growth through turmoil and hardship. Jim Casy- a personal favorite character- is an ex-preacher that meets up with a former worshiper, Tom Joad. Casy continues a relationship with Tom and the rest of the Joads as they embark on a journey to California in the hopes of prosperity and possibly excess. Casy represents how the many situations in life impact the ever-changing souls of human- beings and the search within to discover one's true identity and beliefs. Casy, however, was much more complex than
What makes Jim Casy interesting is the contradiction. Sprituality (affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical thing) Jim Casy is described very harshly for such a wise man. In his first introduction, he was described as “bony, tight of skin, and set on a neck as stringy and muscular as a celery stalk.”(19) Although Jim Casy seems wise, intelligent, and omniscient, his physical description is contrary to his characteristics and personality. It seems as john Steinbeck wanted
are important, perhaps one of Steinbeck’s most important characters is Jim Casy. This character influences the entire Joad family, but ends up leaving a huge impact on the main character, Tom Joad.. Steinbeck cleverly describes Jim Casy’s appearance, uses him as a symbolic figure, and gives his character the role of instilling a sense of hope in the Joad family that would have been nonexistent without He chooses to introduce Casy to the story as Tom is on his way home from being put on parole after
Dynamic Characters and Survival in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath In the American epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, there are pivotal and dynamic changes that occur in the various significant characters of Jim Casy, Ma Joad, and Tom Joad. Steinbeck specifically uses these characters to show their common realizations about all of humanity, in order to demonstrate his underlying meaning about the importance of people coming together, helping each other out, and surviving
experience growth through turmoil and hardship. Jim Casy, a personal favorite character, is an ex-preacher that meets with a former worshiper, Tom Joad. Casy continues a relationship with Tom and the rest of the Joads as they embark on a journey to California with the hopes of prosperity. Casy represents how the many situations in life impact the ever-changing souls of human beings and the search within to discover one's true identity and beliefs. Casy, however, was much more complex than the average
self imposed. (When we first see Casy he is explaining to Tom Joad how he left preaching, not merely because of the lusts that plagued him, but because religious faith as he knew it seemed to set up codes of behavior which denied human nature its proper and full expression) Religious suffering is perhaps epitomized in Jesus Christ, and Joseph Fontenrose believes the tragic character of Casey is believed to be the symbolic representation of Jesus Christ himself. (Jim Casy's initials are JC, and he retired
Oklahoma state penitentiary where he had served a sentence for killing a man in self-defense. He traveled homeward through a region made barren by drought and dust storms. On the way he met Jim Casy an expreacher; the pair went together to the home of Tom's people. They found the Joad place deserted. While Tom and Casy were wondering what had happened, Muley Graves, a diehard tenant farmer, came by and disclosed that all of the families in the neighborhood had gone to California or were going. Tom's folks
urges others to do the same. Jim Casy, while struggling with the orthodox view of Christianity, still displays a general concern for his fellow man. Repeatedly the family and others associated sacrifice comfort for the requirements of others. When people are in need, a sacrifice for their behalf makes society more pleasant to inhabit. Though the Joads do not have much, Ma feels that it is her duty to take care of others during the journey. In order to bring Jim Casy on the trip, she poses the idea
preacher, Jim Casy. Casy not only is a Christ figure but also embodies the belief of Transcendentalism. These are supported by many examples throughout the story. Some of these examples are easily noticed, others require more thought to be understood. The symbolism found in Jim Casy does a great deal to bring together the events that make up the story. That Casy is a Christ figure can be shown in several ways. One obvious (or perhaps not as obvious as it may seem) similarity between Casy and Christ
the Bible. This couldn’t be truer in the case John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck alludes to Biblical characters and events with the use of Rose of Sharon, Jim Casy, and also the Joad’s journey to California. There are other events in the book that parallel the Bible, although the portrayal of Rose of Sharon and Jim Casy are the most obvious. The novel is broken into 3 different parts, the time spent in Oklahoma, the journey on the road, and the time spent in California. Each section
The Grapes of Wrath In the novel, two of the main characters, Tom Joad and Jim Casy, are very similar in how they react to things. Their characters personalities are alike in the fact of how they view the world, and the journey they are going on. Because of the time they spend together they form a relationship and they have a certain effect on each other. Tom Joad is the protagonist in the novel The Grapes of Wrath. He is good-natured and thoughtful. Tom is a character who devotes himself to the
Oklahoma state prison after serving four years of a manslaughter conviction, Tom Joad makes his way back to his family’s farm amid the desolation of the Dust Bowl. He meets Jim Casy, a former preacher who gave up his calling out of a belief that all life is holy, and that simply being among the people as an equal is a sacred endeavor. Jim accompanies Tom to his home; when they find it deserted, fronted by withered crops, they travel to Tom’s Uncle John’s house, where they find the Joads preparing for a
Wrath and Steinbeck's Political Beliefs Steinbeck's relationship to the transcendentalists [Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman] was pointed out soon after The Grapes of Wrath appeared by Frederick I. Carpenter, and as the thirties fade into history, Jim Casy with his idea of the holiness of all men and the unreality of sin seems less a product of his own narrowly doctrinaire age than a latter-day wanderer from the green village of Concord to the dry plains of the West. Although Steinbeck argues
during the Great Depression in The Grapes of Wrath. As the strong-headed, independent and protagonistic Tom Joad heads toward the country to finally reunite with his family after serving four years in prison, he meets the preaching character, Jim Casy (ironically having the same initials as Jesus Christ). They both unfortunately observe how the horrific effects of a dust bowl during the depression impact the average hard working family. The Joad family prepares for the difficult journey across
The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is set in the horrible stage of our American history, the Depression. Economic, social, and historical surroundings separate the common man of America into basically the rich and poor. A basic theme is that man turns against one another in a selfish pride to only protect themselves. For example, the landowners create a system in which migrants are treated like animals and pushed along from one roadside camp to the next. They are denied decent wages and forced
exploration into their use in Steinbeck's work, reveal their real significance. Much of the existing critical discussion of The Grapes of Wrath has focused on the pervasive Judeo-Christian symbolism of the work, particularly the identification of Jim Casy with Jesus Christ. Undeniably, Steinbeck intended this association; but to attempt to force the book's rich imagery onto the Procrustean bed of only one religion is to do it a disservice. Perhaps the central device that powers The Grapes of
Fear, Hostility, and Exploitation in Chapter 21 of The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck's intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath have nothing to do with the Joads or other characters of the novel, but help describe the story in different terms. They are similar to poems, offering different viewpoints of the migration, and clarifying parts of the story that the reader might not understand. An excellent example of this use can be seen in chapter 21, where an examination of the attitudes of migrant
gravitate back towards thinking politically. However, they finally return to the source of their original faith--religion-- at their most desperate time. One of the first characters Steinbeck introduces (after Tom Joad) is the former preacher Jim Casy, who questions his own faith in his initial conversation with Tom: "Ain't got the call [to preach] no more. Got a lot of sinful idears-but they seem kinda sensibleThe sperit's strong in me, on'y it ain't the sameHere I got the sperit sometimes an'
Throughout the novel he develops from a man only interested in his own independent personal desires and needs to one who is devoted to his family and sacrifices his own personal comfort for the benefit of the family. At the novel's end Tom is continuing Jim Casy's generous work of uniting the poor hand laborers against the rich oppressive landowners who are starving the poor with low wages. Tom's concept of family grows with his work uniting the poor to encompass all of humanity. Maslow's Humanistic
Oklahoma. Muley Graves, for instance, tells Tom Joad and Jim Casy that the rest of the Joads, whose house has been destroyed by a tractor, are "piled in John's house like gophers in a winter burrow (Steinbeck 47)." This presents the image of a family of animals that have clustered together, hoping to fend off a predator with their greater numbers. They see the societal problems around them in terms of a predator as well; on one occasion, Casy asks a man at a service station, "You ever seen one a them