Whom does Steinbeck feel is noble in The Grapes of Wrath?

Writing in and about a time period where there is little
in way of social solidarity, I think that Steinbeck holds a great deal of nobility for
those who advocate what should be instead of what is.  Tom Joad and Jim Casy would be
amongst these individuals.  At a time where individuals were more concerned about their
own self interest, Steinbeck provides a literary hue or enlightened state to Casy and
Tom Joad.  When Joad speaks of the idea of connection between all individuals, one can
detect Steinbeck's nobility transferred to such words:  “Well, maybe like Casy says, a
fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one—an’then—"  The lines
that follow stress the fundamental precept of the novel in that there is a sensitivity
to human suffering that transcends condition and specific context.  This is something
that appeals to Steinbeck and something he sees as quite noble, which is why Joad leaves
his family to join a larger community and carries out the words of Casy in stressing
that social solidarity and collective notions of the good are universal and timeless
qualities, the personification of nobility.