The Grapes of Wrath - 17

In the book The Grapes of Wrath there are many parallels, allusions, and correlations to the Bible. In fact, much of the book is an allusion to the Bible and the life of Moses as well as Jesus. There are also many other random things in the book that point the reader to the Bible and refer to things in the Bible. I think the author did that to have the Bible on the reader's radar, so that they might pick up on the fact that most of the book is about Moses and the Exodus.

A police officer unjustly killed preacher Jim Casy, and because of that, Tom was angered and killed the police officer. Tom had no right to kill the police officer, but the police officer had no right to kill Casy either, and that set Tom off. This incident is a direct parallel to Moses. After Moses found out that he was indeed an Israelite, but raised an Egyptian, he saw an Egyptian man beating an Israelite slave. This angered Moses extremely and he killed the Egyptian man, just as Tom killed the police officer. After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to the wilderness in hiding, just like Tom did. (Steinbeck 386-390)

After God called Moses out of hiding, he freed the Israelites from Egypt and began leading them to the promised land- Canaan. Canaan was the promise land to the Israelite people just as California was the promised land to the migrant people of America in the 1930's. In the Bible, the Israelite people were complaining were grumbling and complaining on their way to the promised land. They wanted to turn back and go home, where it was safe and they knew what to expect. Every day, God blessed them by giving them manna, enough to sustain them. He also provided water for them and sent a pillar of fire during the night and pillar of cloud during the day to guide them. God was clearly leading them and protecting them, but they still did not trust him and they complained. Because of this, God let the Israelites wander for forty years in the wilderness and he let most of that generation die off and not enter the promised land. This is just like granpa and the group of people he represents. Granpa complained the whole trip and never had faith about it and wanted to go back. In turn, he never made it to California.

Also, the "Rules of the Road" are established during the migrant's journey to California, just as the Ten Commandments are established for the Israelites on their way to the promised land. (Steinbeck 193) When Ma is speaking to Tom, in one instance she says "We're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people-we go on" (Steinbeck 280) That quote is a parallel to the Israelites, which were God's promised people.

Another example, is after the forty years of wandering, there was a group of men right before arriving to the promised land decided that they wanted to settle outside of the promised land because they knew it was a safe place. This is a direct parallel to Noah and how he left the Joad family right before entering California.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.