Jim Casy is the preacher in The Grapes of Wrath. My first initial impression of him was that of a fat, cheery, Santa Claus type man. However, upon further reading, I realized he is actually quite twisted and confused in his mind. For being a man who is supposed to be extremely religious and teaching the word of God, he has done some pretty awful things. For example: he would take young innocent girls and rape them in the grass, telling them it would fill them with the Holy Spirit. Now I go to church every Saturday evening and never once have I gone into the grass with my priest just to "be filled with the holy spirit." That would be a little bizarre and downright creepy. So, there is most definitely something wrong with the preacher's mind. Also, he seems confused. One minute he is hating God and everything religious and the next minute he is praising God and saying how wonderful everything is. I believe Steinbeck put the preacher in the novel to illustrate that occupations can be deceiving as well. Like I said earlier, I thought him to be a good man, but he actually is not.
Tom Joad is the main character at this point in the novel. I actually like him as a character, which is surprising given the things he has done. He was sent to jail for murdering a man during a drunken brawl. However, because the other man struck first and stabbed Joad, Joad was given parole and let out after only four years. He was given civilian clothes and hitchhiked back home. I thought it was interesting how Joad told the other two guys, Muley and Jim, how he would go back to prison because at least there he had a sense of order and got decent meals. Tom did not have to work for his food. I found that interesting that he would be willing to give up his freedom for order and a meal. However, given the conditions he is in currently, I cannot say I blame him.
Those are my interpretations of Jim and Tom so far in the novel.
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