How do both Jim Casy and Tom Joad function as “Christ figures” in The Grapes of Wrath?
Discuss both similarities and differences between Jesus in the Bible and these characters in Steinbeck’s book. Both Jim Casy and Tom Joad illustrate salvation through sacrifice. Jim Casy strikes readers as a Christ figure almost immediately, even from the mere fact of his initials. Like Jesus coming out of the wilderness to preach the Gospel, Casy emerges from the Oklahoma dust bowl “preaching” (though he disavows the title “preacher”) his own message of “good news”: that all human beings are united in a universal spirit. From this spirit, all people can draw strength, for themselves and others. Salvation, in Casy’s mind, is to be found not in looking to God, but in looking to and loving our fellow human beings. Like Jesus, Casy “ministers” among the common people, traveling with them on the road to California; unlike Jesus, Casy is intent on learning from them rather than teaching them. Like Jesus, Casy is willingly arrested and, like Jesus, he dies a martyr for his beliefs-his action
