Unfinished Child Of God In John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath

ohn Steinbeck book Grapes of Wrath tells us of characters that lived in the Great Depression. Steinbeck writes about “unfinished child of god”. They are characters that have grown in life, but have not fully grown their human nature and do not have the full potential as a child of god. Three characters of Steinbeck that are unfinished children of god are Tom Joad, Jim Casy, and Pa Joad. One of Steinbeck’s “unfinished child of god” is Tom Joad. Tom shows a type of kindness, leadership, determination, and independence as he goes through life challenges. In the beginning, he finds a turtle on the side of the road. When he saw it, he wanted to bring it back for his family. This shows a kindness in him. Another example would be when he is helping the Wilson family with their truck. Tom shows leadership when he is with the truck driver. He manipulates the driver to give him a ride
“Sure—I seen it. But sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.”
He was a preacher. He brought people into the faith. He is the moral compass for the Joad family. He even helped tom by going to jail for him. He is a child of god but is unfinished because of all the wrong action he has done. He tells us that after each sermon he would bring a girl and lay with her in the grass. He shows a childish action of always wanting something right away. As he continues to do this he finds that he is losing the “Holy sperit” in him. He leaves being a preacher because of the guilt building in him. This shows one example of him being an “unfinished child of god” because he should have stayed with the service and deal with his problems. Another example is that he places God third in his list and cares more about himself. He finds his own philosophy and believes that instead of his old faith. This shows him being an “unfinished child of god” because he is running away from his