Jim Casy's 'prayer'

Jim Casy's 'prayer' was more his thoughts on holyness than anything else. Granma was saying things like "Hallelujah" and everyone was waiting for Casy to say Amen. Steinback wrote that this was just because everyone was used to waiting and Granma had just "timed her responses to the pauses".
Does the prayer and how the family acts have symbolism? Does it say something more about Steinback's religious beliefs?

Jim Casy's prayer p.109-111

Hmm...

The preacher and Tom bring up the conversation involving girls and sexual issues. I'm a little lots here. Is it symbolism or just a couple of dirty perv's??

What was Steinbeck trying to get across to the reader when the preacher came into the story and told Tom Joad about his loss of the Holy Spirit and slepping with lots of girls in the grass? Was Steinbeck trying to attack Christianity by this or did it have something to relate to the Joads lossing their land and the absence of God in that situation?

well here it goes..

ill post on this whenever ive actually read it alrighty

Steinbeck's religious beliefs

On page 32, the preacher and Joad are talking and the preacher poses his "radical" ideas about God:

"Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe it's all men an' all women we love; maybe that's the Holy Sperit- the Human Sperit- the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of"

Do you think that this is Steinbeck's personal belief about God?

The Purpose of Tom Joad and the ex-preacher's Talk

What is the purpose of their talk about taking girls to the grass?????!!

I think it has something to do with the sins of humanity, but is there more to it than just talk?

...Description??

Does anyone notice how Steinbeck is devoting entire chapters to description of setting, clothing, and emotion?? All of chapter 5 was devoted to the mechanical "rape" of the countryside and of the farmland. Does anyone find the whole pathos approach incredibly effective??