Chapter 13 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 13 focuses on the evolution of the drifter class of Americans and provides a brief interlude in the developing story of the Bass Lake run. Thompson suggests that the original drifters were the indentured servants, who sold themselves into temporary slavery to travel to then-colonial America. Since then, the drifters had been vagabonds, who always seemed to progress west. Around the period of World War II, many drifters settled in California. These were the parents of most of the Hell's Angels who, as a body, are generally shiftless and prone to wandering. They do not have a 'home-town' in the conventional sense and epitomize the culture of mobility and the shirking of work. One of the author's acquaintances, Terry the Tramp, epitomizes the Hell's Angels' drifter attitude. A brief biography of Terry concludes the chapter.