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Grapes of Wrath - religious and literary references
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Steinbeck quotation | Religious References | Biblical Notes | Revolutionary Battle Song |
"Grapes of wrath" - Quotation from Steinbeck's eponymous novel
The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage (end of chapter 25)
Religious Refrences in GoW (Source: Stage Notes for CATCO’s production of Frank Galati’s Adaptation of John Steinbeck’s GoW)
Steinbeck’s novel clearly reflects religious inspirations and other American cultural themes and myths. The Joads represent the chosen people, the Iraelites, Americans. The preacher, Jim Casy, just like Jesus Christ (both have the same initials), wanders for awhile, thinking, and rejects old religion for a new one; sacrifices himself for others unselfishly; tells his murderers they know not what they are doing; inspires others (Tom) to carry on the fight. Rose of Sharon’s unselfish act at the end of the story represents the resurrection of Christ. The Bible contains numerous references to “grapes” and “wrath.” In Numbers 13:23, grapes represent abundance; in Deuteronomy 32:32, grapes represent wrath and vengeance. And, of course, Julia Ward Howe’s song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” relates to Revelation 14:19--”the great winepress of the wrath of God.” The phrase in the song, “Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,” clearly is reflected in the last scene of the novel, if one sees the serpent as big business agriculture/capitalism, which had manipulated the Joads, the starving man and boy, and all migrants. Fittingly, perhaps, it was Steinbeck’s wife Carol who came up with the title, after hearing the song.
Revelation 14:19 - Notes (Source: Bible-Prophecy.com)
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the
cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a
sharp sickle in his hand.
15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to
him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the
time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and
the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp
sickle.
18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and
called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp
sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its
grapes are ripe."
19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw
them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed
out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of
1,600 stadia.
This is the final signal from above that the time is right for the
judgment of the Earth to begin. First we see the Conqueror: the one seated
on a white cloud, coming with a sharp sickle, the special cutting and
gathering tool of the harvest. This is a heavenly preview of Christ's coming
from the sky, riding a white horse in Revelation 19:11-16. He will come as
judge and executioner at that time to fight the Battle of Armageddon with
the same result as in this passage: total destruction of his evil enemies.
The conquest is portrayed as the harvest of grapes. In one quick motion,
this reaper will cut off the grapes from the vine of the earth and throw
them into the winepress of God's "grapes of wrath". In the nineteenth
chapter, where this harvest is accomplished, Jesus Christ, as King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, uses a sharp knife from His mouth to "tread the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." (verse 15). The unbelievable
carnage of that battle is depicted figuratively as a stream of blood as high
as a horse's bridle, and extending the length of 1600 stadia. Each
stadion would be approximately 600 feet, the length of a stadium or race
track.
LYRICS
BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC.
BY MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightnings of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
CHORUS--Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps:
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished
rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."
CHORUS--Glory, glory, hallelujah &c.
Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat:
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant my feet!
Our God is marching on!
CHORUS--Glory, glory, hallelujah, &c.
Our God is marching on!
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
CHORUS--Glory, glory, hallelujah, &c.
While God is marching on.
Published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments