Grapes Of Wrath

            In the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck brings to the reader a .
             variety of diverse and greatly significant characters. However, the majority of each .
             characters" individuality happens to lie within what they symbolize in the nature of .
             the Joad family and their acquaintances, which itself stands for the entire migrant .
             population of the Great Depression era. One such character is that of Jim Casey, .
             a former preacher and long-time friend of the Joads. In Steinbeck's, The Grapes of .
             Wrath, Jim Casey represents a latter-day Christ figure who longs to bring religious .
             stability to the burgeon of migrant families facing West. .
             Steinbeck manages to give Jim Casey the exact initials as the historical .
             savior (J.C.), which allows the reader to latch onto this connection from the .
             beginning. Yet, Casey's relation to Christ "goes beyond such mere coincidences, .
             and plays out rather in their similar plans of action" (Johnson 19). One of the .
             many similarities between Casey and Christ is that Casey had also drifted out to .
             the forests in order to "soul-search" and discover the answers to sometimes hidden .
             questions. In this particular situation, Casey himself states the comparison of .
             Christ's and his actions while giving a grace at the Joad's breakfast table, ".I .
             been in the hills, thinkin", almost you might say like Jesus went into the .
             wilderness to think His way out of a mess of troubles." (Steinbeck 104) Casey .
             further goes on during his rather rambling grace, "I got tired like Him.I got .
             mixed up like Him.I went into the wilderness like Him, without no campin" .
             stuff." (Steinbeck 105) With Casey's character openly admitting, without seeming .