Steinbeck 7 Cardinal Sins

Steinbeck criticizes Christianity and religion as whole through the justification of the seven cardinal sins. The Seven Cardinal sins are considered the worst behaviors and habits according to Christian teachings and include pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, These sins are often thought to be abuses of one's natural actions. All of these sins, with the exception of greed, are committed by characters in the book, however are caused by others, allowing them to be justifiable. By allowing these highly regarded sins to be rendered insignificant, Steinbeck is trying to criticize Christianity and its values. Pride, being one of the 7 deadly sins, is an often occurring sin in the novel. When the Joad family take refuge at the

For example, during the dance at the government camp, “Al hurried out and walked recklessly toward the platform, his eye peeled for girls. Near the dance floor, he saw a pretty blond girl sitting in front of a tent. “ (335). This quote shows how Al really wanted to find a girl to dance with, which is a behavior that has been seen not only with Al but with Uncle John and Casy as well. This feeling also occured to Tom when he was in jail without women. Although this may not be traditionally accepted in Christian beliefs, this type of feeling is natural for many others and is considered to be a human necessity which justifies this sin. Due to the fact that the novel takes place during the Dust Bowl when many families were starved for days on end, gluttony is sin that is largely seen through the Grapes of Wrath The definition of gluttony is excess in eating and habitual greed which is shown through the novel. When Winfield is complaining to Ma about how Ruthie ate all the crackers, he says, “Well some kids come aroun’ an’ course they tried to get some, but Ruthie, she jus’ nibbled, an’ wouldn’ give em none. So they got mad. An’ one kid grabbed her Cracker Jack box.” (413) In this scene of the book, Ma bought a box of Cracker Jacks for Ruthie and she ate those crackers in front of other kids that were hungry. It was considered a sin because she was eating in front of those who were hungry and not offering her food, however given the circumstances should not be expected of Ruthie. The time was extremely tough on all the people, especially the children and she should be allowed to savor the little food that she