Chapters 21-26: What Jail Taught a Preacher

Casy realized that everyone was in jail for a reason, they needed something but the only way they could get it was to steal. He realizes while he is in jail that you can easily get your way by doing certain things to get what you want. If you dont like the food then start yelling at the top of your lungs and everyone else may join along and the guards will give in and bring something else to eat. Casy also implies that you have to figure out everything that goes on in jail by going there yourself. He tells Tom that maybe he cant tell him, that he needs to find it out. The larger idea of this realization is that you can pretty much always get your way. You just have to do certain things and you can have anything you want, like different food in jail. I think that Casy liked this discovery and is going to try getting his way with everything from now on. He sees you can always make a change in a situation and make things better off. Casy wants the American Dream to keep living on and wants everyone to be able to live it. Casy is going to keep on fighting for what he believes in until theres no fight left in him. He also thinks that Tom should know this already because he has spent time in jail, but Tom just cannot relate for some reason so Casy gives up trying to explain it.