Grapes Of Wrath

4 Pages 1108 Words

In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck brings to the reader a

variety of diverse and greatly significant characters. However, the majority of each

characters’ individuality happens to lie within what they symbolize in the nature of

the Joad family and their acquaintances, which itself stands for the entire migrant

population of the Great Depression era. One such character is that of Jim Casey,

a former preacher and long-time friend of the Joads. In Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of

Wrath, Jim Casey represents a latter-day Christ figure who longs to bring religious

stability to the burgeon of migrant families facing West.

Steinbeck manages to give Jim Casey the exact initials as the historical

savior (J.C.), which allows the reader to latch onto this connection from the

beginning. Yet, Casey’s relation to Christ “goes beyond such mere coincidences,

and plays out rather in their similar plans of action” (Johnson 19). One of the

many similarities between Casey and Christ is that Casey had also drifted out to

the forests in order to "soul-search" and discover the answers to sometimes hidden

questions. In this particular situation, Casey himself states the comparison of

Christ’s and his actions while giving a grace at the Joad’s breakfast table, "...I

been in the hills, thinkin’, almost you might say like Jesus went into the

wilderness to think His way out of a mess of troubles." (Steinbeck 104) Casey

further goes on during his rather rambling grace, "I got tired like Him...I got

mixed up like Him...I went into the wilderness like Him, without no campin’

stuff." (Steinbeck 105) With Casey’s ...