Grapes of Wrath begins when Tom Joad, imprisoned for homicide, returns home on parole. Near the end of the novel, in a shocking scene of violence, Jim Casy, the preacher who no long preaches -- now a union organizer -- is brutally murdered by the police and Tom attacks the police with their own weapon, probably killing one of them. Yet, despite the fact the film is bracketed with violence, there are other moments of peaceful resistance as when Huston and Tom thwart an attempted riot and do not seek vengeance on the infiltrators.
Is the novel taking a stand on violence? Under what conditions does it flourish? Is it ever justified? What about things like self-defense, vengeance or political action? Is violence inevitable -- or is there a better way?
In The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck the novel takes the stance that violence is wrong and there's a better way. Steinbeck gives examples that violence is wrong such as police searching after Tom, Casy's murder, and Tom coming home from parole from a different murder he did. Casy’s murder was wrong because standing up for what you believe in is right. The blog says, “Jim Casy, the preacher who no longer preaches -- now a union organizer -- is brutally murdered by the police and Tom attacks the police with their own weapon, probably killing one of them”. Casy did not deserve to die because getting killed over a strike should not happen. Tom’s retaliation was justified because, Tom wanted the murderer dead, he also wanted to stand up for Casy and avenge him. This example shows violence flourishes when the unemployment rate is very high and lots of people are fighting and some killing for work anywhere. There is a better way to solve violence because eventually people will find work and it's better to talk things through and if that does not work then violence is ok in that scene. Steinbeck gives an example of the characters diffusing violence, “OK dont tell. But looka here. Don't knife your own folks. We're tryin’ to get along, having fun and keeping order. Don't tear all that down. Just think about it. You're just harmin yourself.” This proves how the Joads even in harsh situations they always try to talk things through before using violence. Tom uses violence many times in his life but before he does he tries to talk it through. To sum up violence is wrong but it can be justified to use it in difficult situations.
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