"The preacher said, 'I don't recollect that John had a fambly. Just a lone man, ain't he? I don't recollect much about him.'
"'Lonest goddamn man in the world,' said Joad. 'Crazy kind of son-of-a-bitch, too--somepin like Muley, on'y worse in some ways. Might see 'im anywheres--at Shawnee, drunk or visitin' a widow twenty miles away, or workin' his place with a lantern. Crazy. Ever'body thought he wouldn't live long. A lone man like that don't live long. But Uncle John's older'n Pa. Jus' gets stringier an' meaner ever' year. Meaner'n Grampa.'
"'Look a the light comin'.' said the preacher. 'Silvery-like. Didn' John never have no fambly?'
"'Well, yes, he did, an' that'll show you the ind of fella he is--set in his ways. Pa tells about it. Uncle John, he had a young wife. Married four months. She ws in a family way, too, an' one night she gets a pain in her stomick, an' she says, "You better go for a doctor" Well, John, he's settin' there an' he says, "You just got a stomickache. You et too much. Take a dose a pain killer. You crowd up ya stomick an' ya get a stomickache." he says. Nex' noon she's outa her head, an' she dies at about four in the afternoon.'
"'What was it?' Casy asked. 'Poisoned from somepin she et?'
"'No, somepin jus' bust in her. Ap--appendick or somepin. Well, Uncle John, he's always been a easy-goin' fella, an' he takes it hard. Takes it for a sin. For a log time he won't have nothin' to say to nobody. Just walks aroun' like he don't see nothin', an' he prays some. Took 'im two years to come out of it, an' then he ain't the same. Sort of wild. Made a damn nuisance of hisself. Ever' time one of us kids got worms or a gutache Uncle John brings a doctor out. Pa finally tol' him he got to stop. Kids all the time gettin' a gutache. He figures it's his fault his woman died. Funny fella. He's all the time makin' it up to somebody--givin' kids stuff, droppin' a sack a meal on somebody's porch. Give away about ever'thing he got, an' still he ain't very happy. Gets walkin' around alone at night sometimes. He's a good farmer, though. Keeps his lan' nice.'
"'Poor fella.' said the preacher. 'Poor lonely fella. Did he go to church much when his woman died?'
"'No, he didn'. Never wanted to get close to folks. Wanted to be off alone. I never seen a kid that wasn't crazy about him. He'd come to our house in the night sometimes, an we knowed he come 'cause jus' as sure as he come there'd be a pack a gum in the bed right beside ever' one of us. We thought he was Jesus Christ Awmighty.'
(Chapter 8, pgs. 68-69)
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"Had he not been fifty years old, and so one of the natural rulers of the family, Uncle John would have preferred not to sit in the honor place be-side the driver. He would have liked Rose of Sharon to sit there. This was impossible because she was young and a woman. But Uncle John sat uneasily, his lonely haunted eyes were not at ease, and his thin strong body was not relaxed. Nearly all the time the barrier of loneliness cut Uncle John off from people and from appetites. He ate little, drank nothing, and was celibate. But underneath, his appetites swelled into pressures until they broke through. Then he would eat of some craved food until he was sick; or he would drink jake or whisky until he was a shaken paralytic with red wet eyes; or he would raven with lust for some whore in Sallisaw. It was told of him that once he went clear to Shawnee and hired three whores in one bet, and snorted and rutted on their unresponsive bodies for an hour. But when one of his appetites was sated, he was sad and ashamed and lonely again. He hid from people, and by gifts, tried to make up to all people for himself. Then he crept into houses and left gum under pillows for children then he cut wood and took no pay. Then he gave away any possession he might have: a saddle, a horse, a new pair of shoes. One could not talk to him then, for he ran away, or if confronted hid within himself and peeked out of frightened eyes. The death of his wife, followed by months of being alone, had marked him with guilt and shame and had left an unbreaking loneliness on him.
'But there were things he could not escape. Being one of the heads of the family, he had to govern; and now he had to sit on the honor seat beside the driver."
(Chapter 10, page 96--Audio: Ch. 10, Part Vii--1:25)
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In the sanitary unit Pa and Uncle John sat in adjoining compartments. "Might's well get in a good las' one," said Pa. "It's sure nice. Member how the little fellas was so scairt when they flushed 'em the first time?"
"I wasn't so easy myself," said Uncle John. He pulled his overalls neatly up around his knees. "I'm gettin' bad," he said. "I feel sin."
"You can't sin none," said Pa. "You ain't got no money. Jus' sit tight. Cos' you at leas' two bucks to sin, an' we ain't got two bucks amongst us."
"Yeah! But I'm a-thinkin' sin."
"Awright. You can think sin for nothin'."
"It's jus' as bad," said Uncle John.
"It's a whole hell of a lot cheaper," said Pa.
"Don't you go makin' light of sin."
"I ain't. You jus' go ahead. You always get sinful jus' when hell's a-poppin'."
"I know it, said Uncle John. "Always was that way. I never tol' half the stuff I done."
"Well, keep it to yaself."
"These here toilets gets me sinful."
"Go out in the bushes then. Come on, pull up ya pants an' le's get some sleep." Pa pulled his overall straps in place and snapped the buckle. He flushed the toilet and watched thoughtfully while the water whirled in the bowl.
(Chapter 26, p. 359)