Religion In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

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Religion in Grapes of Wrath

In Chapter 17 Steinbeck uses religious imagery to show how hard the Joads work in chapter 18 to improve their lives even though everything is taken away from them. The ideas of rebirth and baptism appear not only in the Bible, but also in the chapters 17 and 18 of the novel The Grapes of Wrath. In chapter 17 Steinbeck writes, “Thus they changed their social life—changed as in the whole universe only man can change. They were not farm men anymore, but migrant men” (196). The chapter shows how the farmers’ social rebirth, seen by the world, results in their becoming “migrant men”; their lives are no longer as they were. The migrant men’s lives are “baptised” through their journey as their lives are slowly changed. …show more content…
New and old traditions began and ended for example, in chapter 17, the narrator says, “And as the cars moved westward, each member of the family grew into his proper place, grew into his duties; so that each member, old and young, had his place in the car” (195). Moving and leaving behind everything they ever knew forces families to leave behind MANY OF their old traditions. In doing so, this enforces them to now begin new traditions in order to continue their lives. The further into the journey, the more their lives change. The Joads must take up new roles in their family when they reach California for example, Al has now become the mechanic, the little kids must find water in order to survive, and Tom, the ex criminal, became the socializer of the family. They all do their assigned duties, and they work on their assignments hard in order to live a better life in the long run. The migrant men all began their travels to a world they believe to be better than the one they are living in (OR THE ONE THEY LEFT?). In chapter 18 Steinbeck writes, “Ma raised her eyes and looked over the valley. ‘Granma's dead’” (228). The death of the Joads’ Granma as they entered into California depicts the death of all their old farming and family traditions. As the family crosses into their “Newland”, California, their lives forever change not only in the death of a loved one, but also in the death of all their traditions. Although the death on any loved relative is mournful, the entrance into the new land in merely a depiction of optimism and hope. This is the first encounter of the Joads willing to settle down and find jobs in order to feed themselves. Without the occupations offered by the men in California the Joads would be unable to support themselves. Entering into California will forever change the lives of the Migrant men's
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