Religious Symbolism in John Steinbecks The Grapes of...

Religious Symbolism in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck portrays the movement of a family of migrant workers, the Joads, from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression. Steinbecks novel, though it is surprisingly lacking in surface-level symbolism, was conceived [on] simultaneous levels of existence, ranging from socio-economic determinism to transcendent spirituality (DeMott, xiii). One of the many levels on which this novel can be read is as a parallel to the stories of Christ and the Exodus (Louis Owens, John Steinbecks Re-Vision of America, quoted in DeMott, xiii). Steinbeck intertwines allegories based on these two stories throughout his novel. Through†¦show more content†¦(Steinbeck, Working Days, 23-24) Here, general refers to the intercalary chapters and particular refers to those chapters specifically telling the story of the Joads. In each of these two settings, Steinbeck introduces an allegory pulled from the Christian tradition. In the story of the Joads, we see the story of Christ, here represented in the figure of Jim Casy. The intercalary chapters, on the other hand, can be interpreted as patterned on the Biblical story of the Exodus. One of the effects of Steinbecks separation of the two stories, for which he obviously strove, is that the religious undercurrents within the two stories are also cleanly separated. This effect helps to distinguish them and makes us, as readers, more likely to notice them. In the novel, Jim Casy serves as a Christ-like figure. First, we can consider the obvious similarities between them. They share the same initials. In both cases, the figure has twelve primary followers. In Christs case, there are the twelve apostles. In Casys case, there are the twelve Joads: Granma, Granpa, Uncle John, Al, Ma, Pa, Tom, Noah, Rose of Sharon, Ruthie, Winfield, and the unborn baby. These two similiarities, though, could be simply coincidence: J. C. are fairly common initials, and twelve is not large enough of a number to really require explanation. More importantly, Casy is the person with the most ties to organized religion that we meet in the novel. He is a formerShow MoreRelatedGrapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck3897 Words   |  16 PagesHave you ever realized that John Steinbeck talked about Religion in his book Grapes of Wrath? Well, if your answer is NO, let me inform you that Steinbeck did talk about Religion in his book. There are many similarities in John Stei nbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and Christ’s story. In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck presents religion in different ways ranging from Jim Casy’s similarities to Christ, the use of Christian theology, and the symbolism of some characters as pastors. 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