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"Why does Every Thing have Exceptional Value. Except the Human being? -anonymous letter to Hebert Hoover, 1930

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What this quote is trying to say is that migrants who were farmers were working much harder than before since there was little to no rainfall to help with crops. Migrants would also be moved from farm to farm sometimes referencing the quote saying that human beings had no value for some people. It shows how little migrants mattered to the people since they were essentially treated like slaves at times.

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"...they were called Hooverville…. And when the rains came the house melted and washed away. He settled in Hooverville and he scoured the countryside for work, and the little money he had went for gasoline to look for work. -from The Grapes of Wrath 

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The quote says how for many people which a grand majority were migrants had to live in these handmade towns called Hoovervilles. These towns were not in the best condition since they were made with scraps and could be easily broken. What this shows is how little money there was due to that there were so many of these types of homes in various states.

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What the poem is describing is children having a sense of hope that thing will get better after the Great Depression. It talks about how a kid's life is very hard during the Great Depression due to them having to work and farms and not having good clothing at all. It describes how the child wants to go on the train and discover if there are the same struggles that they're in his town out in the rest in the world.

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I am a boy of 12 years… My father hasn’t worked for 5 months... They won’t give us anything. I don’t know why… My father he staying home. All the time he’s crying because he can’t find work. I told him why are you crying daddy, and daddy said why shouldn’t I cry when there is nothing in the house. I feel sorry for him. That night I couldn’t sleep. -letter to President and Mrs. Roosevelt, 1936 in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letter from the Forgotten Man

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What is quote was trying to say is how life was incredibly difficult for families and children. This one explains how a father is trying to do to him unable to find anywhere to support his family, and his son ask why he cries and he responds with saying that there were little too no things inside of the house most likely do to him having something. His son wrote this letter in order to see if he was able to get some help because him and many other families faced similar struggles where they gave up almost everything that they owned.

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The Great Depression (1929-1939) was the worst economic downturn in modern history. The preceding decade, known as the " Roaring Twenties," was a time of relative affluence for many middle- and working-class families. As the economy boomed, new innovations allowed for more leisure time and the creation of a consumer society. But the economic depression that followed those boon years profoundly affected the daily life of American families, in ways large and small.

Even the affluent faced severe belt-tightening.

Four years after the 1929 stock market crash, during the bleakest point of the Great Depression, about a quarter of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Those that were lucky enough to have steady employment often saw their wages cut or their hours reduced to part-time.

Even upper-middle-class professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, saw their incomes drop by as much as 40 percent. Families who had previously enjoyed economic security suddenly faced financial instability or, in some cases, ruin.

The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without." Many tried to keep up appearances and carry on with life as close to normal as possible while they adapted to new economic circumstances.

Households embraced a new level of frugality in daily life. They kept kitchen gardens, patched worn-out clothes and passed on trips to the movies as they privately struggled to retain ownership of a home or automobile.

Potlucks and 'thrift gardens' were the norm.

Women's magazines and radio shows taught Depression-era homemakers how to stretch their food budget with casseroles and one-pot meals. Favorites included chili, macaroni and cheese, soups, and chipped beef on toast.

Potlucks, often organized by churches, became a popular way to share food and a cheap form of social entertainment.

Many families strived for self-sufficiency by keeping small kitchen gardens with vegetables and herbs. Some towns and cities allowed for the conversion of vacant lots into community "thrift gardens" where residents could grow food.

Between 1931 and 1932, Detroit's thrift garden program provided food for about 20,000 people. Experienced gardeners could be seen helping former office workers-still dressed in white button-down shirts and slacks-to cultivate their plots.

Board games and miniature golf courses thrived.

The average American family didn't have much extra income to spend on leisure activities during the 1930s. Before the Depression, going to the movie theater was a major pastime. Fewer Americans could afford this luxury after the stock market crashed-so more than one-third of the cinemas in America closed between 1929 and 1934.

Often, people chose to spend time at home. Neighbors got together to play cards, and board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly-both introduced during the 1930s-became popular.

The radio also provided a free form of entertainment. By the early 1930s, many middle-class families owned a home radio. Comedy programs such as Amos 'n' Andy, soap operas, sporting events and swing music distracted listeners from everyday struggles.

Mini-golf became a Depression-era craze. More than 30,000 miniature golf links sprang up across the country during the 1930s. Prices ranged from 25 to 50 cents per round.

Women entered the workforce in increasing numbers.

Some families maintained a middle-class income by adding an extra wage earner. Despite widespread unemployment during the Depression years, the number of married women in the workforce actually increased.

Some people criticized married women for taking jobs when so many men were out of work, though women often took clerical or service industry positions that weren't seen as socially acceptable for men at the time.

Women found work as secretaries, teachers, telephone operators and nurses. But in many cases, employers paid women workers less than their male counterparts.

Families on government support were less stigmatized.

The New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt meant the expansion of government into people's everyday lives after 1933. Many Americans received some level of financial aid or employment as a result of New Deal programs.

Prior to the Great Depression, most Americans had negative views of government welfare programs and refused to go on welfare. In some towns, local newspapers published the names of welfare recipients.

While attitudes toward government assistance began to change during the Great Depression, going on welfare was still viewed as a painful and humiliating experience for many families.

Economic hardship caused family breakdowns.

The stress of financial strain took a psychological toll-especially on men who were suddenly unable to provide for their families. The national suicide rate rose to an all-time high in 1933.

Marriages became strained, though many couples could not afford to separate. Divorce rates dropped during the 1930s though abandonments increased. Some men deserted their families out of embarrassment or frustration: This was sometimes called a "poor man's divorce."

It's estimated that more than two million men and women became traveling hobos. Many of these were teens who felt they had become a burden on their families and left home in search of work.

Riding the rails-illegally hopping on freight trains-became a common, yet dangerous way to travel. Those traveling the country in search of work often camped in " Hoovervilles," shantytowns named after Herbert Hoover, president during the early years of the Great Depression.

Crime was mythologized, but this was largely hype.

Famous outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde went on a two-year bank robbing spree across America, while in New Jersey, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh 's toddler son was abducted, held for ransom and then murdered.

High-profile events like these, broadcast through radio announcements and in newspaper headlines, contributed to a sense of lawlessness and crime in the Great Depression, stoking fears that hard times had created a crime wave. But this was more hype than reality.

Violent crimes initially spiked during the first few years of the Great Depression, but nationwide, rates of homicides and violent crimes began to fall sharply between 1934 and 1937-a downward trend that continued until the 1960s.

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Life for the Average Family During the Great Depression | HISTORY

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The Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in modern history, profoundly affected the daily life of American families in ways large and small.

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Many Angelos in the SouthWest considered Mexican as a foreign, short-term laborer, who had no rights to welfare benefits. They thought the answer was ridiculously simple: send Mexicans back to Mexico. - from The Chicanos: A History of Mexican Americans 

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What this quote is trying to say is that Mexicans were on danger of being deported in the 1920s. Many people only saw them as laborers who can simply be sent back to Mexico during the Depression even if they had started a life, and had a  family there, and the kids had birthright citizenship. They simply did not care for them since many people saw them as cheap labor and the Mexican community was able to see what other people felt. This showed very weary lines of equality during this time.

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The Long History of Anti-Latino Discrimination in America | HISTORY

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School segregation, lynchings and mass deportations of Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are just some of the injustices Latinos have faced.

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If they come to take my farm, I’m going to fight. I’d rather be killed outright than die by starvation. But before I die, I’m going to set fire to my crops, I’m going to burn my house, I’m going to p’izen my cattle. - debt-ridden farmer, in This Fabulous Century 

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What this quote is trying to say is how farmers had to consider burning the crops and killing their cows in order to be somewhat stable during the Depression. Due to very little rainfall and wheat prices dropping significantly Farmers had no choice but to grow more crops and unfortunately killed their Livestock in order to have food. At some point Farmers would run out of money and they were at risk of losing their farms so many simply burn everything so that the government wouldn't be in control of it and it was a sense of pride.

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The [migrant] family met at the mst important place, near the truck. The house was dead, and the fields were dead; but this truck was the active thing, the living principle. 
-from The Grapes of Wrath

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What this is trying to say is how people including migrants had to essentially abandon everything including their farms and their homes. After selling many things in order to make some money and growing crops starting to fail, many considered moving to different places. Migrants however had the added fear of being deported after having a new life in America. Even if they had sold everything in their house they would have to start all over again if they all got deported .

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Dorothea Lange's First Photo of Early Dust Bowl Migrants | Grab a Hunk of Lightning

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“Once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again.”-Zora Neale Hurston
 

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What this is trying to represent is how black Americans have to live in constant fear due to the amounts of racism that arose. Many did not feel safe at all due to their being Jim Crow Law since it’s just another form of segregation. Many of them were racially profiled and where often the ones who would be blamed for things or they would simply be hated for no reason.

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"What I would like to know is this: how can a bank take our money and get by while an old couple have to let their house go?" -letter to FDR from a 13-year-old boy, 1934 in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letter from the Forgotten Man

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What the kid is trying to explain is how unfair things were in the world now. He expressed how Banks were able to take money away from families which would affect kids as well, but he also brings up the point that couples would have to get their houses completely removed since they had to sell it in order to have some money due to the inability to do actions like farming because of age.

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"It was an enormously hard life… But there was also a sense of great satisfaction in being a child with valuable work to do and, being able to do it well, to function in this world." -Margot Hentoff in Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letter from the Forgotten Man

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The kid is trying to express how life was much more difficult than I needed to be, but we're happy that they were able to get some kind of work. While everything was going downhill in America some kids had a sense of pride due to that they had work and they felt like they were contributing to the world. It especially helped that they would do their jobs well and they would try to work off of that in order to help provide their family with some money.