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starting to care about his family by keeping them together. Towards the end of the novel, Tom starts to show his concern for society. This is proven when Tom shares some of Jim Casy’s philosophy with his mother- that every man’s soul is a small piece of one large soul. He says that his own life is unimportant because his spirit will always be present. Tom says he has decided to organize the people. He tells Ma, “An’ I been wonderin’ if our folks got together an’ yelled, like them fellas yelled, only a few of ‘em at the Hooper ranch—,” (571). This quote shows Tom’s intentions and how he wants to benefit society. The theme of brotherhood is demonstrated by Tom caring about everyone instead of only himself. He wants to work together with all the other migrants to benefit all of them, thus showing brotherhood.
Biblical allusion is also used in the novel to reveal the theme of brotherhood. Jim Casy, an ex-preacher is an archetype for Jesus Christ. They both share the same initials of J.C., standing for Jim Casy and Jesus Christ. Their similarities become much deeper as the novel progresses. Casy and Jesus both saw a common goodness in the average man and viewed every person as holy. When Casy is saying grace in chapter eight, he compares himself to Jesus. He said, "I been in the hills, thinkin', almost you might say like Jesus went into the wilderness to think His way out of a mess of troubles," (109). Casy was beginning to feel bewildered and troubled about his faith, but when he ventures into the wilderness and rediscovers himself, he is a new man with a new-found faith just like Jesus was after he came out of the wilderness and went astray from the Judaic religion. Casy again exemplifies Christ when he tells Tom to escape and hide after Tom trips a deputy. The deputy
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was aiming to shoot Floyd Knowls, arrested on bogus charges. Casy takes all the blame himself for the incident when the rest of the deputies arrive because Tom was on parole and could have been jailed again. This is parallel to when Jesus Christ took the blame for all of mankind’s sins. Also, Casy organizes the migrants because the owner cut the workers wages, so Casy leads a strike. Two policemen approach them and Casy protests that the men are only helping to starve children. Then, one of them crushes his skull with a pick handle. Jesus also was a martyr who tried to benefit society and ultimately was killed by being crucified. This develops the theme of brotherhood by showing how Casy is trying to get the people to work together to benefit society. He is trying to help everyone instead of helping himself. Casy wanting to work together with the other migrants displays the theme of brotherhood.
A logical ending is also used in the novel to suggest the theme of brotherhood. At the end of the novel, Rose of Sharon was the only character who did not complete the cycle of character development. At the beginning she was just concerned about herself and her baby because when a car hit the dog, she was worried if witnessing that gruesome event would harm her baby or not. Later in the novel, Rose of Sharon starts to show concern for the family by looking after Tom. After Tom kills the man who killed Jim Casy, Tom needs to hide in the cave. Rose of Sharon watches out for him by making sure no one is looking for him. Until the end, she never shows concern for society. In the last chapter, Rose of Sharon breast feeds a starving man from her milk that was meant for her baby. Therefore, the ending is logical because she completes the cycle of self-family-society. The ending is logical it because it has clues. All the other characters
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complete the cycle of character development thus implying she will as well. A logical ending also must show revelation in a character which this ending does because Rose of Sharon becomes concerned with society. This shows the theme of brotherhood because Rose of Sharon helps a stranger to survive. She now cares about the benefit of everyone and is doing whatever she can to help others, illustrating the brotherhood theme.
John Steinbeck utilizes various techniques in creating his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. Many other authors also use literary techniques to convey their themes in novels. An example of this is the author, Upton Sinclair of The Jungle. Sinclair uses imagery when he describes the man falling into the lard and then the company sells the can of lard. Sinclair also uses symbolism because the title shows how life was like living in a jungle and the workers had to fight to survive. He uses these techniques to portray his themes of corruption and survival of the fittest. The techniques are used to explain that the working conditions must improve and advocate socialism. Many authors, besides these two, also use literary techniques to illustrate their views and themes.