How Has The Grapes Of Wrath Changed

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The Grapes of Wrath Essay Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said “All things must change.” This is true in every single thing out there. For my essay topic I was asked not only how Tom Joad and Jim Casy changed from being in jail but also how the jail system has changed. The prison system has changed majorly since the 1930’s. Jim Casy found religion again in jail. In jail Tom Joad learned to cool his hot head. For both Tom and Casy jail improved life. The jail system is not what it used to be. During the great depression the number of prisoners increased greatly from 1925 to 1939. The nation's rate of incarceration climbed from 79 to 137 per 100,000 residents. During that time, many penal institutions themselves had remained unchanged. Convicts lived in a barren environment that was reduced to the absolute bare essentials, unlike today where criminals can get a degree for free. Today there are laws strictly regulating prison labor, but back in 1930's, there were no such laws, so many inmates labored. …show more content…

All you know is his views on the world, so when looking at how he changed, you must look at his views. At the beginning, Casy wasn't sure about his religion or who he was as a person. But after getting out of jail he was self-assured in his belief of God and that he had to preach. Upon seeing Tom again, Casy proclaimed, "But it's in the jailhouse I really got her,“ her being religion. He finally understood what he had been trying to figure out since the beginning of the book. Prison helped Casy to understand not only why he was a preacher but also why he

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