Tom Joad's Redemption In The Grapes Of Wrath

Along with Jim Casy and Uncle John, Tom Joad secures redemption by leaving to protect his family, promising to continue Casy’s legacy, and developing into a stronger character who aspires to restore justice to the migrants, despite his previous nonchalant attitude toward his crime. Initially, Tom Joad has no inclination for absolution, remarking, “I’d do what I done again...I killed a guy in a fight, knocked his head to plumb to squash” (Steinbeck 35). His words indicate his feelings about his crime, and reveal his apathetic and uncaring persona. However, Tom’s attitude shifts when he kills another man shortly after Casy’s death, and “did not sleep. The nerves of his wounded face came back to life...to shake him” (Steinbeck 528). This foreshadows

Rose of Sharon Rivers exemplifies the monumental incidence of redemption when she gives her breast milk to a starving man after losing her child (Steinbeck 619). The ending, although initially leaving readers disturbed and incredulous, comes to represent a beautiful moment, as Rose of Sharon, an initially whiny, dependent, and fragile girl, typifies her growth and strength as a character in willingly nurturing a stranger back to health despite the discomfort of the situation. In this scene, Steinbeck reveals his purpose for writing The Grapes of Wrath as he says, “I went over the whole book in my head-- fixed on the last scene, huge and symbolic...it was a reunderstanding of the dignity of the effort and the mightyness of the theme” (DeMott xxxiii). Instead of showcasing the fate of the Joad family, the ending displays incidences in which the actions of morality and selflessness allow the members of an average migrant family to become heroes. Furthermore, The Grapes of Wrath “becomes the story of mankind’s quest for profound comprehension of his commitment to his fellow man,” demonstrating the impact of redemption throughout the book as a whole (DeMott xiii). The Joad family shifts from the

Most of Steinbeck’s work conveys a deeper meaning or message to the readers, and The Grapes of Wrath presents no exception, as redemption’s prevalence influences the growth of each character. Although the book ends with a tragic flood after the family has faced the loss of Rose of Sharon’s newborn baby, the novel still ends in happiness, since characters such as Jim Casy, Uncle John, Tom Joad, and Rose of Sharon attain redemption and in doing so, become saviors for migrant families. Steinbeck manifests the idea the migration did not necessarily implicate the Joads would find prosperity in the promised land of California, but would instead fulfill the quest for absolution, which results in their heroic