The Grapes of Wrath Character Research Essay How can one single person be such a positive influence on every single person around them? Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath manages to positively influence the Joad family, the main family in the novel, by leading them from Oklahoma to California. Without Casy, the Joad family would not be able to complete their pilgrimage half way across the United States. Casy is a holy and positive figure in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath because he is a figure of Jesus and helps the Joad Family across the country. Casy had multiple similarities to Jesus Christ. Casy was an astounding preacher in his lifetime. Casy was so great at it that he would get the people “ talkin’ in tongues” and “baptise them” (Steinbeck 21). Casy was a person who lived a life in a way that Jesus did. He would strive to live the best way that he could. “His last words recall those of Christ on the cross” is another way Casy is similar to Jesus (Stanley par. 31). He said words like Jesus and acted like Jesus. Casy would try to be a positive influence on every situation. Casy wanted to live “in a way Jesus did” by preaching and teaching about Christianity (McCoppin par. 11). He often referred to the Bible throughout his time in the novel. Casy was a living portrayal of Jesus through his personality, leadership, and influence. Casy was a very positive influence on the life of Tom Joad. Tom Joad is the main character in The Grapes of Wrath. Joad spent four
1. The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck and is historical fiction. 2. Tom Joad who has recently been released from prison for manslaughter goes back to his family farm in Oklahoma. He becomes acquainted with a preacher named Jim Casey.
Ma Joad’s Protagonist Abilities Who is considered to be a protagonist in the novel by John Steinbeck’s, “The Grapes of Wrath”? Ma Joad serves as an intellectual hero, based upon her influence of wisdom towards her family. As a caring individual for her sons/daughters, new recruits, and everyone else who serves as an asset to the Joad family, Ma is frequently keeping the family together on their exclusive journey to the “promised land”, California.
In the article Christian Symbolism in The Grapes of Wrath by Martin Shockley, he argues that Jim Casy in many ways is a representation of Jesus Christ. Firstly, Shockley noticed that Jim Casy and Jesus Christ had the same initials; J.C.. The author even described Jim Casy as a “direct copy of Jesus Christ”. Among the things the author realized they had in common, he also noticed that the message that Jim Casy and Jesus Christ both preached a message of a “new religion”. Both figures had taken time to withdrawal for meditation and during these periods reinterpreted their beliefs.
John Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, explains the story of the Joad family while simultaneously dealing with eternal human issues. We open on Tom Joad, fresh out of prison, hitchhiking his way back home after killing a man with a shovel. From there we travel through ideas of religion, capitalism, xenophobia, and determination. As Tom begins walking home from where he was dropped off, he runs across his childhood preacher, alone and barefoot, and discusses ideas of human desire and sin within the church after learning that Casy is no longer a member. Continuing on his way home, Tom finds his family’s barn abandoned and his neighbors gone.
Ma Joad: Leader of the Pack In my opinion, Ma Joad is the hero of “The Grapes of Wrath”. She is the main force of the force of the family and the one who kept them moving. And although she is the most loving member of the Joad’s, she hides her pain and fear. Without Ma, the family would not have been together at the end of the novel. She can be grouped into many different types of heroes such as, Catalyst, Group Oriented, and Matriarchal Family Strength.
In the book The Grapes of Wrath, the author John Steinbeck, introduces the character, Jim Casy, as a preacher who stopped preaching because he was preaching about how to be closer to God but he was doing very ungodly things behind his churches back. Although, throughout the book he keeps reminding the family by his actions that he still is a Christ like figure. Jim tries to convince the Joad family, not by telling them, but by his actions that he is still a Christ like figure. For example, Jim sacrifices himself when he turns himself in to save Tom after an altercation with a deputy.
Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain attacks the institution of slavery, by allowing readers to feel empathy for Jim through showing his fears and concerns about running away from Ms.Watson, and the friendship between Jim and Huck. Mark Twain uses Jim to criticize the ideas of slavery society held onto from before the Civil War by causing readers to feel sympathy for him. This can first be seen on page 45 when Jim admits to Huck why he ran away, “She always said she wouldn sell me.. I hear ole misus tel de widder she gwyne to sell me down to Orleans,” (Twain 45). Jim’s fear of being sold shows a side of the slave trade no slave owner ever recognized.
In The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck follows the Joad family as they suffer the hardships caused by the Dust Bowl in the 1930’s. The most important lesson people can learn from the novel is the value of a human life. Although the 1930’s was a low point in American society, the ill-treatment of human beings is still relevant today. Just like Jim Casy’s philosophy, it is important to fight for the rights of the people and their dignity. There are several examples of oppression in The Grapes of wrath.
Through out the novel, the character of Jim Casy is vital to providing hope and a new outlook of like to the Joad family. In one sense Jim Casy could be tied to Moses who guided thousands of people out of slavery from Egypt. This could be compared to Jim Casy guiding the Joads by providing them a way out of the famine and hard times and just into California. Once the Joads get a clear picture of what they need to do he disappears, but comes back when they are once again in a dire situation. “Somebody got to take the blame.
Overcoming Oppression The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck and is a story of overcoming oppression. When the dust bowl runs the Joad family off of their land in Oklahoma they are forced to leave with what they can fit into their truck and the little bit of money they have. The book puts you in the shoes of someone taking an unwanted journey to somewhere they are not welcome. The Grapes of Wrath shows how everyone is part of a bigger community, how religious people are seen as gullible, and how socialism unifies communities. The theme of community is consistently shown all throughout their journey.
It’s difficult to get kicked out of a land you have lived in for so long and end up having nowhere to go. In this novel, Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, shows Tom Joad’s journey with his family to a new place where they've never been. They travel from Oklahoma to California and encounter a lot of hardship. Tom Joad is the main character in the story and is portrayed in the beginning as someone who can’t control their anger. He shows development in managing his anger issues as a result of his family’s unwavering emotional support.
Since the book came out in 1939, everyone has had a opinion on the ending to John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. It has a very controversial ending, that Steinbeck thought would name the last nail into the coffin, so to speak, on how bad the dust bowl and moving west really was. The ending starts when the Joad family is threatened with a flood, so they make their way to a old barn where they find a boy and his old father. The boy says his father is starving, and that he can’t keep anything solid down. He needs something like soup or milk.
Jim Casy: The Second Coming of Christ Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, one of the main protagonists, Jim Casy, heavily resembles biblical figure Jesus Christ. Author John Steinbeck does this by taking advantage of biblical stories and by using and by relating Casy’s actions as well as his initials to Christ. To get the ball rolling, Steinbeck introduces Jim Casy as being an ex-preacher.
In this chapter, you are introduced to Floyd Knowles, a man the Joads meet while setting up tents for shelter, a Hooverville, as they are on the move along with many other families. Knowles warns them of how the police are treating certain groups with harassment. Casy decides to leave the Joads’ group because he insists that he is a burden to them, but decides to stay an extra day. Later, two men, one is a deputy, show up in a car to the tent settlement to offer fruit-picking jobs, but Knowles refuses which provokes the men. They try to falsely accuse him of breaking into a car lot so they can arrest him.
Through John Steinbeck's plot in The Grapes of Wrath, the struggle of the typical American dreamer is depicted in the Joad’s attempt to move to California for a better life. While attempting this dream, the Joad family had to make multiple sacrifices. The first sacrifice occurs early on in their journey, the abandoning of their property (Steinbeck 59). This was extremely difficult for the Joads because they had lived on this land for a long time and they had many memories that had been created there.