Though I have already read this book before, I feel as though there was a lot I missed the first time around. I have especially taken a liking to Jim Casey, especially when he is first introduced in Chapter 4. He has an odd sort of wisdom many people did not have back then.
"There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing. And some of the things folks do is nice, and some ain't nice, but that's as far as any man got a right to say" (Steinbeck 23).
The development we can already see in the introduction of his character is amazing. Normally, in books, the author starts a character one way and develops what they will be like for the rest of the book, and though I know Steinbeck does this as well, I enjoy seeing the development that has already happened to the character. I feel like this makes Jim Casey seem more real and less created. He used to be a virtuous man to people in the typical preacher way-- trying to make better people who turn from sin, though he did not follow what he preached. We see, in the deep conversation that occurs between him and Tom Joad, that he has found a new perspective on the bigger picture of life: mankind is sinful and should not judge their own actions and make themselves hypocrites. It takes a very wise man to step off his holy status and understand his own sin. Steinbeck did this very well.
Update: Forgot to end with a question.
Is this development of Jim Casey in line with what Booth says in Chapter 2? Does Steinbeck properly disguise himself to make his description of Jim Casey realistic? Is the story telling itself?
Update: Forgot to end with a question.
Is this development of Jim Casey in line with what Booth says in Chapter 2? Does Steinbeck properly disguise himself to make his description of Jim Casey realistic? Is the story telling itself?
This is a good question--is Casy realistic (in the sense that we can't sense the author's disguise), or is he an obvious mouthpiece? How can we tell?
ReplyDelete