A Discussion of Religious Elements in To a God Unknown

1933年，小说《致一位未知的上帝》出版，讲述了一个家庭向西迁到加利福尼亚的故事。在许多主题中，有一个占主导地位的主题，那就是宗教信仰和冲突。书中的每一个人都坚定不移地坚持着自己的思想和信仰。对宗教信仰的真诚催生了一系列行为。在这篇文章中，我们认为约翰·斯坦贝克的书与信仰高度相关，因为它的内容包含了大量的异教徒元素，圣经和希腊史诗。

In 1933, the novel To a God Unknown was published, and it described the story of a family moving westward to California. Among many themes, there is one dominant theme, that is religious belief and conflict. Everyone in the book is unswerving in their own ideas and beliefs. The sincerity for religious belief has spawned a series of behaviors. In this essay, it is argued that John Steinbeck’ s book is highly related to beliefs because the contents contained a lot of pagan elements, Bible and Greek epics.

This novel, between 1920s and 1930s, tells the mysterious story of a person called Joseph trying to control the power of nature with a new understanding of God, which makes it full of pagan elements. Trees, as ancient images with great vitality, exist in ancient myths and religious legends of all ethnic groups in the world, and have been endowed with rich meanings in this literary work. Joseph believes that a magnificent tree on the farm reflects the spirit of his father. “His father’s strong and simple being... had entered the tree” (Steinbeck 18). He used the tree as a living and spiritual mentor for the family. So Joseph Wayne’ s struggle with the dry land, the crazy belief in the dying oak tree, and the fanatical superstition in the rain all showed pagan elements. His brother Burton, a sincere believer of Christianity, was frightened by Joseph’s pagan beliefs and killed the tree. “It is devil-worship, ” Burton cried again, “It is unclean devil-worship” (Steinbeck 32). This conflict was related to the specific historical period of the 1920s and 1930s in the United States. The people of this era, on the one hand, suffered the tremendous psychological impact of the First World War, and on the other hand, it entered a new period with the influence of a strong modern consciousness. Amidst the confusion caused by history and the excitement spurred by economic prosperity, people's social values have fundamentally changed, and the puritanical asceticism was violently attacked. There was a popularity of liberal religion in the twentieth century (Clark 1220). This has gave him an independent perception of theology, so Joseph was not an authentic Christian. When faced with this context, people will inadvertently produce a belief and dependence that is beyond rationality. Joseph felt deeply sad about the decline of American civilization and turned to pagans seeking a way to save Western civilization.

In addition, the character and story structure in the Bible have been used by Steinbeck as an invisible frame in the novel. Steinbeck is deeply influenced by religious culture represented by Bible, and the Christian perspective embodied in John Steinbeck 's narrative. It is not difficult for readers to find the theme of travel in To a God Unknown, and this theme is similar to the Exodus led by Moses in the Bible, which records that Moses led the Israeli people to the wilderness. Moses would like to risk his own salvation and rebelled against “the divinely ordained order of salvation and damnation” (Philippa 671). The story that Moses took them out of Egypt to this desolate place in Bible provides a prototype. In the novel, the same scene appears in Joseph's westward movement. Just as the prophet Moses helped the congregation of Israel to find water, Joseph with the prophetic ability, is a spiritual leader to help people find a new place to live. They have no place to sow, no water, no fruit trees, and they are afraid to die here. The crowd turned to Joseph for help, and Joseph consoled others that they should not be afraid. Joseph said, “ Don’t be afraid, Tom. There is something strong and sweet and good in there” (Steinbeck 32). Thanks to the leadership of Joseph, his brother and family shared Joseph's prosperity and the farm flourished.

In the novel, Steinbeck has created a series of characters that embody the spirit of the ancient Greek epic. A lot of figures in Greek epics are marked with selflessness, courage, fearlessness and dedication. For example, a prophet in Greek mythology, Prometheus, took the responsibility of spreading civilization as its own responsibility. He not only brought humans illumination, but also risked his lives to be punished by God (Sherry 35). Many mortals are easily blinded by their own interests, and prophetic characters can benefit others. Joseph and his father not only played the role of pioneers in the westward movement, but more importantly the similar role of Prometheus, the prophet. When Joseph told his father that he wanted to set up a house in the valley of California, his father told to Joseph that he would wait until he died, in order to help him realize the prosperity of life. The father said,“Being up in the air like that I could see things far away”(Steinbeck 2). Joseph, westbound, arrived at the ideal place he expected. He is not only proficient in geography, with a keen observation of nature, but also has shouldered a responsibility for others. “I am staying to protect the land”  (Steinbeck 158). Joseph still defended the land even though he was harmed by the tree’s death. Thus, similarly to figures in Greek epics, Joseph and his father not only have the courage to pioneer, but also the great responsibility of the prophets.

The diverse religious thoughts embodied in the novel seems to be in conflicts, but the theme of redemption before the great law of nature in the novel in the end makes them unified. Facing the drought encountered by the farm, Joseph Wayne tried to act on nature with his own belief of pagan, so that his own farm could be prosperous. He prayed painfully for the oak tree that allegedly brought rain, and he cut his wrists to bleed in order to ask for rain. All of this shows doubts about God and past beliefs, which spirally leads to a person's self-sacrifice. “I should have known... I am the rain” (Steinback 184). At last, he experienced the worst situation: death. This sadly describes the results of religious pagans. But this also reflects a strong sense of Christ's redemption. After Joseph committed suicide, it rained, and people saw a new life and hope. This is also a sign that the human beings will not suffer from the nature with the redemption. But in fact, redemption is related to a failure to acknowledge that the real God is nature itself. Any attempt to control and influence it is a futile attempt. Not only are people closely connected to the land, but people who violate the laws of nature cannot achieve harmony with nature.

To a God Unknown is a novel that combining elements of pagan, with Western Christianity and Greek epics. It puts forward in great detail a series of religious concepts during this period and what influence it might have on people. Behind the pagan elements of Joseph’s behaviors, there is the religious ideology of redemption that is in line with the Western ones, and it also implies the competition between the law of nature and religious belief.

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