Turtle, Tom, Jim

The turtle is crawling towards its goal. It is moving very slowly, but it's very determined. This is like the path that the farmers are all slowly moving down. They are moving slowly but steadily towards a new life in California. The turtle has to keep going or it will be run over, and the farmers headed west must continue too. If they stop they will be trampled by the other people trying to get to California. The turtle has everything with its shell, like the farmers, who carry everything they own. The seeds the turtle plants are like a fresh start, however the fresh start may be pointless since the dirt is still useless on that side of the road. The people go to California expecting a fresh start, but things may be just as bad there.

Tom is the son of a farmer and he is headed home for a job after getting out of jail. He killed someone out of self defense and may be a little bit wild. He expects his dad to still have the farm and a job available, but it is possible that he lost the farm.

Jim is an ex preacher. He lives out in the woods and doesn't really do that much. He admits to being a poor preacher because he only talked about god because thats what people wanted to hear. He also slept with the girls who came to his church. Jim gets out of preaching because he realizes he's only doing it for the people, he loves people.