Chapter Chunks 1-10, Assignment F

Faith

In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck revolves Reverend Casy into the theme of faith. Casy reveals that he no longer preaches, since he found a new way of life. While speaking to Tom Joad, he reasonably asserts, "I figgered, 'Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,' I figgered, 'maybe it's all men an' women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit--the human sperit--the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of'" (24). Joad maintains that people do not need to rely on God or Jesus, since they may just be tales of fiction. He is further saying that Jesus nor God do not actually exist, that the "Holy [Spirit]" that humans often refer to is actually just the "human [spirit]", rather than being something else that is holy. Through Reverend Casy, Steinbeck emphasizes that although he has lived most of his life as a preacher, he still came to another point in life where he realized that he no longer believes what he used to preach. With this, he is able to prove that those who believed in a certain faith initially, is not tied down to that faith forever.

In Chapter 8, Reverend Casy gets the opportunity to say grace near the Joads. Although he believes in something that contradicts the beliefs of the Joads, he agrees to say grace before they ate supper. As he preaches, he conveys:

I got to thinkin' how we was holy when we was one thing, an' mankin' was holy when it was one thing. An' it on'y got unholy when one mis'able little fella got the bit in his teeth an' run off his way, kickin' an' draggin' an' fightin.' [...] An' then I got to thinkin' I don't even know what I mean by holy. (81)

Casy's role in the novel develops into his character being an allusion to Jesus Christ. As he sat down with the Joads, he acts as Jesus Christ on his last supper. The Joads act as the 12 disciples, listening to Casy say grace. His role in the novel as Jesus Christ is portrayed in his change of faith, similar to how Jesus was a Jew, and his beliefs eventually evolving into a different religion or a system of ideas on his own. In this chapter, he reveals his lost of faith, formulating that he no longer knows what it means to be "holy". This is shown in his realization that humans were defined to be holy when they were righteous, and they became "unholy" when they are inconsiderate, selfish, or performing terrible actions. He realizes that this statement of what defines an "unholy" person limits humans' impulse to make mistakes and ignorance to certain aspects of life. With this, he portrays the faith in which he lost through a series of epiphanies.