How and why does Jim Casey's view of religion change? Use textual support. Each of you should list one point; don't just repeat someone else's answer. Analyze and synthesize, don't just write about surface ideas.
Also, the title of this novel comes from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Analyze the song and how it relates to the novel thus far. Be specific.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
29 comments:
Jim Casy was a believing preacher, when he fell to the temptations of earth, namely adultry. He began to think and concluded that there was no sin, just nice and mean actions. So he stopped believing in God.
In line two the song talks of God trampling the vintage, meaning that God was ruining the era, symbolizing the dust bowl. A similar idea is portrayed in line three, where God is unleashing his power upon the earth.
Jim Casey changed from a firm believer in God to a antagonistic view of only ony right and wrong. There is no sin if the action is full of righteousness.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic is present in the novel because of the bank who buldoezes the houses. "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;" The grapes of wrath are free now they will wander else where.
Jim Casy states, "Maybe its just the way folks is. There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do." Not only does this go to show human imperfection, it shows selfishness. A preacher, so filled with the Spirit, one day convinces himself that what he's doing with the girls isn't wrong and rather then continuing to believe in God and ask for forgiveness, he is too selfish to own up and admit what he did was wrong and instead decided there's no such thing as sin.
Thus far, the line "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" relates to how many people thought the Dust Bowl was the end of the world. This line, "He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat," relates to Jim Casy's idea that he now believes that maybe there isn't a God, or sin, just people. The line says he's sifting out those whose hearts are impure and unfortunately, Casy's once passionate belief in God is beginning to fray.
Jim was a believer in God. A firm believer. Temptation washed over him, and the devil had won. Jim stopped believing in God.
The song, Battle Hymn of the Republic" was written during the Civil War. When we were fighting to bring the Union back together. The author of this poem, now song, wrote this after seeing the camps that the soldiers stayed in. Just as many people were fighting to be free during the Civil War, (namely slaves), many people are fighting to be free and away from the Dust Bowl and Depression.
Jim Casey gives up his belief because he feels everything people do is holy. Just like anyone, he questions his religion. “there ain’t no sin and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do. It’s all part of the same thing.” is said by Jim, after decided his want for sexual pleasures and young women is not wrong, nor a wall seperating the "divine plan."
The Battle Hymn Republic was written to represent the fighting during the Civil war, and the emotions flying. The lyrics also tie in with the sturggle during the 1930's not only in the Dust Bowl era, but The Depression. Some thought it was a sign from God that things must change, while others were not sure what to think. Similar to the Civil War.
His view changes as he starts to think about his encounters with women who seem to be very holy. He feels bad that he gets these people all excited about god and then does things ungodly. making him a hypocrite.
the song speaks of reading the bible in the dim lamps. during dust storms, im sure that many people sat inside homes with their families reading the bible and praying by the light of a lamp through the dusty air.
Jim Casey's religious viewpoints change to justify his impure actions. He decides he doens't love Jesus because he knows no one named Jesus. He says that he loves people, and only preaches what he thinks will please the people. He specifically wants to please the mistresses so they will be "filled with the spirit." Casey becomes too caught up in earthly temptation rather that the call to connect people to thier faith. He comes to believe that actions are a result of the human spirit. Although the reason for his turn against religion is dishonorable, he makes a mature decision to stop preaching.
The first line in the song represents the emotions of people during the dust bowl. The power and glory of God were evident to the people because they did not know what else could cause such an awesome, terrible storm. “As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal” represents how God tells the victims of the Depression that his grace will be with them as they deal with trying times.
Jim Casy was a devout preacher until he began to think twice about his life. He started to have sinful ideas and therefore stopped being a reverend. One of the reasons that pushed Casy to stop believing was because he thought "that's the Holy Sperit-the human sperit-the whole shebang." In other words, everyone is tied together through human kindness which forms the Holy Spirit and relgion itself. Afterall, once Casy begins looking for various reasons and explainations for religon, this seems probable.
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is where the title of Steinbeck's novel originated. As lines two and three relate to the power of God that is unleashed upon Earth which lead to the Dust Bowl, the phrase "His truth is marching on" can relate to the truth of the actions which lead to the Dust Bowl. In other words, the poor farming techniques and such which were a major part of the Dust Bowl were the "truth".
Jim Casy is a man who got to thinking, a big no-no in religion but thinking all the same. After each of his "meetings" or religous services, Casy would lead a willing young girl into the brush for love making, usually a different one each time. This causes a problem for Casy. For him to continue in this scandalously sinful manner, would not only be moral irreprehensible but also hypocritical of him as a preacher. This is were the paradox presents itself. For how can something that feels so good and spreads so much joy be evil? and further more why is pain and suffering promoted as a means of salvation as with the nuns and their acts of corporal mortification? This difficult question of why a just god would encourage pain and deny pleasure causes Casy's religious beliefs to unravel at their core until he finally comes to a settling thought. What if there is no God in a literal or physical term, but instead he is an idea or perhaps even more than that. Perhaps he is a sense almost of a righteousness and good that mankind must strive for by loving each other. As Joad reminds, however, this manner of thinking is far to complicated and will not go over well with the populous, and so old Jim Casy is left with "the call to lead the people, an' no place to lead 'em."
As for the whole Battle Hymn thing, I haven't a clue. I'm surprised most people could understand what the lyrics were saying. I do think it ironic the the song seems to praise the Lord and this chapter almost refutes.
Jim Casy, Tom's former preacher, stopped preaching because of his confusion between what he was saying and what he was doing. He decided sin did not exist, justifying one side of his conflict, the sex he was having with young women.
The Battle Hymn represents the march that everyone in the dust bowl was making. It is a marching song, and goes hand in hand with the novel. Thus far, Tom's journey through life has been a troubled one. The line "his truth is marching on" depicts the hard times that the people brought on themselves by destroying the land, drinking alcohol (which fueled the fight that landed Tom in jail), and violence towards a fellow man (the fight in which Tom killed the guy). Now the face behind the prosperity and good times hit, and the truth is making everyone march, migrate, return home, and struggle for survival.
I am not sold on the idea that Jim was a very firm believer in the first place. If he was so devout in his beliefs he would have never been with those girls to begin with. He may have had some religious value but they were weak and washed out after he commits his sin.
"He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave" This could represent the waves of dust overcoming the land during the time of the novel.
Jim Casey is a man confused and bewildered by his view of religion. Casey’s feelings on religion change over time because of the “sin” that he lets occur in his life and seems to have zero control over. Casey perfectly describes his own religious situation when saying, “I got the call to lead people an’ no place to lead ‘em.” It is ironic that Casey would baptize other to grow strong in the Lord, yet he himself would “take one of them girls out in the grass and lay with ‘em.” Casey’s view of religion does not simply change it gets skewed to fit a picture that makes sense to him. He uses his view of religion to justify his own mistakes.
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is a song filled with hope, the first line “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”, shows that people have faith in the Lord and their belief that justice and glory will prevail is overriding. This compares to the hope of people in this era. It relates to the novel thus far in that Joad, Casey, and the other characters are hoping for a better life, or a chance to start anew. The third stanza reminds me of Casey, and his view of religion. This could possibly give hope to him that temptation will not win, rather that God would be “marching on.” The marching of this song also relates to the “marching” of the turtle. His journey compares to that of those originally listening to this tune praying for justice, freedom, and survival.
It is possible that Casy has undergone cognitive dissonance, he has changed his beliefs in order to justify his actions. However, I think he may have just stopped taking everything he was taught without questioning it and realized that some things he had previously thought true no longer made sense. An example of this change would be his realization that bad words in fact are not bad, they mean nothing unless you hold them mean something. There is nothing inherintly evil about cussing, words are just and expression of an idea, the word itself mean very little to nothing.
Really? These two things can be compared? Well my simple mindedness draws a blank except for the obvious. The song deals with God and his returning and so far chapter four deals with God and his leaving, or at least the idea of him to Casy.
Jim Casy used to be a preacher, believing very strongly in God and in the Bible. At this point, he seemed to only believe what he grew up taught to believe. He sinned a great deal, however, and began to think himself unfit to be a preacher. Once he began to dig deep within himself, he stopped going along with what people are "supposed to believe in", and began wondering what he honestly believed.
The song has a great deal of content dealing with the Lord. This relates to the novel as Casy and Joad have conversed about religion.
The change in jim Casy's beliefs is most evident by his moral conflict with sexual activity. Eventually, Jim concludes that the holy spirit is the cumulative spirit of all humans. His change specifically evolved to make his action with women seem "moral". If human spirit is the holy spirit, then any human happiness should automatically please God. Therefore, if Casy is pleased with his actions and so are hisi partners, then it is no longer a sinful action. Jim's change in religion might make it easier for him to accept Tom after he learns of his crime. If Tom was happy with his actions and would even do them over again, then they could be considered moral if human happiness comprises morality, but the text doesn't necessarily support that conclusion.
This post will respond the second part of the post question. The Battle Hymn of hte Republic basically talks about each person receiving their due and also that God has fate planned out for everyone, and that eventually people will pay for their actions, good or bad. This is specifically seen in ",he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." I interpreted this to mean that just like vineyard workers stomp on grapes to make wine, God is flattening the grapes that will eventually reveal everyone's destiny. In this case, the farmers look towards a divine reward while the bankers, etc look towards an earthly reward for their deeds. Another interesting observation about this song is that it is used during war, basically by saying that America is spreading divine will. Just like that can often be a reason for us to believe we are right in battle, on the other hand it can be used by others as their justification and reason for fighting. Just like the farmers thought that they were right and holy, the bankers did not find themselves morally objectable either.
This post will respond the second part of the post question. The Battle Hymn of hte Republic basically talks about each person receiving their due and also that God has fate planned out for everyone, and that eventually people will pay for their actions, good or bad. This is specifically seen in ",he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." I interpreted this to mean that just like vineyard workers stomp on grapes to make wine, God is flattening the grapes that will eventually reveal everyone's destiny. In this case, the farmers look towards a divine reward while the bankers, etc look towards an earthly reward for their deeds. Another interesting observation about this song is that it is used during war, basically by saying that America is spreading divine will. Just like that can often be a reason for us to believe we are right in battle, on the other hand it can be used by others as their justification and reason for fighting. Just like the farmers thought that they were right and holy, the bankers did not find themselves morally objectable either.
Jim Casy ovbiously was not a righteous or mature enough person to be a preacher. They are supposed to be a firm believer in God. In some religions preachers are thought to be very similar to God therefore Jim should have been able to own up to his mistakes, ask for forgiveness, and show others what he did was wrong.
The battle hymn relates to the book because it talks about bad things happening, but inspite of everything God is able to help bring people through to the good times. The same thing happens in the book. There are hard times for everyone during the Dust Bowl, but everyone gets through it eventually.
Jim Casy was a preacher was a man filled with the "Holy Speirt". Even though he was filled with the "Holy Speirt" he let the temptations of the world get a hold of him and conviced himself that there was nothing wrong with fornicating with the girls,that there was only nice and mean actions, and that people where just the way they were. This is proof that Casy was nothing more than more than a pretender in his faith. Therefore he easily let go of his faith.
One line of the song speaks of God loosing His terrible swift sword. The Dust Bowl can be looked as God doing just that.
Jim Casy's quote "there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue" describes his current viewpoint the most accurately. He is basically saying that what certain people claim is "right" or "wrong" is completely up to their discretion. This theory is a wholly even, fair supposition and teaches every individual an imperative lesson: your view or "right" may not always be someone else's.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic is bursting with lines that describe the emotions and incentives felt by and given to the Oakies from the Dust Bowl. "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;" represents the wrath of God, who is crushing the Dust Bowl time period, but at the same time giving free rein to those who do not want to be trampled.
Jim Casey used to be a man of God - when he believed that there was a "gray" area between good and evil. However, that view changed as Casey committed acts that he could not religiously justify. His world changed to either all good or all evil acts - with nothing in between that could cloud the mind. This view and his acts forced Casey to change his statute into one that lived by divided worlds of all good and all bad.
Many religious followers believed that God was punishing the people of America for their wicked deeds by drying up the land. (What follows is a view that many people held.) As God's anger became enticed by the hatefullness of the land, God decided to allow his fury to be known. To release the truth, he struck at the point where most people would heed: the food and money of America.
As people prayed for forgiveness and begged for salvation, his anger became an easy scapegoat to be blamed for the destruction caused by the Dust Bowl and Great Depression.
People all over America prayed and dutifully read their bibles, hoping against hope that those simple acts of faith would be enough to rid America from the terror of the dust bowl and great depression.
This song is definetly an appropriate title for the book and the era of this time. As many people felt that this wrath was from an angry God, few felt compelled to check elsewhere for other possible catalysts.
Jim Casey's religious beliefs change from blind acceptance to questioning faith. Ultimately, the questioning is upsetting for him because society does not accept his views even though he comes up with a conclusion that is possibly even more faithful: the holy spirit of God is present in human actions.
"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat." This part of the song relates directly to the novel in that the Dust Bowl appears to be one big test of faith. People must pray and keep working to try and keep up the values they know are right.
Casey's opinions changed as he said because he was too caught up in women to be able to help them religiously. However, I think he began to feel extreme guilt, and if you are feeling guilty, sometimes it seems better to just ignore the cause of the guilt, in this case, God, and religion as a whole. I believe he's just trying to justify his actions.
"Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on."
I believe here that the hero is the farming, and the agricultural community as a whole, and the serpent is those unwilling to help the farming community, such as those who tractor the families out.
Jim, in a way, is somehwat of a hypocrit because he teaches people about God and being holy, but yet he does many unholy actions himself. This causes him to question himself and his religion; which in turn, he slowly begins to lost faith in God.
In line three God is destroying everything just as the Dust Bowl is doing. In line four about marching on, the people who have endured the terrible wrath of God and the Dust Bowl are forced to march on.
During the prime times of his career as a preacher, Jim Casey could speak the holy truths of the bible and give his congregation a “dose of the Sperit” that would keep them from sinning for weeks. He did this by preaching the same Christian ideas he had heard from numerous other preachers over time. The ideas and themes of his sermons were the same ideas and themes that had been preached for thousands of years.
Yet, over time, Jim Casey came to realize that all the biblical truths he had been taught, and had been teaching, did not necessarily apply to the current society and were not necessarily true. He came to realize that what he had been preaching did not really make sense at all, and that the more he thought about it, the more he found that other views and beliefs make much better sense, and better answered his questions of deeper things.
It must be taken into consideration that certain actions, mainly involving fornicating with young women, may have triggered these realizations; however, they were definitely not the sole causes of them. Simply because he strayed from accepted, practice religion does not mean Jim Casey had become a godless heathen. His actions with the young women did make him somewhat of a hypocrite when he was teaching the Word of God, yet they alone do not make him into a horrible person.
“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” like almost everything, can be analyzed in countless ways; from countless angles. From one angle, lines such as “As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,” “Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet,” and “He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword” could be interpreted as referring to the owners of larger businesses and corporations of the day, and how they, like many other individuals throughout history, used the bible to justify their actions. This ties in with the novel in that the owners of such businesses and corporations exercised their immense power by throwing families off of their land, and by raising prices while the small farmers had no more money than they have ever had, and for no other reason than to gain a little excess profit.
Jim Casey’s view of religion changes incredibly. He goes from a preacher to a sinner. Jim was a good preacher because he talks about how he would get people jumping, talking in tongues, and glory shouting until they passed out. Many of the people also looked up to him because they would be baptized and they would take their children to be baptized. Tom even says that his mom favored Jim more than anyone else.
After Jim would make the people pass out, he would take one of the girls out in the grass and he would lay with her. Jim knew that what he was doing was bad, but it seems that he could not help it, because he says that he would pray and pray but then he would do it again. It is unusual to read about a preacher that seemed to be so full of God, all of a sudden think that the spirit is just love, not believe in Jesus, and think the Holy Spirit is just the human spirit. After reading this chapter, it seemed to me that Jim Casey chose to take the easy path instead of the difficult path. He gave up on what was right, and chose to lay back instead. The song “Battle Hymn of the Republic” can be analyzed in many ways because it fits the story in many was. The line that interested me more was “He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave.” This line makes me think of Jim Casey because he was once God’s footstool and he was once wise,but he is now his slave and not to brave.
Jim Casey was a great preacher before the Dust Bowl. He said that he "got the people jumpin and talkin in tongues...till they passed out" but after that he said "I'd take one of them girls out in the grass, an' I'd lay with her". Like most of the people during the great depression and the Dust Bowl, he lost his belief in Jesus and his power. His adulturous ways strayed him from his spirituality and got him all confused on what he wanted to do in life.
The song has some irony to it because its praising the lord and many of the people in the grapes of wrath are straying from him.
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