gained
  speed, grab hold and jump into open boxcars.
  Sometimes, they missed. Many lost their legs or
  their lives. As the train was reaching its
  destination, the hoboes had to jump off before a
  new set of bulls to arrest them or beat them up.
• But no amount of clubbing or shooting could keep
  all of the hoboes off the trains. In many cases,
  the hoboes had no other choice but to hop a
  freight and look for work.
• http//livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water
  _07.html

6
Two youngsters aged 15 and 16 traveling in the
company of an older hobo.

• Here they are returning to the train after
  having filled some empty whisky bottles with
  drinking water at the railroad water tower. Said
  the older one, "He ain't at since yesterday
  morning." And then "Don't publish my pitcher in
  the paper. If my paw saw it, he'd beat hell out
  of me. I'm sposed to be thumbing." Their story
  was that they were returning from a visit to an
  uncle's in San Francisco to their home in
  Southern California, but their grimy appearances
  revealed they had been riding the freights for
  some time and traveling companions volunteered
  that they had come from Arizona. In Fresno that
  evening town police booked them as vagrants, and
  along with about fifteen others riding the same
  freight they were given sixty days.

7
consulting a road map

• Sitting on a load of pipe on a flat car, hat
  tied on with string, a road map is consulted to
  determine the distance between points.

8
meaning

• This memoir includes vivid details about the
  Great Depression era, but it is also very much
  about a personal journey. Quote lines that reveal
  Purdys personal thoughts, feelings, and
  preoccupations.
• Re-read the closing paragraphs starting with I
  was homesick and ending with . . . lay behind.
  What does Purdy mean when he says, . . . The
  green country of childhood lay behind.?

9
form

• This memoir begins and ends with lines of poetry.
  Why do you think Purdy chose to frame his story
  in this way?
• Discuss why Purdy breaks the poetic narrative
  exactly where he does to embed his own story.

10
style

• Purdys style is very poetic. Identify examples
  of the following, commenting on the effectiveness
  of these poetic devices in helping the reader
  empathize with the speaker.
• personification
• simile
• alliteration
• onomatopoeia
• repetition

11
personal response to text

• Write a personal response to this text, focusing
  on the idea Purdy develops regarding the role
  that self-respect plays when responding to
  injustice. Support your idea(s) with reference to
  his memoir.
• Select a prose form that is appropriate to the
  ideas you wish to express and that will enable
  you to effectively communicate to the reader
  (short essay, rant, newspaper article, editorial,
  interior monologue, short story, personal
  observation, etc.)
• Discuss ideas and impressions that are meaningful
  to you
• Respond from a personal, critical and/or creative
  perspective
• Consider how you can create a strong unifying
  effect