Bruce Springsteen's 1995 Grammy-winning hit "the ghost of tom joad" best captures the essence of John Steinbeck's 1947 novella The Pearl, with both highlighting instrumental issues such as those of poverty and discrimination, but most frequently drawing upon a common tone of optimism and hopefulness. The discordant chords and heartwrenching lyrics executed by Bruce Springsteen, comparable to Steinbeck's deep intrution into the vitals of human nature, where he has discerned that what truly makes us human is our capability for evil, may quickly deter such a lighthearted approach. However, under such heavy circumstances, both master artists manage to depict an underlying, nearly non-existent theme that circles around the ability of the human to experience comfort…show more content… A similarity in tone can also be discovered through the path of religion or personal beliefs. Due to a lack of possession of materialistic items, those who "suffer" from a lower-class status are actually seemingly at an advantage, as they can survive with possession of basic, non-tangible things. Bruce Springsteen crows about how "he pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag, Preach lights up a butt and takes a drag..." showing how religion is still consequential to these people, that it still serves some importance in their lives, although they know it will not elevate the to a higher status (Springsteen 1). This use of religion in the dismal and dank lifestyle known as poverty shows us the underlying hope in such a horrible situation. This belief can be easily found in the novella The Pearl, as both Kino and Juana pray to the gods the day after their beby is maliciously attacked by a scorpion in order to find a large pearl. John Steinbeck adds another layer of optimism by showing how some apparent power had answered their prayers, therefore making them believe that their god, whom they have pray to consistenly with hopes of being included in a different social class level, is really an "existent"