Characters in "The Grapes of Wrath": Uncle John

Uncle John is a very important character to The Grapes of Wrath. He provides insight into the poor people that have breakdowns. He had some trouble before The Grapes of Wrath with a young pregnant wife. She had been feeling sick, but he did not want to pay for a doctor. He told her to just take some medicine and suck it up. She obviously had been more sick than either of them had any knowledge of, because she died the next day. He thought it was all his fault and blamed himself for the rest of his life. It caused him much grief and guilt, and from then on he tried to be perfect. He fasted constantly, had no beer, and gave all he had to the less fortunate. He relapsed all the time though. He would binge on food or beer, but after he was finished, he immediately felt worse and even more guilty than before. He tagged along with the rest of the Joads to California, but his heart was not in it. His heart had been taken from him along with his wife and their child. He tried to restrain himself from binging, but he declared that his "sin" in not taking his pregnant wife to the doctor and having her checked out, overpowered him and he needed to have some drinks. He had some money that he had put aside in case it would happen, so he went to the nearest store and bought as much liquor as he could. He got totally drunk, so that Tom had to carry him to the truck so that the Joads could move. He kept claiming that his "sins" made him do everything and affected everything that he did, even though his "sins" were only in his mind and no one else put any faith in that theory. Uncle John was not an influential character, but he was still important to The Grapes of Wrath.