An Analysis Of Hazel's Character In 'East Of Eden'

When thinking about the gift offering in the biblical story of Cain and Abel and its impact, one can see many similarities in East of Eden. Cain brought to God “the fruit of the ground” and Abel offered God “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Gen 4 KJV). God preferred the gift of Abel to the gift of Cain.

In the book Ashes, by Laurie Halse Anderson, there is an African American girl named Isabel. Isabel is NOT the normal respectful young lady people would think she might be. Instead, I think of her as being quite opposite of that. She is nice, but I like to think of her as a tomboy. Something to remember though is they are in a war with the British. She doesn’t know who she wants to fight for at first, but then learns what either side has to offer to her.

East of Eden is a story that is based on the biblical stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. Like the story of Adam and Eve, East of Eden has characters that embody Adam and Eve to an extent. While the story of Adam and Eve tells about the beginning of man, how we came to be on this earth, and why we have original sin, East of Eden uses Adam Trask and Cathy Ames as the beginning of a complex and conflicting story of good vs. evil. Adam Trask is presumed to be Adam, good natured and goodhearted, while Cathy is presumed to be Eve. Only while Eve was deceived into committing sin, Cathy embraces it wholeheartedly and commits evil simply for its own sake.

He is also always up for a risk even if it means that he is risking himself but he will not let others get harmed or left behind. He is always going to be confident by going someplace where he doesn't know what he is going to find. They left the original warren because Fiver says he can see into the future, he says something bad is going to happen soon so a couple of the rabbits leave and they gather more rabbits along the way. “‘Fiver and I will be leaving the warren tonight,’ he said deliberately. ‘I don't know exactly where we shall go, but we’ll take anyone who is willing to come with us’” (page 14). Hazel is strong and brave and is willing to go anywhere to help his friends from not being harmed by anything that they may come across. Being brave really helps the leader be a better leader than they already are because they are confident enough to do what is needed although it may scare them. Although Hazel got injured because of the men that came to kill and hurt the rabbits, he still powered through the pain and was a great leader even while he was hurt. Hazel was strong even when he go hurt from running away from the men and falling into a hole that he couldn't get out of. When Hazel was missing because he was in the woods and injured his friends were looking for him because they need him around for them to be safe. Hazel is great at doing what is needed like finding food to survive and helping others get where they need to be. Hazel is always super supportive, for example when they were at the new warren one day the went outside and they found an injured bird and Hazel demanded that they help him and make him get better. Hazel told all of the other rabbits to find food for the bird Kehaar. “‘I believe it's starving,’ said Hazel. ‘We'd better feed it. Bigwig, go and get some worms or something. There's a good fellow’” (page 181) Hazel is being a leader here because he is telling Bigwig to go

Hazel has a strong identity in the story, she has much self-confidence and is not afraid of letting everyone know that she is the best, “Now some people like to act like things come easy to them, won’t let on that they practice. Not me. I’ll high-prance down 34th street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong even if it does get my mother uptight.” p. 1 ll. 29-31. Thus her strong and proud personality, she still loves and protects Raymond and is not afraid of showing this either. At the end of the story Hazel’s view on other people changes, when she sees Raymond running parallel with her at the May Day race in his own unique style. She realizes that everyone is not just who she sees them to be, that there are more to people than you can

Annie is a play set in the great depression about a orphan who manages to spend Christmas with a billionaire while trying to find her biological parents. Many people attempt to fake being Annie’s parents, to get a reward but none of them succeed, and Annie finds her real family in the Warbucks, the billionaire that cares for her, and gets adopted by him and lives happily ever after.

Hazel and General Woundwort are contrastive leaders because they acquire power differently. Hazel assumes power through respect. He earns the respect of the rabbits in his warren, lending them to establish Hazel as leader. The respect of the warren is earned when Hazel leads the rabbits across the common, even while they are all exhausted. The rabbits are so impressed, Blackberry says “Oh, Hazel...you're what I call a Chief Rabbit!” (57). The Chief Rabbit is the leader of the warren. This title often belongs to the strongest of the rabbits, but Hazel is not

As hopeful and notable Hazels advancements in the warren are, Hazel has companions to assist him to become a better leader. All the previous chief rabbits in Watership Down were unfriendly and unfair, but with the navigation of his comrades, Hazel does his best to provide a more inclusive environment for the other rabbits in the warren. Hazel realizes that Holly possesses knowledge, experience and instincts that will be valuable on the rabbits’ long journey to Efrafra and he admits this by saying, “’I’m not the right fellow anyway -- Holly is’” (Adams 195). Hazel shows a considerable amount of faith in Holly by allowing him to lead the group on the adventure to Efrafra. His act of handing over the reins and letting Holly have so much control, shows that Hazel wants the best for the group and displays his forward-looking ideals. Hazel knows and trusts Fiver more than anyone

John Steinbeck once wrote, “the word timshel—'Thou mayest'—that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open” (301). As explained in his book East of Eden, Timshel is the idea that one makes conscious choices about their lives rather than taking what they get. Because Adam Trask is rejected by those he trusts most and lets those rejections inhibit him, the comfort of Timshel does not appear to him until late in his life.

The novel, East of Eden, by John Steinbeck references to the bible quite a bit when describing some of the characters. Steinbeck refers to the story of Cain and Abel, two brothers who lived in peace until Cain slaughtered Abel. One day the two boys were to offer sacrifices to god; Abel offers his best lamb and Cain offers grain to god. God prefers Abel’s gift over Cain’s and in a jealous fit of anger Cain murders Abel. After this God comes to talk to Cain about what he had just done and in doing so he banishes Cain to “the land of Nod, east of Eden”(Genesis 4:16). Steinbeck uses a few Cain like characters throughout the novel to illustrate the reality of humanity; jealousy and favorability shapes our society and the way people act. There is no place to escape one's baser nature besides death’s home; steinbeck shows this through Cal Trask, Charles Trask, and Tom Hamilton.

The personalities of the two most influential women in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, Cathy and Abra, are complex. One is evil, and the other is good. Despite their different personalities, they are surprisingly similar. Moreover, the women’s involvement in the story portrays the cycle of good conquering evil. Steinbeck describes Cathy as the “Eve” of the Trask family and depicts her as serpentlike and catlike.

Hazel grace is a dynamic character because she changes throughout the story. In the beginning, Hazel doesn’t want to get close to Augustus, because she was afraid he is going to be shattered when she dies. But towards the ending, hazel finds out it doesn’t matter if you die in the middle of a relationship, it’s about the moments you spend together. A quote in the book, on page 214, “Only now that I loved a grenade did I understand the foolishness of trying to save others from my own impending fragmentation: I couldn’t unlove Augustus Waters. And I didn’t want to.”

In the downs of a small farm, two rabbits are preparing to flee their warren in order to escape men come to kill them. Richard Adam’s Watership Down follows these two rabbits - Hazel and Fiver - as they gather a following and make their way across the farmland to safety. The band of misfits looks to Hazel for guidance, and he leads them to their haven: a warren atop the hills where the rabbits are safe and sound. However, the need to keep the warren going pushes the rabbits to continue exploring and find does in other warrens. While looking, they meet the Efrafa warren. This warren is lead by General Woundwort, and immediately the two parties are at odds with one another. The most noticeable difference is between the leaders of the two warrens: Hazel and General Woundwort. Both Hazel and General Woundwort are cunning; however, the leaders use their wits in different ways. Hazel uses his wit for the betterment of his people, while General Woundwort uses his to control and oppress his people.

There is a sense of rebellion throughout the story that reminds the reader of what it’s like to be a child. As a child I can remember talking back, and when something didn’t go my way I would pout and “give (them) some lip.” (Bambara 450) Having this sense of rebellion makes it feel like you can do whatever you want with no price to pay. However, this again shows the rebellious nature of Hazel helping the reader realize she is a child. Even when Hazel talks to the manager of the movie theater she is courageous enough to “…kick the door open…and sit down...” (Bambara 451)and demand the manager her money back. She even puts up an argument to get out of punishment with her parents when she knows she has done something wrong. The connectivity between these two ideas help

Firstly, within the novel, it is clear that Hazel is a caring person and is fully aware of what her body’s condition does to her