April 1 Summary and Analysis

Next, the Western Flyer sails for Angeles Bay, their last collecting stop on the west side of the Gulf. They have been having trouble with their camera equipment, especially the motion picture equipment, so they decide to get it all out and really figure out what to do with it. This produces a great argument among the entire party on board, and in the commotion, pictures are still not taken. Their photography efforts are so poor over the life of the expedition that the laboratory back home decides to use their footage as a primary example of what not to do with a camera, as they have done just about everything wrong as is possible to do. Steinbeck makes this very funny, but there is a definite sense of helplessness with this new technology.

As they pull into Angeles Bay, it...