Fifty cents isn’t enough to get for a good plow. That seeder cost thirty-eight dollars. Two dollars isn’t enough. Can’t haul it all back – Well, take it, and a bitterness with it.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 9. The stripping away of dignity for tenant farming families forced to sell their belongings for a few measly dollars to greedy dealers is evident in this passage. The personal items represent their lives.