Chapter a-roadside-stand: A Roadside Stand | Short Questions

The passing city cars rarely stopped at the roadside stand. When they did, it was never to buy the farmers' goods. One car stopped only to ruthlessly reverse and turn around, ruining the grass in the yard. Another car halted merely to ask for directions to its destination. Yet another stopped unreasonably to ask if they could buy a gallon of gas, completely ignoring the fact that the poor stand clearly sold vegetables and berries, not automobile fuel.

The poet personifies the roadside stand, stating that it "pathetically pled" because its very existence was a silent, desperate cry for help. The stand did not have a loud voice, but its structure and the waiting farmers clearly begged the wealthy city dwellers to stop and spend a little money. It was a pathetic sight because despite their earnest efforts to earn a dignified living, their silent appeals were completely ignored by the selfish, fast-moving traffic.

The affluent city dwellers were highly insensitive and solely concerned with aesthetics. Their main complaint was that the clumsy, poorly constructed roadside stand ruined the scenic beauty of the mountainous landscape. They were particularly annoyed by the "artless paint" and the awkwardly written signs where the letters 'N' and 'S' were painted backward. They focused entirely on the visual flaw the stand created in the scenery, completely ignoring the desperate poverty and the trusting sorrow of the rural people running it.

The "moving-pictures' promise" refers to the glamorous, prosperous, and comfortable lifestyle frequently showcased in movies and the media. The rural poor are exposed to these idealized cinematic depictions of wealth and happiness. They hope that by earning some city money, they too can achieve a fraction of that promised lifestyle. Furthermore, they feel that the political party currently in power is actively keeping this comfortable life away from them by failing to support the rural economy properly.

The so-called benefactors relocate the poor villagers to semi-urban areas under the pretense of providing them with a worry-free life. By forcing these calculated benefits upon them, they make the villagers entirely dependent and idle. They teach the rural folks to sleep all day, disrupting their natural routine and hard-working lifestyle. Consequently, this unnatural daytime idleness destroys their ability to sleep peacefully at night the "ancient way," ultimately robbing them of their traditional peace of mind and true independence.