The Over-Soul
Linking to the Grapes of Wrath

Religious Connotations

Casy's Views of Sin

Casy sees good in all things and people. Therefore, there is no "sin" because all acts are good and holy; in fact, according to Casy, man himself is holy.
 
Casy redefines sin, though, and says that everyone is a sinner. "Ever'body got sins. A sin is somepin you ain't sure about" (306). Rather than the conventional definition of sin (an act which is regarded as a transgression of the divine law and an offence against God; a violation (esp. wilful or deliberate) of some religious or moral principle), Casy argues that man alone determines what is sin.

"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. And some of the things folks do is nice, and some ain't nice, but that's as far as any man got a right to say" (32).
"For everybody else it was a mistake, but if you think it was a sin - then it's a sin. A fella builds his own sins right up from the groun' " (306).

 
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