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Jim Casy, although often referred to throughout the novel as The Preacher, emphasizes this lost calling early in the
novel. After years of thinking, he has concluded that there is no such thing as sin or virtue; rather, "there's just
stuff peoeple do" (32). In this, he stresses that the abstract concept of religious righteousness is inferior to human
beings and their actions. Man therefore should just live, as this alone is holy. Furthermore, by expressing the concept of
"one big soul" that interconnects all individuals, Steinbeck's indirect, albeit obvious, references to Emerson's The
Over-Soul emerge.
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