What Does Tom Represent In The Grapes Of Wrath

At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must

| Tom wants his old life back prior to the accident and he sees the accident as the end of his life as he knew it. He loses his sense of identity and sense of family in particular.Feels guilty and ashamed about the irrevocable consequences his brother’s irresponsibility had for other people and their familiesRetreats into a depressed state which feels empty and black.

At first, Tom only cared about himself and how he would succeed. Pretty soon, he has the same line of thinking as Preacher Jim Casy. “[sic] I’ll be ever’where-wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there” (Steinbeck 537). Tom is talking about how he wants to organize a strike like what Casy did. He believes that if everyone joins together, then the cops can not touch them. He forgot about what is best for

As the novel progresses, Tom transforms from this selfish nature to become a caring person. Several examples of this transformation are seen throughout various chapters. When the Joads are traveling west to California with the Wilson’s, Tom offers to help them when their car breaks down. “Tom said nervously, ‘Look Al. I done my time, an’ now it’s done… Let’s jus’ try an’ get a con-rod an’ the hell with the res’ of it.’” Tom is showing a little more care for other people’s problems, however, he still has a selfish side because he still does not regret killing a man. He knew he had to pay for it by going to prison, but he still believes he did nothing wrong by taking a man’s life. By offering to help out with the Wilson’s’ car, he is on his way to becoming a less selfish person. As the book draws to a close, Tom stumbles upon Jim Casy again, who is murdered in front of his own eyes. As a result, he is thrown into a silent rage and kills another man which causes him to hide in the forest. He realizes that he is a danger to his family, so he sacrifices his safety in order for his family to be safe. ‘“Ya can’t do that, Ma. I tell you I’m jus’ a danger to ya,”’ (391). There is a clear transition from Tom acting selfish at the beginning of the book to him acting completely selfless at the end. This selflessness also contributed to him being a figure committed to bettering the

“At the heart of every immigrant’s experience is a dream- a vision of hope that is embodied in his or her destination” (Gladstein 685). In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath the migrants imagined the absolute aspects of living care free to the west. However, everything changed once they traveled to the west, realizing the simple concept turned into hazardous problems. John Steinback emphasized the American dream of economic stability and truculent situations towards the Joads family's point of view. Throughout the immigration, the Joads family goes through constant and unpredictable changes in employment, and their eventual failure to find success in California. The novel has been called by critics "a celebration of the human spirit", in several ways it is true due to the aspects of human nature. Despite the hazardous actions people can do, it is important to realize everything around us.

As the novel begins, Tom has a completely independent outlook on life; concerned only with returning home from prison to indulge his own comforts and wants. It is only later after he has endured the hardships of the journey, in Jim Casy’s death, and his own exile, that he has time to think and realizes that it is united we stand, and divided we fall. He thus sacrifices his personal concerns and safety and leaves the family to go out into the larger community and help his people. He will go out and work to complete what Jim Casy had started. Whereas Jim Casy was too much of an idealist, Tom will try and put his plan into action: “Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there.” (537)

Jim Casy, a martyr and leader with a large following, reflects the sacrifices of Jesus Christ for the downtrodden by uniting the less privileged and rebelling against the religious constrictions of their time. Jim Casy parallels Jesus Christ in many ways throughout the novel. Steinbeck purposefully gave Jim Casy the same initials as Jesus Christ in order to signify the link between these two influential figures. Jim Casy, like Jesus Christ, is consistently willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. When a scuffle ensues between Tom Joad and a police officer in Hooverville, Jim Casey offers take the blame: “Somebody got to take the blame. I got no kids. They’ll jus’ put me in jail, an’ I ain’t doin’ nothin’ but set aroun”(266-267). Jim does not want Tom to be arrested because Tom has broken parole, Jim recognizes that there would be less suffering if he takes the blame, so he does. Jim is watching out for someone he cares for deeply, and is willing to make a sacrifice for Tom. He would rather be punished than see another person be punished more than himself. Jim believes that since he’s “got no kids,” it would be better for him to be in jail as compared to Tom because Tom has a family and is someone’s son. Jim values family and wants to keep the Joad family together and since he does not have his own family and does not have a present father, Jim believes it would be better for him to be in jail as opposed to Tom. Jim thinks that his life is less important than some

The traditional human family represents a necessary transition between self and community. In the difficult era of the 1930's, the family's role shifted to guard against a hostile outside world rather than to provide a link with it. With the drought in the Dust Bowl and other tragedies of the Great Depression, many were forced to look beyond the traditional family unit and embrace their kinship with others of similar necessity. In his novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck uses the theme of strength through unity to comment on the relationship between the dissolution of individual families and the unification of the migrant people. The journey of the Joad family

Characters in The Grapes of Wrath are often contrasted to emphasize certain qualities in their relationships, the most notable being a lack of empathy versus a caring and generous nature. Steinbeck’s use of juxtaposition is key to understanding the significance of the contrast involving the landowners and the migrants and why they cannot share sympathies and opinions. These two groups are both rivals and continuously reinforce differences in their lifestyles, and such is the case for the landowners and migrants, which are two drastically different classes that will not cooperate. The migrants are searching for job opportunities and safe places, but are often cheated by the landowners, who are corrupted by their drive for cheap labor and, ultimately, riches,

Later, he begins to unite workers, and eventually dies trying to combat injustice through this worker unity. After this, Tom takes over Casey’s crusade. As Tom begins to truly comprehend Casey’s words and struggle, he explains what he must try to do in his final talk with his mother.

Tom, though, is a very complicated individual who turns out to be a tremendous asset and burden to the family. His parole causes the family an unneeded worry, but does get work that helps the family. He is the main protagonist for his family and the main follower of Jim Casy's philosophy on human nature. Jim is much more of a talker and idealist, and he actually puts what he preached into action. Jim Casy is frequently compared with Jesus Christ and his lifestyle of preaching and leading people. As well as sacrificing himself for Tom and the Joad family which upholds his common held belief. Tom carries Jim’s message after his death and aids others with it. The Joad family, along with Jim Casy, shows the benefit of people uniting in order to accomplish goals and this is a lesson that the reader can take away from this novel.

This news is disheartening to Tom, but the family’s only choice is to keep traveling west. Tom’s grandmother eventually dies too from exhaustion and heat. Finally after many grueling days in the hot sun and numerous stops to fix the car, the Joads arrive at California. However, their dreams of finding a wonderful place to live are shattered when they hear California residents calling them Oakies and saying bad things about them. Californians feel threatened by the families migrating into California because the newcomers will take all the job opportunities and they will steal food to avoid starvation. At first the Joads can’t find work and they are forced to live in one of the Hoovervilles. The Hoovervilles are very run down and Connie , Tom’s brother, runs away from the family because of the disappointment of realizing his dreams will not come true.

As the author, Steinbeck does not portray the difficulties of the men who evicted the farmers, or the neighbors who plow down their farms. He sympathizes with the farmers, it is with these families that we as a reader come to identify. Steinbeck uses the Joad’s and their friends a model of moral virtue. Jim Casy, an ex-preacher who reunited with Tom on his walk to his old home, was Steinbeck’s moral representative throughout The Grapes of Wrath. Jim vocalizes the most important themes such as the sanctity of the people and the unity of all mankind. He shows and portrays these morals by being there for the Joad’s. Jim listens to Tom’s problems on the way to Tom’s old house, goes to California with the Joad family to help them, goes to jail in place of Tom, and then dies for the worker’s movement. Those times Jim portrayed the moral of unity of all mankind in The Grapes of Wrath. Jim Casy said, “I got 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 own way, kickin’ an’ draggin’ an’ fightin’. Fella like that bust the holi-ness. But when they’re all workin’ together, not one fella for another fella, but

Casy Helps the Joad family with their travel across the west, to get to California. Jim Casy was the old preacher of Tom’s old town, but lost the spirit, so the town got a new preacher. With this background as a preacher, Casy knows how to love his fellow men. He probably served his congregation when he was a preacher, so he was used to doing things for the benefit of others, not himself. Casy is crucial with helping the Joad family cross the west, to get into California. He looks over the kids, he helps with the flat tires, and he brings a joyful personality

John Steinbeck’s text, The Grapes of Wrath narrates the struggles of the Joads as they join people from Oklahoma in a mass migration westward (Steinbeck, 1). When Tom Joad is released from prison after serving for four years, he goes back to his home in Oklahoma. Joad meets with Jim Casy, a former preacher who gave up preaching after he believes that all parts are holy even the sinful ones (Steinbeck, 12). Casy has the new belief in equality among people. When Tom Joad gets home, he finds the surrounding farms deserted where he discovers that everybody was moving out of the farms. Joad and his family, Ma and Pa Joad pick up their possessions and head of to the promised land of California (Steinbeck, 13). While Steinbeck writes about the political and emotional issues of the Great Depression, the characters in the book display a great deal of religiousness and spirituality. When the characters feel desperate and ambiguous about their future, they turn to religion and prayer for hope. Steinbeck uses religious symbolism throughout the “The Grapes of Wrath” through the different stages, characters, and strange occurrences to explore the lives of the Joads family.