Grapes of Wrath an Analysis Research Paper

But the value and meaning of life and love described by Casy is manifested by the outsiders, the Okies, the rejects, the wanderers, the strangers, and the oppressed. They are the socially marginal characters of a self-satisfying culture. They are the ones Steinbeck admires in his novel for they are the ones who "wander through the wilderness of hardships, seeking their own Promised Land" (Shockley 87). They await the coming of the Lord, as Howe implies, and as Steinbeck reiterates in their mutual echo of Apocalypse.

In conclusion, the philosophy of the Grapes of Wrath is Casy's, which is itself extrapolated from the philosophies of the naturalists and humanists. It is unable to account for God, but it does acknowledge man's need to give and receive love. Steinbeck appears to suggest that the Okies, like all oppressed people, will be delivered from the evils of the oppression only by banding together and giving to one another all their love. Steinbeck's religion is the religion of man, of the community.If Casy could not find God's role in love, he meant to find man's role in it.

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Howe, Julia Ward. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Gutenberg.org. Web. 4

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Jones, E. Michael. Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation and Political Control. in: St.

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New Testament Bible, International Version. CO: Biblica, 2011.

Shockley, Martin. "Christian Symbolism in the Grapes of Wrath." College English, vol.

18, no. 2 (November 1956), pp. 87-90.….....