The Grapes of Wrath Character's Inspiration?

I found an article that links characters from the novel to characters from the Bible. Rose of Sharon is from the Bible, but this article uses all the characters. For those who check it out, do you think the characters are really linked?

http://taliawaite.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/did-you-know-a-look-at-biblical-allusions/

Chapter 16: Warning Sign

Towards the end of the chapter, Pa Joad tells a man at the campsite all of the plans that he expects to achieve when he arrives to California. Another person described as a "ragged man" laughs at all that Pa is saying. Tom Joad (Pa) asks him what was so funny and the ragged man tells him that all of the rich and promising rumors about the West are false. The ragged man tells Tom that he had returned from California after realizing that there was no hope for higher wages, steady work as well as the death of his son and wife. Of course, this worries Pa but Casy assures him that there experience might be different for them.

It seems Steinbeck notably wrote the encounter between Pa Joad and the "ragged man" to foreshadow the uncertain and difficult times that were up ahead the Joad family. As a result, I believe that this is a huge warning sign for the Joads to pack their bags and call its quits or to reconsider what they are doing.

What would you guys do in this situation? Keep going or find a different alternative?

Chapter 15: Mae

       In this chapter, we are introduced to Mae, a waiter at a diner on Route 66. Even though Mae isn't one of the main characters of the story, I found her quite interesting. She seems to be nice, trying get by just like everyone else. Then a tattered man enters along with two children begging for a loaf of bread. Mae refuses to sell him the bread and the man tells her that he will give her ten cents. Mae claims the bread is worth 15 cents but Al (a co-worker) tells her to sell it to him for ten. He then asks for the price of the candies and Mae lies by saying that they are two for a penny (originally five cents each). What made her have a change of heart? Did she feel guilty after refusing to give him the bread? What do you guys think?

(Keep in mind that she has no idea why all of these families are going west).

Chapter 13: Grandparents

       Throughout chapter 13, Grandpa Joad was not feeling so good and we could tell by now that he wasn't going to make it any further on the journey to California. When he Pa passes away, they bury him with great honor; however, Grandma Joad is now all alone. My family has a saying that goes along the lines of, "Once an elderly spouse dies, the other spouse is bound to quickly follow after." As a result, I predict that Grandma Joad is going to pass away soon. What do/did you guys predict Grandma Joad's future to be?

Chapter 26

I'm upset that Casey dies in this chapter. I'm also afraid for Tom because I think he's going to do something that will get him sent back to Oklahoma. He just keeps getting himself into trouble like killing a man with a pick handle. The last thing the Joads family needs is for another family member to walk out and leave; they have to stick together.

Chapter 8

"She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom

and the children could not know hurt or

fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear,

she had practiced denying them in herself"

Ma Joad is not like the wives in the previous chapters. She is a rock for the family; a foundation. 

Chapter 25

After reading Chapter 25, I was kind of annoyed at the fact that the landowners went through so much work and effort just to accomplish their goal of starving people to death. For starters, it seemed cruel that the large landowners would purposely drive the price of labor down so that the small farmers wouldn't be able to afford to harvest their land and end up losing it. Then, they would let a mass number of food go to waste as the hungry people watched the food decompose on the dirt floor. Crops would be burned and pigs would be killed and thrown into a pit that would be soon covered up with dirt. Also, they would throw perfectly fine potatoes into the river and have policemen prohibit the migrants from getting any from the water. Finally, they sprayed kerosene on hundreds of oranges, knowing that the migrants wouldn't eat them. The only purpose why: just to let innocent and poor people go hungry another day until soon enough they die of hunger or disease. In their minds, they are "making the state a better place." The landowners truly sounded like monsters which can also be compared to the banks in the country states. This quote from the book summarizes everything, "In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."