TWO VERSIONS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

'"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, the one will lif' up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.'"

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (570)

For The Grapes of Wrath, that's the moral of the story, and where is it produced from?  The Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:9-10.  Steinbeck's depiction of religion is peculiar in this way; he harbors and esteems religion's core messages, yet simultaneously ridicules religiosity by distorting religious virtue within character roles. He bounces off extremes, intentionally no doubt.  For instance, chapter twenty-three, last paragraph, gives an account of a preacher "whipping the people with his voice," and the people "looking with frightened eyes at the master," and also Mrs. Sandry at the government camp, with her demented judgments, who is very menacing to Rose of Sharon and others.  Both characters demonstrate religion negatively.  Still the theme rests on more positive aspects such as the selection I chose for this blog: often released through character's Steinbeck has encouraged readers to favor, such as Casy or Tom. My assumption is that these double takes on religion reflect the duality of humankind--the desire to be an individual but be part of a whole and the clash of good and bad within us all. Religion can be used for betterment, or be taken entirely out of its intended context where it ceases to be good.  It becomes similar to the pattern seen with the machines; if the person uses it for good, it is good and vice versa.  It might be pushing it to say religion is the backbone of humanity in this novel, but that is the impression I have come away with. This is not the canonical version of holiness we are taught in church, but a righteousness nonetheless.