Jim Casy In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

In the Grapes of Wrath, there many characters who play key roles in driving the plot. Jim Casy seems to be the one character who is irreplaceable making him one of the most influential characters in this novel. At the beginning of the book, he has unique thoughts about sins, but he is perceived at first as only a preacher. He is just along for the ride when Tom finds him. However, he turns into much more than that not only by being a unifier for the Joad family, but also one for the migrants and mankind overall. Jim Casy is just an average preacher when he is first presented in the novel, but he is lost. He does not know what he truly believes and realizes he cannot preach until he understands his own thoughts. His ideas of sin and God seem unconventional, but they play a huge role later on in the novel. He slowly progresses to the idea that there is an oversoul, meaning all souls are just a smaller portion of a bigger soul. Casy expresses his own philosophical views on religion to Tom which are absurd to Tom. He tells Tom that “there ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do. It’s all part of the same.” Tom doesn’t really take notice to Casy’s views, but later in the novel he comes to the realization that what Casy was preaching to him does indeed
apply to his life. This is where the reader first sees Casy start becoming the person he truly wants to be. Before meeting Tom, he was unhappy with constrictions of being a preacher and was ready to break free. For instance, he loved women but he is unable to get with them because of the beliefs that come with taking the job as a preacher. Meeting Tom and the Joad family gave him an audience to preach his new ideas to. However, Casy returns the favor by becoming a spiritual and moral voice for the Joad family. Jim Casy is the catalyst that keeps the Joad family going on their journey to California. His wisdom and moral support is what makes his character essential in the novel. For example, when Grandpa di]\es, the whole Joad family is saddened greatly because this is basically the first hardship they must endure on their journey. The family looks to Casy for a prayer and unwillingly he proceeds with one. Believing his prayer will do nothing, Casy gives a simple, yet effective prayer giving the Joad family life and hope once again. Without Casy, the Joad family might have dwelled on Grandpa’s death much longer than they should have. This is also the first representation of Jim Casy being a Christ figure for the Joad family. The Joad’s can be seen as disciples to Casy, Tom being the most influenced by what Casy says. Casy however still shows much respect to the Joad family and seems grateful to be along on the journey. At one point of the story Casy describes Ma as “a woman so great with love- she scares me.” This quote comes after Casy finds out that Ma has hidden the truth about Granma’s death so that the family could make it across the desert without having to stop. Casy is able to see the good in this situation, realizing that Ma’s decision to lie to the family outweighed the cost of telling the family the truth. This also helps Casy realize what he must do to become part of the “oversoul” and to fully achieve his life’s purpose. Casy’s values and purpose come out towards the end of the novel. He realizes he must sacrifice himself for the better good, which in this case are the migrants. Tom gets in an altercation with an officer resulting in Casy taking the blame. He does this not only to save Tom, but also because Casy wants Tom to spread his message for social justice. Casy feels as if this sacrifice must be made for people to realize there is a problem with how the police and land owners are treating the migrants and something needs to be done about it. Tom later finds Casy protesting a Hoover Camp because of the ridiculous wages the migrants are being. Casy is murdered to Tom’s dismay, but it seems to be a good thing for Tom in long run. Although Casy is dead, he is still spiritually with Tom. Tom begins to think and reflect on what Casy was trying to preach to him all along, that each person doesn’t have their own soul, but rather they are a piece of a greater soul. Tom tells his mother, “his little piece of a soul wasn’t so good ‘less it was with the rest, an’ was whole.” Casy is no longer around, but he is still influencing the Joad family, which proves how important he was to them if he is still impacting their lives after his death. In the end, Casy essentially motivates Tom to fight for what is right for the migrants by explicitly expressing his own ideas to Tom throughout the novel. This shows how important Casy is, making him one of the protagonist in The Grapes of Wrath. In The Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casy is a major character who keeps the plot moving along.
He started off as nothing but a preacher with unconventional ideas and ended as a respected philosopher, changing how people act and deal with hardships. He was able to find himself despite all the other issues that were going on around him. This attests to Casy’s want to help everyone around him. Jim Casy’s views don’t only apply to this novel, they should apply to human kind. People should explore their purpose in life, finding ways they can better themselves and society as a whole. Overall, Jim Casy is an influential character who makes an impact in many people’s lives in The Grapes of Wrath
novel.