Observation

Briefly discussed in class was the idea of seeing vs. telling, and with the observation that Tom and Casy are the most observant characters in the narrative chapters of The Grapes of Wrath. Personally, I find Tom and Casy being as observant as they are rather interesting considering they are the two characters with the most interesting background stories. Tom is a paroled murderer, and Casy is a preacher who seems to have lost his faith. I will briefly explore the possibility that the recent troubled pasts of Tom and Casy are what lead them to take in more of the surroundings than others.

When left with the Wilson’s car, Tom and Casy talk, and Tom says, “I done it at Mac for four years, jus’ marchin’ in cell an’ out cell an’ in mess an’ out mess. Jesus Christ, I thought it’d be somepin different when I come out! Couldn’t think a nothin’ in there, else you go stir happy, an’ now can’t think a nothin’” (173) It seems to me Tom is able to see all the things going on in the family because he has been in an environment where seeing and thinking is not just discouraged but prevented. Tom’s time in the penitentiary has forced him to be a part of the government system, and with the banks owning the land and forcing his family to move, Tom has had a new system forced upon him. Tom’s time spent in the system has given him the skills to better see the workings of the new system affecting his life.

Casy’s time as a preacher gave him the skills to learn how to read people. Casy was responsible for scrubbing clean the souls of people while examining the almighty; though, the inner turmoil he experienced while contemplating the cosmos has affected his view. Casy understands more than any member of the family when Grampa dies. When discussing Grampa’s death, Casy says, “He knowed it. You fellas can make some kinda new life, but Grampa, his life was over an’ he knowed it. An’ Grampa didn’ die tonight. He died the minute you took ‘im off the place” (146). Casy understands when someone loses the spirit that drives him or her because Casy was supposed to have been driven by faith. Casy’s lost faith doesn’t seem to be his undoing, but his loss of faith causes him to search for a new driving force. It seems Casy’s search for his own driving force gives him insight into the changing lives of people around him.