Question+B


 * B.) Tom Joad learns from Casey and becomes like a disciple to him. What is a disciple? How do we see him become more like Casey along the journey? How do his last words to Ma show the full achievement of his carrying on where Casey left off? **


 * What is a Disciple? **


 * ** One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another. Often one of the original 12 followers of Jesus. **
 * ** In __//How to Read Literature Like a Professor//__ ,Thomas C. Foster states that many authors relate their stories or characters to the Bible, he makes chapter 7 all about the similarities between Bible characters to the characters in a novel. Thomas C. Foster states how the use of biblical allusion adds meaning to the story, "Many modern and post modern texts are essentially ironic, in which the allusions to biblical sources are used not to heighten continuities between the religious tradition and the contemporary moment but to illustrate a disparity or disruption."(p.52). **
 * How do we see him become more like Casey along the journey? **
 * ** At the beginning Tom's mind is set in just living life day-to-day because he has just been released from prison and its his way of coping with the situation. He knows that his past background can make people scare of him but he doesnt see a need to change. **
 * * "You got me wrong, mister," he said. "I ain't keepin' quiet about it. Sure I been in McAlester. Been there four years. Sure these is the clothes they give me when I come out. I don't give a damn who know it. An' I'm goin' to my old man's place so I dont have to lie to get a job."(p.12) **
 * ** Tom eventually learns from Jim Casey that unity is the way for the people to achieve more success in a new state they don't know anything about. He wants people to open their eyes and not let anybody discrimate them for the way they look or where they come from. **
 * * "That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear."(p.396) **
 * * "Two are better than one, because they have a reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lif' up his fellow, but woe to him this is alone when he falleth, for hath not another to help him up."(p.418) **
 * ** Toward the end, Tom stops caring about himself and beginns seeing the world as his family. Tom becomes more of a leader who is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of his family. **
 * * " And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live- for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken...fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe."(p.151) **

X ** Do you think Tom Joad's change of mind throughout __//The Grapes of Wrath//__ made the journey to California easier for the Joad's family and the other travelers? **


 * How do his last words to Ma show the full achievement of his carrying on where Casey left off? **
 * ** Tom's last words to Ma show the full of achievement of his carrying on where Casey left off because he shows how determine he is to make a change in how the higher class treats them. Casey's death is the last straw that makes Tom, risk anything to make life much easier for his family and the other immigrants. Tom is talking to his Ma about how Casey was killed while protesting and that he is willing to do the same, but Ma worries that she won't be able to know if he gets killed. **
 * * Tom's responds like this, **** Tom laughed uneasily, "Well, maybe like Casy says, a fella ain't got a soul of his own, but on'y a piece of a big one-an' then-"... "Then it don't matter.Then I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where- whenever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be in there. Wheneverthey's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll there. If Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'-I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build- why, I'll be there. See? God, I'm talkin like Casy. Comes of thinkin' about him so much. Seems like I see him sometimes." **
 * ** In Chapter 5 of //__How to Read Literature Like a Professor__//, Thomas C. Foster states " there's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature" all the stories one way or other are are related to each other. This chapter is about how the more you read books the more similarities you see between books that at first seem completely original. He goes on to say that "there's only one story" and "every story you've ever read or heard or watched is part of it." **** In this same chapter he talks about how in one of O'Brien novels' he has a character that is very similar to Sacajawea a historical character who helped Louis and Clark in their journey through America. To what character or historical person does Tom Joad remind you of throughout his journey to California? **

[|Bible Answers]