Redemption In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath

How does the concept of redemption impact The Grapes of Wrath? As John Steinbeck’s critically acclaimed novel, the allegory of the Joad family during the Dust Bowl represents the quest for redemption a myriad of people seek. Generally, the notion of redemption, found in religion, psychology, and in literature, impacts people’s lives in the present day as well as in the midst of the Depression era. In The Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casy, the moral compass for Joad family, utilizes his experience as a former preacher to offer intuition in relation to the nature of sin and inadvertently influence other characters to search for absolution as he did. Likewise, Uncle John feels remorse for the death of his wife, yet encounters redemption in venturing to California and choosing to absolve himself from his guilt. Additionally, Tom Joad, the protagonist, feels no inclination to redeem himself, until one incident induces him to make a sacrifice, therefore allowing him to become a savior for migrant

Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath conveys an underlying message of the vitality of redemption, which becomes especially clear in the transcendence of sacrifice which distinguishes the book as a powerful work of literature. Throughout The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck employs the idea of redemption to illustrate the thoughts, actions, and development of each character, and emphasizes the true essence in the journey to California: obtaining absolution.

The concept of redemption often appears in psychology, religion, and numerous works of literature, including The Grapes of Wrath, as people feel they must make a sacrifice to repent for their sins or overcome their remorse. According to dictionary.com, redemption involves the act of making a sacrifice in order to be forgiven of past iniquities, or “atonement for guilt” (1). In psychology, “a redemption sequence, a demonstrably ‘bad’ or emotionally negative event or circumstance leads to a demonstrably ‘good’ or