Quote 7
[Casy:] "Here I got the sperit sometimes an' nothin' to preach about. I got the call to lead people, an' no place to lead 'em." (4.25)
Casy seems like a very wise character, a man full of interesting things to say. And yet, he is very quiet around the Joads. Unlike Ma Joad, who always seems to know what to do in a situation, Casy seems more perplexed. He thinks less about the details of life, and more about the larger philosophical questions that plague humans.
Quote 8
[Casy:] "I figgered there just wasn't no hope for me, an' I was a damned ol' hypocrite. But I didn't mean to be." (4.27)
Does the fact that Casy is a hypocrite (a.k.a. doesn't do as he preaches) make him less of a spiritual leader, less of a positive force?
Quote 9
[Casy:] "Before I knowed it, I was sayin' out loud, 'The hell with it! There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There's just stuff people do. It's all part of the same thing.'" (4.35)
Does the way in which landowners kick families off of their land and the way in which they pay families dismal wages count as "stuff people do"? Does this book believe in ideas like "good" and "bad," "virtue" and "sin?"