Sharon's Response to Gabe's Reaction

             As Gabe said, the minute descriptions that the narrator notes as he travels along each state are extremely detailed and, when read carefully, truly hint to the fads, lifestyle and landscape of America at that time. In my opinion, what makes the novel interesting is the fact that these details are not written as simple background; instead, they are the accounts that distinctly shape the narrator and how he thinks because it is the first time he is heading into Western territory. Thus, we are able to experience the confusion of constant change just as the narrator is at the same time as he makes his way from state to state. Additionally, I also found the incident, where the narrator wakes up to forget who he is, telling as well. I don’t necessarily think that he’s stuck choosing between two lifestyles, but more that he has fully accepted heading towards the West and has come to the realization that it is truly happening; he is not just dully waiting for it to happen as he did in his youth in the East. For him, it is something new; he never imagined himself to be placed in the situations he is right now, such as lying in a gloomy Des Moines inn, and thus has to take a moment to readjust.