The tenant people pick through their belongings, deciding what few precious items can be taken on the journey west. That which does not fit must be left behind or sold for a few miserable dollars. Buyers haggle over the tangible evidence of the tenants' existence: farming tools, dishes, furniture. They don't realize that they are acquiring not only "things" but also the tenants' past: their toils, their passions, and their bitterness. The most personal effects cannot be sold and must be burned. With their possessions stripped from them, the farmers are suddenly anxious to go. It's time to leave behind the old life, but not necessarily to begin a new one.
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