Paradise at Last

“I tol’ Granma we couldn’ he’p her. The fambly had ta get acrost. I tol’ her when she was a-dyin’. We couldn’ stop in the desert”. The important event that occurred in chapter 18 was when Granma died but Ma didn’t tell the family. When Tom asks Ma if granma is okay, Ma replied with "She's awright--awright. Drive on". She didn't want anyone to find out so she quickly changed the subject. She wanted the family to get across California before telling them. She was scared that the police wouldn’t let the family across if they saw a dead person in car. Ma also wanted Granma to be “buried in a nice green place”. 

Another important idea or theme in this chapter is having no choice. In the beginning of this chapter the family meet two men who were going back to their hometown because they could not find work in California. The men tell them that there is no work and everybody is starving. There is no way to get a steady job and earn money. The men also tell them "You go in there an' plant you a little corn, an' you'll go to jail". This shows that there is a monopoly between one company and the government. The government does not step in and fix the problem instead they just let the Cattle company do whatever they want. 

Knowledge is learning facts that you acquire over time while wisdom is knowing the right and wrong between the facts. You can get knowledge from books and the internet but wisdom you have to know for yourself. Parents are the ones who teach you what wisdom is and then it's your job to interpret it.