John Steinbeck's masterpiece was largely responsible for him receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. But no great work of art comes into existence without some sort of prior influences, beginning with the format utilized to tell each story in question. As a lover of great world literature, I was struck by a similar literary technique present in several classic novels including The Grapes of Wrath and the way it relates to some biblical narratives. This technique consists of beginning a story and then periodically interrupting it with inserted blocks of writing that do not directly carry the plot forward at all but do locate the plot into a some sort of larger context. The result is an interesting one with chapters alternating back-and-forth that illuminate one another.
Notre Dame de Paris
This famous Victor Hugo novel is better known in English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I was reminded of it the other day while watching a documentary on the work going on to rebuild the cathedral after the recent massive fire. The plot itself is, to tell the truth, a rather melodramatic and sentimental pot-boiler (as are many other works by Hugo) concerning a beautiful gypsy girl, a priest who has evil intentions concerning her, and the deformed bell-ringer who saves her, at least temporarily. But what elevates the book to great literature is the presence of periodic chapters that do a beautiful job of setting the scene in Paris at the time.
Robert Louis Stevenson said concerning this story, “Old Paris lives before us with newness of life...We forget all that enumeration of palaces and churches which occupies so many pages of admirable description, and the thoughtless reader might be inclined to conclude from this, that they were pages thrown away; but this is not so; we forget, indeed, the details, as we forget or do not see the different layers of paint on a completed picture; but the thing desired has been accomplished, and we carry away with us a sense of the 'Gothic profile' of the city.” One might even say that the city herself becomes the most memorable character in the book.
Moby Dick
This is Herman Melville's masterpiece and my personal candidate to win the title of the Great American Novel. Again, the plot itself can be summarized rather simply: a seaman named Ishmael signs on to serve on a whaling ship captained by a monomaniacal man whose only desire in life is to find and kill the white whale. The symbolic significance of the whale has been endlessly debated by literary scholars. But the reason I include it here is that Melville utilizes the same literary technique he also used, much less successfully, in earlier books such as White-Jacket and Redburn – interruption of the plot over and over again with chapters on subjects such as the city of Nantucket, a sermon on Jonah, reflections on a whale skeleton, a treatise on the subject of the whale's whiteness, etc. All of these “extraneous” chapters serve to root the simple sea tale geographically, scientifically, and theologically.
Then we come to the earliest examples of literature that may have set the stage for format of all the above works – Leviticus and Revelation.
Leviticus
One literary feature that this book shares with Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy is an alternation between blocks of narrative and legal material. In Leviticus, the legal prevails to an overwhelming extent, but the historical material must not be overlooked (or viewed as an intrusion), as stressed by several commentators. The end result of such an ordering of material is stated by a number of such scholars:
“What is found...is a sophisticated patterning of both narrative and legal sections, which often serve each other as 'breaks' or shifts...” (Baroody and Gentrup)
“Leviticus is a book of laws set within a narrative framework...Leviticus is...more than a description of past historical events and more than a collection of dated laws. It tells us about God's character and will, which found expression in his dealings with Israel and in the laws he gave them.” (Wenham)
“Far from interrupting the narrative, the laws complete it, and the story exists for the sake of the laws which it frames.” (Damrosch)
“...the way in which the law is given in a historical context and by means of historical narrative suggests that it can be properly understood only within Israel's history, which in turn is evaluated by the standard of the law.” (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)
Figure 1: Overall Structure of Leviticus
NARRATIVE LEGAL
I. Voluntary Offerings (chs. 1-3)
II. Sin Offerings (chs. 4-7)
A. Disobedience (chs. 8-10)
III. Clean and Unclean (chs. 11-15)
B. Obedience (ch. 16)
III'. Ethical Laws and Feasts (chs. 17-23)
A'. Disobedience (ch. 24)
II'. Sabbath and Conclusion (chs. 25-26)
I'. Voluntary Vows (ch. 27)
In addition, if one steps back a bit and looks at the Pentateuch as a whole, the same alternation occurs. After Genesis, which serves as an introduction to the following four books, we have the narrative of the journey to the Promised Land beginning with Exodus. But then most of the action slows down or halts entirely in Leviticus only to have the story resumed where it left off in Numbers. And finally, we have a rehearsing of all the previous events in Deuteronomy as the people pause on the edge of Canaan. It is a again a matter of action and reflection.
Book of Revelation
The observed ABA arrangement of Revelation 1-4 suggests that there may be a similar overarching pattern in the rest of the book by which heavenly scenes of a more or less positive nature alternate with scenes concentrating on judgment and tribulation directed towards earth. The importance of such alternations may be, according to Phillips, to indicate that the “ultimate purpose of God is to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven.” Commentators from E. W. Bullinger to Raymond Brown have recognized such a pattern as a possible organizing principle for the whole of Revelation, but they and others usually identify only eleven or less such alternating blocks in the book. A more exhaustive listing is pictured below:
Figure 2: Alternating Patterns in Revelation
Section Heaven / Theophany Earth / Judgment
I 1:1-20
2:1-3:22
4:1-11
-------------------------------------------------
II 5:1-14
6:1-17
7:1-8:5
8:6-9:21
10:1-11
11:1-14
11:15-19
---------------------------------------------------
III 12:1-12
12:13-13:18
14:1-5
14:6-20
15:1-16:1
16:2-21
17:1-18
18:1-24
19:1-10
19:11-20:3
20:4-6
20:7-15
-----------------------------------------------------
IV 21:1-4
21:5-8
21:9-21
21:22-22:5
V 22:6-7
22:8-15
22:16-21
If the interruptions seen above in the regular back-and-forth scheme above signal the beginning of a new major unit, then the book can be divided into four main sections: a prelude consisting of chs. 1-4, a series of visions beginning “I saw” in 5-11, the body of the action in chs. 12-20, and concluding items in the last two chapters. The body begins (ch. 12) appropriately with what has been called “a representative summary of the whole book of Revelation” (Ryken) and “the theological key to the book” (Ford) D. H. Lawrence also noted a distinct change of tone to Revelation beginning with ch. 12, and several other commentators have proposed a major break in the book after ch. 11 (Beale). Chapters 20-21employ the statement “I saw” exactly seven times. It is somewhat hard to distinguish between the realms of heaven and earth within this section since now heaven has actually come down to earth.
The Grapes of Wrath
With the above background, we can now return to Steinbeck's masterpiece, which follows the Joad family on their long trek from the Dust Bowl land of Oklahoma to their pictured land of milk and honey in California. It is a powerful and heartbreaking story that is rescued from being yet another muck-raking, politically-motivated novel by the inclusion of alternating chapters that step back from the chronicle of the Joads in order to comment on the widespread events happening in America at the time that affected myriads of families, not just the one in question.
One logical question to ask concerning the title is whether it just refers to the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic or whether there is a deeper association with the biblical passages to which that song alludes. Apparently Steinbeck's wife was the one suggesting the title after the book was mainly finished. So although her idea came directly from that song, it certainly fits in with the many biblical allusions in the novel. The lyricist of that work, Julia Ward Howe, took the imagery directly from Revelation 14:18-20, which reads in part: “So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press.” This prediction of God's coming judgment on the wicked of the world and on an unjust and oppressive economic system is certainly one of the main themes of his book.
And it is certainly not far-fetched to suggest even closer associations with themes in the Bible present in Grapes of Wrath consistent with other works of his in which he shows an acute awareness of biblical literature. Witness his long novel East of Eden in which the conflict between Cain and Abel plays out over several generations in a family. His familiarity with the New Testament as well is seen in an early novel, To a God Unknown, with its title taken from Acts 17:23. This last example especially demonstrates that Steinbeck was more than just a casual reader of Scripture.
Parallels between Grapes of Wrath and Revelation
Since the title of the book squarely associates it with the apostle John's final book, it is tempting to look for other parallels. Thus, getting back to the subject with which we began, the literary structure, note that Revelation can be seen as a regular alternation between scenes in heaven and those on earth. This technique has the effect of showing how the events that occur on earth all have their direct origin in the actions of God.
In Steinbeck's book there is similarly a regular alternation in chapters between the saga of one particular family interspersed with chapters commenting and describing the same basic action affecting a huge portion of the American population during the great Dust Bowl. And quite unlike the other examples of world literature described above that use this storytelling technique, there is rarely a disruption in this alternation, just as in the Book of Revelation (see Figure 2). And when a disruption does occur in this strict structure, it can signal the start of another major portion of the book, as in Revelation. Thus, between chapter 10 of Grapes of Wrath where the Joads pack up their belongings to leave and chapter 13 where they actually set off west is the only place where the pattern is broken by two chapters interrupting the narrative.
Since the full title of Revelation is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” we need to keep in mind that the book actually reveals fully the identity of Christ and recaps in symbolic language the time between His Incarnation and the Second Coming. So it is no surprise that Grapes of Wrath contains its own Christ figure, Tom Joad, Jr. The book opens with him unexpectedly appearing back home when he is released early from his seven-year jail sentence. At this point, the reader should recall the crucified Jesus' unanticipated release from death and Hades. This parallel is especially likely in view of the symbolic use of the number seven in the Bible (and especially in John's writings such as Revelation) to stand for something that is complete. Jesus did not have face the complete punishment of permanent death, but was, like Tom Joad, released early “for good behavior.”
When Tom appears before his family, neither his father nor his mother realizes at first who he is. This detail should certainly remind us of the appearances of the resurrected Jesus to those who knew him but did not recognize him initially. Within the Gospel of John alone, we could cite his encounters with Mary Magdalene (20:14), the assembled apostles (20:20), and Thomas (20:27-28). From the other Gospel accounts, we could add the two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:15-16) and those unnamed people who saw the resurrected Christ but still doubted (Matthew 28:17).
Accompanying the Joads on their trip is the preacher Jim Casy who actually baptized Tom when he was a young boy. Casy had been highly respected for his tent revival meetings, but he is now disillusioned in the faith. However, near the end of the story he is killed by a blow to the head from a policeman who is trying to stop a fruit-pickers' strike led by Casy. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see here a type of John the Baptist who baptized Jesus, came to doubt whether Jesus was the expected Messiah (Matthew 11:3), and died by decapitation after confronting a civil authority.
At the end of the story, Tom Joad must leave his family, but he makes a short farewell speech saying, “I'll be ever'where – wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beating up a guy, I'll be there...An' when our folks eat the stuff they crave an' live in the houses they build – why, I'll be there.”
Compare these words of Jesus:
“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:18-19)
Parallels between Grapes of Wrath and the Exodus Narrative
Above I have shown the structural similarities between Steinbeck's novel and the Exodus story told in Exodus-Deuteronomy, and especially within Leviticus. Thus, one might also suspect that the whole exodus from Oklahoma to California parallels the Israelites' journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. For example, in Grapes of Wrath the travelers are constantly told of the land abundant with fresh fruit everywhere that waits for them ahead (i.e. a land flowing with milk and honey). They find it is indeed so, but when they arrive it becomes obvious that they will have to work hard to actually possess any of the riches of the land, which are in the hands of others. The same thing occurs when the children of Israel begin to possess the land of Canaan.
Also, the possession of the land cannot take place until the previous generation of Israelites has all died out. Similarly, in the novel both Grandpa and Grandma Joad die during the journey, the latter just as they are on the edge of the fertile California valley.
If there is a parallel between these two sagas, then it is no surprise that the hero Tom Joad is a type of Moses as well as of Jesus. And the identification between those two leaders of Israel is made abundantly clear in the gospels, especially that of Matthew. Some details in the novel help to confirm the Mosaic character of Tom.
Both of them obviously have a problem in holding in their temper. Grapes of Wrath begins with the information that Tom has been in jail for killing a man with a shovel, and at the end of the book it is his killing of a policeman while trying to defend Jim Casy that causes him to flee from the authorities. In the case of Moses, he starts out by killing an Egyptian who has been abusing an Israelite worker. And then, he ends up being banned by God from entering the Promised Land for his striking a rock in a fit of temper.
Tom, along with his brother Al (Aaron?), is the de facto leader of the trek through the wilderness of the Southwest since they are the only ones who can drive the cars. He leaves Al in charge of the family when he is forced to leave them. The same thing is true of Moses, who is the leader of the troop through the wilderness but must turn over the reins to Joshua when they must part company at the end.
For someone who is interested in seeking out even more minor details that connect Steinbeck's masterpiece with biblical narratives and themes, there are probably many I have missed in my cursory review above. For example, there is the similar scene between the recently paroled Tom and the Joads sitting around an open fire outside cooking pork and the recently resurrected Jesus preparing fish over a fire to feed his followers. And if I really wanted to stretch a point, I could even draw a parallel between the almost miraculous finding of just the right model all-important piston and piston rod for their broken car by Tom and Al and Aaron's miraculous rod used by Moses and Aaron on several occasions.
The above is an example of how great works of art can be inspired by the Bible and, in turn, the Bible can help to interpret the underlying meaning of those works.
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