Steinbeck alludes to biblical references in order to signify the migrants’ developing religion. Gospel intimations provide parallels between the Bible, a conventional dogma, and the spirituality of the Oakies, emphasizing the significance of the unorthodox, migrant revelations.
Genesis in Grapes
For example, after Tom Joad is released out of McAlester penitentiary, he “[works] his damp feet comfortably in the hot dry dust until little spurts of it [come] up between his toes” (17). Tom is connected to the earth, but more importantly, the dust; the combination of dust and sweat yields mud, ultimately caking the mixture upon his skin. As if Tom is a sculpture of moist clay, the mud he has created references to how God first formed Adam out of mud and "the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2. 7, KJV).
Tom’s connection to the dust sculpts the developing faith in humankind. Like the dust “people brush from their shoulders”, Tom’s dust not only connects him to the land but also the Oklahoma denizens (3). They share the dust as if they share the “holy sperit”.
Holy Water
Once the Joads pack up the Hudson Super-Six, they travel along Highway 66 and stop at the Colorado River. The men go for a dip in the water and “[feel] the tug of the current”, but Noah is pulled the strongest. Soon Noah says he “ain’t a-goin’ on” because he wants to live a different life from the other Joads (208). He just “like to lay [in the river] forever. Never get hungry an’ never get sad. Lay in the water all life long” (204).
Like water used in the baptismal sacrament, Noah is baptized into a new life separating himself away from the Joads and migrants alike. Noah does not share the same faith in humanity because “[them folks] don’t really care for [him]” ultimately propelling him to abandon the belief system many Oakies adhere to. The new spirit that flows into Noah’s life is represented through the baptism in the Colorado River.
Steinbeck uses the device of water as the factor that changes a person’s spiritual path. After the Joads reach Weedpatch, the government camp, the Joads are ecstatic to have the resources of plumbing and a place to stay. Tom relaxes, settles up over the tail-board of the jalopie and sees the “stars [that are] clear and sharp over his head” (289).
Steinbeck uses the imagery of stars in order to portray the hope of the future; the Joads are given running water and a place to inhabit, therefore fortune seems to be forthcoming. Like the star of Bethlehem that led the three Wise Men to Jesus, the stars Tom sees symbolize the vision of hope and fruition of bounty. The twinkle of the star parallels with the biblical star; they both share the same purpose— guiding followers by the light of the holy spirit.
Oklahoman Exodus
As well as the guiding luminance of the constellations, the overall plight of the Oklahoman inhabitants aligns with the Israelites wandering through the desert. The Joads like many other families “lived on a little piece of land, who had lived and died on forty acres, had eaten or starved on the produce of forty acres” (363). By using the number forty, Steinbeck alludes to the Exodus of the Israelites.
Like the Biblical Exodus, the Joads are similar to the Israelites in that they are experiencing their own American Exodus. The two units hold in common the most significant aspect of their plight— the Promise Land. Like the Israelites who yearned for the land of “milk and honey”, the migrants yearn for the foothills of California where the aroma of peaches and oranges wafts continuously through the Santa Ana breezes. These destinations are not merely geographical places, but fruitions of hope. Eventually the Joads arrive in California, and their dependence on one another is indicative to how humanity can bring the prayers and desires of the migrants.
Through the use of Exodus, the Joad’s plight can be described as a journey and test of faith in their newly developing migrant belief system. Steinbeck uses Christian references in order for the migrant lives to parallel the significance of the Holy Bible.
More information at Grapes of Wrath's Religion Found in Mankind
Works Considered
The Grapes of Wrath. – New York : Viking, 1939
The Bible
 |
