Examples of Biblical Symbolisms in the Novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - Coursework Example

Identify examples of biblical symbolisms in the novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939) and explain how these symbolisms support and deepen the novel’s central theme. Introduction The novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939) talks about the hopes and struggles of the Joad family in the midst of economic hardship and social disparity along and within the route towards the Country of California. One of the protagonists of the story is Jim Casey, a former preacher who lost the path of his calling by committing so many sins unworthy of his stature. He traveled with the Joad family to California and together with them experienced the hardship and effects of social disparity between the capitalist and the working class prompting him to find his faith again and preach the word of God to help the working class by acting out his faith by fighting for the working class. In the end, he was murdered during a labor strike. Tom Joad is another protagonist who is former convict on parole who traveled to California with his family to find greener pasture. In the end, he was forced to kill while fighting during a labor strike and ended up as a fugitive seriously breaking his parole. (Wikipedia) Thesis statement This paper adopts the following thesis statement: “the biblical symbolisms in the novel Grapes of Wrath is presented to support and emphasize its central theme of hope in humanity in the midst of disparity between the working class and the capitalists; how labor is exploited for economic gains”. Thus, the objective of this paper is to discuss the examples of biblical symbolisms used in the novel and relate how it supported its central theme as well as understand the message that that author wants to convey to the readers. Biblical Symbolisms in the Novel Dust storm that hit Oklahoma as the biblical symbolism of plague. The dust storm of Oklahoma symbolizes the Great Plague suffered during the time of Jacob and Joseph mentioned in the Old Testament wherein drought affected many countries including Canaan, the land of the Israelites. Such plague resulted to Israelites traveling towards Egypt where there is abundance of food to feed them. Thus, Israelites migrated to Egypt in the midst of anti-social attitude towards them from among the Egyptians. To secure their safety, Jacob’s family was instructed to limit their abilities to being livestock herds to secure their place in Egypt society (Holy Bible, Genesis 47). This symbolism presents how an economic disaster like famine or storm affects a population, presented here by the Joad family, into migration which resulted to displacing their main livelihood and have to limit themselves to a certain occupation which is sometimes considered lowly in society to be able to survive and secure their place resulting to people or organization manipulating these people’s occupation due to a recognized reality that they cannot do anything anyway just as what some exploitative capitalists did in the novel towards the migrant workers. It supports the central theme of the novel by showing that in the midst of a plague or a disaster, human nature still tends to hope just like what the Joads did when their farm was hit by a storm resulting to the family hoping for greener pasture in another place like Californina. In a way, the dust storm symbolizes change in the novel that makes every person create decisions in their lives enable to survive. The Joad family as the biblical symbolism of the Israelites. The Joad family is presented as a tough family used to hardships but still bonded together even in the midst of such hardships. The novel used them as the center of biblical symbolism of the tribe of Israelites in the Old Testament who flee from oppression and wandered through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land (Shockley cited in Slash.doc, 2001) which they though to be California; hence they made an exodus towards this place in the midst of hardships they experienced in the process. However, the promised land of California is what they expected because they only see suffering and oppression of the working class in it which again symbolizes the Joads like the biblical characters of the Israelites who experienced challenges after another including disappointment in search for their promised land. This symbolism supported the theme of the novel that hope is what humanity hold on to survive hardships and oppression. Hope is the one that drive the Joad family to find other means of supporting themselves which they found in California; hence their exodus towards this place just like what the Israelites did toward their promised land. In a deeper social analysis, it gives a message to readers that disparity in social class can lead a family towards poverty; and in order to support their family’s existence they are willing to transfer from one place to another just to find food but in the process results to many separations either due to death or migration. Though, Joad family is like the Israelites who bonded together seeking for deliverance from poverty, within their family there exist opposing views or conflict which is common particularly in struggling families. Country of California symbolizing the biblical symbolism of the Promised Land California is symbolized as the Promised Land just like the Old Testament where a promised land is a place of milk and honey reserved for Israelites. Thus, exodus was made towards this Promised Land with full of hope and expectations which is the central theme of the novel. Due to the effect of the dust storm many families, including the Joads, went on exodus towards California when they heard that opportunities for work are abundant there which is a good prospect given that they have lost their lands already and have no means of livelihood. It supported the central theme of the novel by presenting how a capitalist can lure many into migration with the promise of a good pay and at the same time how a capitalist can be a source of hope for many who have no means of putting food into their families. Thus, there are two sides or perspectives in looking at the role of capitalism in an economy and more intently its role towards a person or towards his family. It can be either good or bad depending on how it is approached by a labor provider. Pregnancy of Rosasharn symbolizing new beginning like the conception of Jesus by Mary The pregnancy of Rosasharn presents a biblical symbolism of conception of Jesus by Mary as a source of hope and a new beginning for the people of God. Likewise in the novel it symbolizes hope and new beginning (Sparknotes.com) for Rosasharn that can also be told of the Joad family who is starting a new leaf in their lives after their land was repossesed by the bank and they were forced to make an exodus towards California to start their new life. However, what they think as a new leaf in their lives is something that have caused more trouble to their family and put bleak prospects into their lives just like what was symbolized by the stillborn baby of Rosasharn that shattered her hope for a new beginning in her married life. It supported the central theme of the novel by presenting how a capitalist’s maltreatment of labor force can affect the hopes build by families and individuals to prosper their lives and create a good future for them. Inability of the capitalist and the labor force to come to an agreement on how to treat labor results to violent labor strikes just like what happened in the novel that can compound to adverse situations of its characters like hunger, crime and death. Jim Casey symbolizing the redeemer Jesus Christ. Jim Casey represents the biblical symbolism of Jesus Christ who is sent to redeem the believers by fighting against dogmas not realistic in our times and keeps believers from fighting for their rights and exercising their freedom to choose and act out. His character is seen as the most compelling example of symbolism in the novel which not only symbolize Christ but presents the belief of transcendentalism adopted by popular American writers in 19th century (Howard, A). Transcendentalism believes that man is innately good and uses insights to seek for truth (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol 11) which is what Casey showed in his actions in the novel particularly when he revealed that he had fully developed his spirituality upon spending time with the Joads which brought him to act out his faith. It supports the central theme of the novel by presenting Casey as one of the trigger of hope for the laborers to fight for their rights collectively and be heard by people necessary to make changes into their plights. However, like Jesus Christ, Casey in the end died fighting for what he believed is right for the people. It is the same fate that many activists face to ensure that there will be changes in the system and alleviate situations of the labor sector. Casey told the man who murdered him that he does not know what he is doing (Steinbeck Chapter 26) is symbolic of what Jesus said about his persecutors during the time that he is being put on the cross. It supports the central theme of the novel by showing that greed in capitalism can manipulate a man suffering from poverty to do things that are not right which he himself does not fully agree or believed in but is just forced to do so because of the circumstance he is in. Thus, people in poverty who are serving capitalists can sometimes be used to do things to harm people just to advance capitalist’s interests. However, Casey’s character symbolize hope in humanity in the novel when he declared to his killers, like Christ, that they do not know what they are doing; hence there is still hope that enlightenment will come his way and he will change his ways which is actually applicable to the overall theme of the story. Biblical symbolism of Moses showed when John Joad putting the dead baby of Rosasharn in a box and sent it down the river. The biblical symbolism of Moses was shown in the novel when John Joad put the stillborn baby of Rosasharn in a box and let it glide down the river presented another symbolism of hope for the characters of the novel. Letting the baby’s body sent down the river is a symbol of accepting what has happened and letting life take its turn as it comes along and hoping in the end that things will be better just like what Moses did by delivering the Hebrews. This supports the central theme of the novel by presenting that the characters still have hopes left in their hearts given the many challenges they faced in their lives. They have faced what life brings and what life requires them to do; for example, by responding to the needs of their time to fight for their rights as laborers and expose the corruption within the capital system and its potential to destroy the working class. Rosasharn breastfeeding a starving stranger who is almost close to death representing the biblical symbolism of Mary and Jesus disciples after His death. The act of Rosasharn breastfeeding a starving stranger while she herself is in the state of bereavement from the death of her new born baby at the end of the novel is symbolic of Mary and Jesus’ disciples who used the death of Jesus not to mope around and become stagnant but as a catalyst to show that there is still hope by instilling changes in their lives by reaching out towards others to help their realize their own potentials and become believers again. This final scene in the novel transcends the central message of hope to the readers by showing them that selfless sacrifice for the sake of many instead of pursuing individual benefits (Gradesaver.com) is necessary to create change. Even in tragedy a person can find hope within himself or herself and show kindness towards others, thus, creating or starting change. Looking at it on the perspective of working class and capitalism, doing proactive approach towards resolution of conflicts in the midst of chaos would result to changes within the labor system that will create long term benefits towards the working class. Flood symbolizing the Great Flood in the Old Testament during Noah’s time. This biblical symbolism showed that there is an end to current situations and new beginnings will come as long as the characters remain afloat in their arks just as what Noah did and remain hopeful and trusting of a greater force that will influence the direction of current events. Flood symbolizes the end and the beginning of a cycle just like birth and death (Wikipedia). It supports the central theme of the novel by showing that chaotic labor force situation is just temporary. As long as working forces remain focused in what needs to be done, change will come and new beginnings and improved system will be implemented. Overall, John Steinbeck uses biblical symbolisms to deliver his message towards the readers since during the time that the novel was published religion is a common factor among Americans (Slashdoc.com); hence can easily be understood in the light of biblical symbolisms making the impact of the message of the novel piercing towards its readers. Conclusion The biblical symbolisms in the novel are crucial to present to the readers how its central theme evolves throughout the story. Also, it presents the various situations wherein the characters showed a sign of being hopeful in the midst of their chaotic situation. It also provided the author an opportunity to put a spiritual aspect in his story by showing the readers that history is just repeating itself in terms of challenges faced by man. It just takes on a different form as time progress but the central theme of being hopeful in the midst of this problem is necessary for any character to survive in life. However, being hopeful does not mean that people should be complacent of their situation. Instead, they should be able to take a stand and make proactive actions to create change within a chaotic situation. References John Steinbeck (1939). The Grapes of Wrath. Viking Penguin, Inc., United States. Wikipedia. Grapes of Wrath. Retrieved on 10 March 2008 from website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath The American Bible Society (1985). The Holy Bible with Deuterocanonical. American Bible Society, United States The Grapes of Wrath: Symbolic Characters (2001). Slashdoc.com website. Retrieved on 12 March 2008 from website http://www.slashdoc.com/documents/32743 Grapes of Wrath-Study Guide. Gradesaver.doc website. Retrieved on 11 March 2—8 from website http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/grapeswrath/ Howard, A (2005). John Steibeck: Strength Through Symbolism. Retrieved on 12 March 2008 from website http://www.byzantinecommunications.com/adamhoward/homework/highschool/grapewrath.html Goetz, Philip (Editor in Chief). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannnica, Inc., 1987. Vol 11, 894. Read More