Quote 1
"Fella gets use' to a place, it's hard to go," said Casy. "Fella gets use' to a way of thinkin' it's hard to leave." (6.72)
Can you imagine having to leave a place you've lived in your whole entire life? Scratch that. Can you imagine leaving a place you, your parents, and their parents have lived their whole entire lives? The Joads have spent all of their lives cultivating their land, and now they have to start over. Now they have to go to a place they've never even seen before. It would be like a modern day family having to move to the moon.
Quote 2
[Casy:] "Somepin's happening. I went up an' I looked, an' the houses us all empty, an' the land is empty, an' this whole country is empty." (10.35)
When we think about change, we think about new life and new experiences. We think about advancements and growth. But this kind of change rids a huge section of America of life and makes it kind of dead.
Quote 3
[Casy:] "They's gonna come somepin outa all these folks goin' wes' – outa all their farms lef' lonely. They's gonna come a thing that's gonna change the whole country." (16.111)
When Reverend Casy says these words, he almost senses, can almost hear the great migration out of the Dust Bowl and toward California. What does it mean that over 300,000 people left their homes? How does Casy feel about the change that's about to take hold of the country?
Quote 4
[Casy:] "If he needs a million acres to make him feel rich, seems to me he needs it 'cause he feels awful poor inside hisself, and if he's poor in hisself, there ain't no million acres gonna make him feel rich." (18.90)
In the world of this novel, it seems like the prettier the land or idea, the more corrupt the land or idea is. Beautiful appearances hide horrible reality.
Quote 5
[Casy:] "Just Jim Casy now. Ain't got the call no more. Got a lot of sinful idears – but they seem kinda sensible." (4.15)
Casy seems to fight against the black-and-white, good-or-bad nature of religion. He likes to swim in the grey areas in between.
Quote 6
[Casy:] "I ain't preachin' no more much. The sperit ain't in the people much no more; and worse'n that, the sperit ain't in me no more. 'Course now an' again the sperit gets movin' an' I rip out a meetin', or when folks sets out food, I give 'em a grace, but my heart ain't in it. I on'y do it 'cause they expect it." (4.16)
How do people use religion in this novel? Does Casy become any less spiritual even though "the sperit" isn't in him anymore? Who do you think is the most spiritual character in The Grapes of Wrath?
Quote 7
[Casy:] "Here I got the sperit sometimes an' nothin' to preach about. I got the call to lead people, an' no place to lead 'em." (4.25)
Casy seems like a very wise character, a man full of interesting things to say. And yet, he is very quiet around the Joads. Unlike Ma Joad, who always seems to know what to do in a situation, Casy seems more perplexed. He thinks less about the details of life, and more about the larger philosophical questions that plague humans.
Quote 8
[Casy:] "I figgered there just wasn't no hope for me, an' I was a damned ol' hypocrite. But I didn't mean to be." (4.27)
Does the fact that Casy is a hypocrite (a.k.a. doesn't do as he preaches) make him less of a spiritual leader, less of a positive force?
Quote 9
[Casy:] "Before I knowed it, I was sayin' out loud, 'The hell with it! 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.'" (4.35)
Does the way in which landowners kick families off of their land and the way in which they pay families dismal wages count as "stuff people do"? Does this book believe in ideas like "good" and "bad," "virtue" and "sin?"
Quote 10
[Casy:] "Maybe I can preach again. Folks out lonely on the road, folks with no lan', no home to go to. They got to have some kind of home." (6.108)
Casy genuinely wants to help people. His intentions are good, and his heart is big. Does the fact that he slept with women when he was a preacher make him lose his credibility as a spiritual leader?
Quote 11
[Casy:] "All that's holy, all that's what I didn' understan'. All them things is the good things." (10.39)
The details of everyday life are holy to Casy – not people's dreams, aspirations, or goals, but the nitty-gritty details of living.