Passion And Responsibility In The Grapes Of Wrath

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Recommended: The theme of the grapes of wrath

Theme 2: A deep relationship with the land is important and necessary, because people who have no connection to the land cannot truly understand themselves.

A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility in The Grapes Of Wrath, which was written by John Steinbeck. Jim Casy confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his responsibilities. He trumpets a kind of philosophy similar to the famous American philosopher and thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Casy is “ lousy with the spirit” but he is troubled by the sinful sensuality that seemed to result from being “all full up of Jesus.” Known as Reverend Casy, he’s a lecherous man who has given up his life as a preacher and he also happens to be the spiritual compass to the Joad Family. …show more content…

He was supposed to be a good preacher, but he slept with a lady after his meeting. After making a mistake, he disappeared from Sallisaw for a while and wandered around until he bumped into Tom Joad. In the novel, he became a mentor to Tom and they seem to understand the injustice around the world better than everyone else. The good thing is, Jim Casy made Tom believe that the collective soul connects people. Tom was inspired by Jim Casy’s philosophy and Casy finds good purpose in his life. Steinbeck states one of the quotes about Jim Casy in chapter 4, “Just Jim Casy now. Ain’t got the call no more. Got a lot of sinful idears-but they seem kinda sensible.” (Steinbeck 20). This quotes explains that Casy seems to fight against the black-and-white, good-or-bad nature of

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