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Steinbeck Use Jim Casy As A Christ Figure In The Grapes Of Wrath

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Jim Casy: The Second Coming of Christ Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, one of the main protagonists, Jim Casy, heavily resembles biblical figure Jesus Christ. Author John Steinbeck does this by taking advantage of biblical stories and by using and by relating Casy’s actions as well as his initials to Christ. To get the ball rolling, Steinbeck introduces Jim Casy as being an ex-preacher. So straight off the bat, the reader knows that Jim Casy has a religious background. Steinbeck does this to make sure that the upcoming references will be easily recognizable as those that resemble Christ, and not just some off-the-wall story. Steinbeck uses biblical stories to help exemplify Casy’s Christ-like past. “Prior to our …show more content…

“Casy does not merely want to preach God's word, but to experience life's hardship first hand alongside others--in a way Jesus did as well. To him, being just a preacher disconnects him from his parishioners; it locates him as superior, which only serves to disqualify his calling” (McCoppin). McCoppin states this as reason for Casy to drop his seemingly measly life to go on an adventure of helping the Joad family, and possibly others, survive the cruel journey to the promised land of California. Peter, author of part of the Bible, described Christ and his whereabouts throughout the New Testament. This can be observed by the line "Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly;” (Peter 5:2). This is mentioning how Christ lived his life, and is how Casy lived his after planning on spending the a significant amount of time with the Joads and eventually the Wilsons. Christ helped lead many people to free themselves of sin, just as Casy expels his knowledge of what he believes is to be good and bad to the people he meets on his

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In this chapter, you are introduced to Floyd Knowles, a man the Joads meet while setting up tents for shelter, a Hooverville, as they are on the move along with many other families. Knowles warns them of how the police are treating certain groups with harassment. Casy decides to leave the Joads’ group because he insists that he is a burden to them, but decides to stay an extra day. Later, two men, one is a deputy, show up in a car to the tent settlement to offer fruit-picking jobs, but Knowles refuses which provokes the men. They try to falsely accuse him of breaking into a car lot so they can arrest him.

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The idea of a character being a Christ-like figure can sometimes be unimaginable. It’s the concept itself that tends to frighten people because they may deem it a taboo topic to speak of. They believe that there can’t be any correlation between christ and the character. However, it’s the qualities of that fictional person causes them to qualify as a christ-like figure. At first, the connection won’t present itself until their personalities and qualities have been picked apart piece by piece and carefully observed.

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In the story Grapes of Wrath the author , John Steinbeck, includes the tale of a desert turtle crossing the street as a form of foreshadowing to the journey of the Joad family to California. The turtle’s tale opens with it crawling though the dead grass on its way to the other side of the street. This is comparable to the Joads while they were living in Oklahoma during the dust bowl because of the harsh conditions the Turtle is working though is much like the conditions the Joads are living in. Then the turtle encounters the sloped edge of the road and struggles to scale the hill much like the coming journey for the Joads. As they get further and further along their trip they get the harder it will probably get as their starting supplies and

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In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, the author uses the character Jim Casy to illuminate the unification of the migrant workers. He gained power through relinquishing his title as a preacher and speaking from his heart, rather than from the Bible. Through his non-religious persona, Jim Casy is able to be an influential force in his community by organizing a union. Jim Casy represents Christ and brings spiritual stability to the migrant families throughout the novel. The church helped to develop this part of his character by forcing him to form his own ideas about God, holiness, sin, and the Holy Spirit.

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Just like many other authors, Cormac McCarthy uses a lot of intertextuality, or allusions in his work. These allusions are connected with many literary classics like Moby Dick and Paradise Lost etc. Many of these allusions are also connected with the Christian tradition in a direct or an indirect way. Some of the most obvious examples of these allusions can be found in both The Road, which attracted a lot of criticism, among other reasons, because of the amount of biblical allusions; and Blood Meridian which is by now a highly esteemed literary classic, but nevertheless very controversial due to its violent content. But what is the reason why McCarthy decided to implement so many allusions into his work?

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What Steinbeck Gets Right About Character Progression The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is one of the most revered books in the history of American literature. This novel has gotten praise for its realistic setting and characters. In a novel character progression is one of the most important elements. This is an aspect that can make or break your novel.

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Through out the novel, the character of Jim Casy is vital to providing hope and a new outlook of like to the Joad family. In one sense Jim Casy could be tied to Moses who guided thousands of people out of slavery from Egypt. This could be compared to Jim Casy guiding the Joads by providing them a way out of the famine and hard times and just into California. Once the Joads get a clear picture of what they need to do he disappears, but comes back when they are once again in a dire situation. “Somebody got to take the blame.

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How to Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster is a guide to the aspiring advanced literature reader on how to analyze and understand works of literature through the eyes of an individual trained in the specialty. It aims to provide different techniques of delving in to literature in attempt to find deeper meaning within the book. After reading this book, the reader should be able to read a novel and find topics discussed in the book, and then using their knowledge find hidden meanings that add to the underlying theme of the book. In the context of the Lord of the Flies, there are many instances where the ideas discussed in Foster’s book can be found in the novel. The weather, baptism and a Christ Figure are all themes described

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Writing about controversial subjects can often be difficult; however Hughes executed his story, Salvation, in an intriguing manner that is suitable to all audiences and religions. In this story, the writer retells an experience from his childhood describing his journey to Jesus Christ. Discussing the complications, the main character, Hughes, faced while trying to come to Jesus is what makes the story interesting to read. On many occasions, you will read a story or watch a movie that shows the main character coming to Jesus and having an immediate and obvious realization of their Savior. For this reason, I found this story to be unique and relatable in the way that it shows a journey that countless Christians face, but you are not often granted the opportunity to read about this type of experience.

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In addition, both the twelve disciples and the Joad family never gave up on what they believed in. The Joad family strongly believed they would make it in California and would be safe from anything happening again like this: “The families moved westward, and the technique of building the worlds improved so that the people could be safe in their worlds, and the form was so fixed that a family acting in the rules knew it was safe in the rules.” (Steinbeck 195). Like matter, Jesus’s disciples never lost their belief in him being the sun of God. The use of Christian symbolism in the novel helped garner sympathy for the migrant workers because sympathy exists in these events in the bible.

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The farmers acknowledge that God cursed them with tragedies. This could be tied to Casy’s turmoil with his

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Critically acclaimed, with over thirty novels and novellas to his name, John Steinbeck wrote in a socialist style about common pedestrians trying to make a living during the Great Depression. All of his novels contain elements of Steinbeck’s personal life and struggles, including his undeniable lack of Christian faith. While he knew about Christian ideology, was antiquated with the human condition, and even dedicated several of the themes of his books to it, he showed increasing dedication to a more naturalistic viewpoint. Many scenes and metaphors contained in his novel The Pearl pertain to nature and its malevolent qualities. Even though he does not believe in Christianity, he does include religious characters, mostly for satirical effect, as is the fact in The Pearl.

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