A paper examining 'Steinbeck’s Multi-layered Use of the Biblical Image' in Michael J Meyer, The Grapes of Wrath. A Re-consideration pp 129-148, published by Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY 2009, xix, 908 pp. (2 Volumes) (Dialogue 7), with documentation and bibliography.
in the Dialogue series, this study presents analyses by senior Steinbeck scholars and several new voices. Issues addressed include accusations about the novel's sentimentality, speculations about its status as a work of naturalism, and questions about its experimental structure. In addition, the language and imagery of the novel, its religious overtones, and its reputation as a radical work of art are revisited with fresh insights.
For full text see Biblical Wilderness in The Grapes of Wrath