• Home Page
  • Examples Of Biblical Allusion In The Grapes Of Wrath

Examples Of Biblical Allusion In The Grapes Of Wrath

Improved Essays
Show More
The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joad family and their struggles during the Great Depression. After losing the family farm, the Joads decide to leave for California in hopes of finding work. The Joads hit many bumps along the way, and when they finally arrive in The Golden State they realize that everything is not as it seems. Jobs are scarce, living conditions are terrible, and people like them are not wanted. Having no other choice, they decide to stay and work it out. The Joads go through many more ups and downs, but overall things never get better for them. However, they still remain, for the most part, kind, compassionate people. They offer food to those who need it and never fail to try to help someone in need. “[T]he characters …show more content…
Steinbeck uses biblical allusions in The Grapes of Wrath to emphasize the theme of compassion. One of Steinbeck’s biggest biblical allusions is to Jesus Christ. There are a few characters that could resemble Him, but “[a] primary candidate is Jim Casy, a former preacher, whose initials correspond directly to those of Jesus Christ” (McCoppin 40). …show more content…
His main allusions to Jesus, the disciples, and Mary come through the characters Jim Casy, Tom Joad, and Rose of Sharon. Although they each show compassion, they each have a different way of showing it. Casy showed compassion for others by sharing his ideas and ultimately sacrificing himself for them. Tom, on the other hand, showed compassion towards others by spreading Casy’s ideas and setting out to accomplish what Casy started. Finally, Rose of Sharon showed compassion by making sacrifices for people in need. By using biblical allusions, Steinbeck is able to emphasize the importance of compassion and show that compassion comes in many

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Chapter 20 Summary
    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Grapes Of Wrath Chapter 20 Summary

    Chapter 20 (pgs 327-384) This chapter focuses back on the Joads and their first few days in California. Their extremely limited funds don’t allow a proper ceremony and burial, the family leave Grandma's body at the door of the coroner’s office. The family makes their way to Hooverville, a large camp full of gaunt eyes and hollow stomachs. Along the way they meet Floyd Knowles, he explained the rough life here and if you were thinking about just walking on in a getting work then you're delusional.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Grapes Of Wrath Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Grapes Of Wrath Rhetorical Analysis

    The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family loses everything they have during the Dust Bowl and is forced to move west in an attempt to find a better life. Though Steinbeck puts the Joads into perspective as good people, the people in control make their lives miserable and almost impossible to cross the country to freedom to reach even the slightest prosperity. In the…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Analysis
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Grapes Of Wrath Analysis

    THe outcome of these confrontation both end in a victory for ma and that much more respect earned. some may say that men are the rock of the family but in this case the mother is the anchor upon this navigating ship. Ma's will and love for her family shall lead the joads to a life they never knew existed but they will always have eachother. In the Joad's lowest point in the novel, Ma emerges as their leader of an almost broken family.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Thematic Response To 'The Grapes Of Wrath'
    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thematic Response To 'The Grapes Of Wrath'

    TThematic Connection: One theme that can be supported by this passage is physical strength is never enough. Even though Elie and his family were warned about the Hungarian Police coming they weren't prepared. They were physically prepared very well. They had all belongings they needed and hide all of their personal possessions, but they forgot to mentally prepare. When leaving a place that's been you home forever and just being pulled out of it you need to mentally prepare and have the strength to control your emotions and that is something not many people prepared for but realized not to short after they left that they should have.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Motivation In The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Motivation In The Grapes Of Wrath

    In the Grapes of Wrath, the motivations of Preacher Casey, Tom Joad, Pa, and Ma change throughout the movie and represent the sentiments of Americans during the 1930s. During this time period the economy was on the verge of collapse for a series of years and after the stock market crash in 1929, the nation officially entered an economic depression leaving many workers jobless and hundreds of families penniless. Previously, many inexperienced farmers had travelled west looking to make a profit off of their own labor. The great migration movement was partially caused by the idealization of the west fueled by Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis and the devastating conditions and economic status of many eastern workers. However, most of the families that migrated west were inexperienced so farm land was not treated correctly.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Syntax In The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Syntax In The Grapes Of Wrath

    In chapter 11 of John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, there are many different things going on that may seem pointless and/or out of place. However, when looking closer and digging a little deeper into the text, you will find that much more of this specific literature’s meaning will be revealed. Steinbeck’s use of syntax in certain places and parallelism helps to explain to the audience the density of the feelings the farmers had when they had to leave their homes and watch them rot and decay over time during the Dust Bowl period. Steinbeck shows how bad it was, and how much the houses wore out when they were left vacant and empty.…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Research Paper
    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Grapes Of Wrath Research Paper

    The effect of the road and the camps also distresses family life in the fact that it “use' ta be the family was fust [yet] it ain't so [now;] it's anybody” (Steinbeck 441). The loss of the individual in all the hardship leads to the idea that “twenty families became one family, .. children were the children of all [and] the loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream” (Steinbeck 193). The “Okies” gather and suffer together in the Grapes of Wrath, because so many “[haven’t] felt so--safe in a long time” and thought “people needs--to help” (Steinbeck 141). They --the Joads, for example-- only survive because they have someone else to lean on: someone a few tents down who understands their plight. They unified collectively as a people that was previously unknown to them in the foreign land of California.…

    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Symbolism In The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 104 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Symbolism In The Grapes Of Wrath

    The heart is the symbolic vessel of emotion. Heart trouble indicates emotional burdens. Could represent loneliness, cruelty, disloyalty, suffering, bad love.. Illness is a reflection of some emotional/psychological weakness.…

    • 104 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Rhetorical Devices In Grapes Of Wrath
    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Rhetorical Devices In Grapes Of Wrath

    Whether blatantly stated and actively convincing, or subtly incorporated and subconsciously compelling, every author has a purpose. To entertain, to teach, to persuade the reader to take a stance or to take action – every author’s purpose is unique, rooted in his or her own values and experiences. In writing The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck had his own purpose in mind. He used his story to reveal the truth of the tragedy and hardship experienced by the migrant workers of the 1930’s, through the combined employment of a moving plot and purposeful rhetorical devices. The story elicited a surprising reaction from all its readers – both those directly affected by the migrant workers, and those disconnected from the issue.…

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Journey In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Journey In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

    The Grapes of Wrath undoubtedly demonstrated the conflicts that American families endured on their journey from the Dust Bowl to California. This novel was written by John Steinbeck, a novelist and writer who witnessed the discrimination farmers had to tolerate on their migration to California. This gruesome journey caused misery, agony, regret among various families. Still, a majority of these families clung onto something crucial: their religion. The families prayed to God for their prosperity in finding a job in California; though their efforts were futile.…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Biblical Allusions In The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck
    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Biblical Allusions In The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

    This quote shows the pensive nature of Casy and the way that he strives to emulate Christ in his life. Casy’s symbolism to Christ is further shown in his death as a martyr, as he is killed while advocating the rights and wages of the migrant workers. Just moments before his death, Casy imitates the Jesus quote “Forgive them Father for they know not what they are doing”, when he says, “ You fellas don’ know what you’re doin’” (455). Casy is forgiving to those who persecute him and his people, the migrant workers, in perfect resemblance of a Christ-like figure. Casy, however, is not the only biblical character alluded to in the novel.…

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Grapes Of Wrath Intercalary Chapter Summary
    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Grapes Of Wrath Intercalary Chapter Summary

    In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses the unconventional, intercalary chapters in the structure of this novel. These intercalary chapters are a narrative technique in which Steinbeck informs the reader about the economic impact of the Great Depression upon the common farmers in the U.S. during that time. In chapter 11, Steinbeck uses the intercalary chapter technique to describe the incoming of the modern tractors and the effect this modernization had on the land the farmers had occupied. Steinbeck’s masterful use of syntax, diction and parallelism to create depressed, degenerating tone of human loss.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analysis Of Sacrifice In Grapes Of Wrath
    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of Sacrifice In Grapes Of Wrath

    Sacrifice John Ford’s inspiring film, Grapes of Wrath, pulls at the heartstrings of viewers. The film tells the story of the Joad family and their struggle to find work during the depression. The story begins with Tom Joad, the eldest son of the Joad family, finding that his family has been evicted from their home during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hopes for a brighter future. Ford uses the story of the Joad family to convey the theme that the need of the many outweighs the needs of one. Ford uses Ma Joad, Tom Joad and Jim Casey to exemplify the need for supportive rather than individualistic ideals during rough times.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Style In The Grapes Of Wrath
    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Rhetorical Style In The Grapes Of Wrath

    Steinbeck’s rhetorical style in the Grapes of Wrath conveys his values by using oxymorons and parallelism to add dramatic detail and also to add a sense of amazement to the story in order to draw the reader deeper into the story. Steinbeck uses his own sense of style to add an artistic effect all throughout chapter 25, this style added so much to the story, on the lines of showing the reader how the people had felt through the entirety of the story. Steinbeck’s rhetorical style showed the sorrow mixed with the pain of what was happening. Steinbeck uses oxymorons in the Grapes of Wrath in order to show the mix of pain and happiness that are in chapter 25. Steinbeck thoroughly showed what was going on in the story through quotes such as, “And…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Biblical Allusions In Of Mice And Men
    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Theme Of Biblical Allusions In Of Mice And Men

    Steinbeck's uses of Biblical allusions portrays the dangers of the sins and hopelessness in the lives of men, and it's consequences that can't be undone. Steinbeck's many biblical references in Of Mice and Men each conveyed their own significant meaning, teaching a specific lesson. For example, the parallel relationship between George and Lennie with Cain and Abel would portray the futility of brotherhood in our lives. (‭‭Genesis‬ ‭4:8-12 NIV) As Cain killed Abel, George murdered his own "brother" too.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings