The setting of The Grapes of Wrath sets the stage for the struggles and the change the Joad family has to face. The drought of the 1930s forces the Joads to leave everything they know and move to California in order to find a better life. The Joad family has a clue to what awaits them at their destination nor do they know what awaits them on the long journey itself. The author, John Steinbeck, develops three dynamic characters - Ma Joad, Tom Joad, and Jim Casy - to illustrate three similar, but different, journeys. They are all forced to evolve to survive and, with evolution, they lose a part of themselves, but they also gain a better understanding of their own individuality. The author uses the plight of the unfortunate farmers only as a mere
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His journey began long before the beginning of the story with his four years in prison for killing a man. His four-year captivity molded him into devoting his time to the moment at hand, and the future is irrelevant to him. This is because he is afraid to put his life into a larger context and he will drive himself to insanity. But, this man is constantly changing and evolving to find himself, and Tom does not realize it. At the beginning of the story, he says, “Maybe all men got one big soul ever 'body 's a part of,” (Tom, 41), where he is contemplating his spirituality and, in turn, causing them to evolve and to fit to their circumstances. The first person Tom meets is his old pastor, Jim Casy, who has developed his own understanding of religion. Tom takes to this new philosophy with reluctant curiosity; he becomes Casy’s disciple. Perhaps subconsciously, Tom is looking for a bigger existence or a power greater than himself to devote himself to. He witnesses the hardships taken by his family and the altruism of his mother, which cause him to become more receptive to Casy’s new philosophy. Eventually, Tom realizes that he cannot be a silent witness, nor can we work for the well-being if it means that he must take from others. He begins to understand his place in this harsh society: he must work for the well-being of everyone. Before he sets off on the journey of public action, he talks to Ma and says, “Says one time he went out in the wilderness to find his own soul, an’ he foun’ he didn’t have no soul that was his’n. Says he foun’ he jus’ got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain’t no good, ‘cause his little piece of a soul wasn’t no good ‘less it was with the rest, an’ was whole,” (Tom, 418), and he finally accepts Casy’s new philosophy of selflessness. Steinbeck uses Tom to elaborate on a journey from selfishness to selflessness and
His journey began long before the beginning of the story with his four years in prison for killing a man. His four-year captivity molded him into devoting his time to the moment at hand, and the future is irrelevant to him. This is because he is afraid to put his life into a larger context and he will drive himself to insanity. But, this man is constantly changing and evolving to find himself, and Tom does not realize it. At the beginning of the story, he says, “Maybe all men got one big soul ever 'body 's a part of,” (Tom, 41), where he is contemplating his spirituality and, in turn, causing them to evolve and to fit to their circumstances. The first person Tom meets is his old pastor, Jim Casy, who has developed his own understanding of religion. Tom takes to this new philosophy with reluctant curiosity; he becomes Casy’s disciple. Perhaps subconsciously, Tom is looking for a bigger existence or a power greater than himself to devote himself to. He witnesses the hardships taken by his family and the altruism of his mother, which cause him to become more receptive to Casy’s new philosophy. Eventually, Tom realizes that he cannot be a silent witness, nor can we work for the well-being if it means that he must take from others. He begins to understand his place in this harsh society: he must work for the well-being of everyone. Before he sets off on the journey of public action, he talks to Ma and says, “Says one time he went out in the wilderness to find his own soul, an’ he foun’ he didn’t have no soul that was his’n. Says he foun’ he jus’ got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain’t no good, ‘cause his little piece of a soul wasn’t no good ‘less it was with the rest, an’ was whole,” (Tom, 418), and he finally accepts Casy’s new philosophy of selflessness. Steinbeck uses Tom to elaborate on a journey from selfishness to selflessness and