Cain and Abel Essay

A boy longs for connection at the same time he feels the need to pull away, and this opens up an emotional divide. This struggle between his need for connection and his desire for autonomy finds different expression as a boy grows. But, regardless of their age, most boys are ill-prepared for the challenges along the road to becoming an emotionally healthy adult. Whatever role biology plays (and that role is by no means clear) in the ways boys are characteristically different from girls in their emotional expression, those differences are amplified by a culture that supports emotional development of girls and discourages it for boys. Stereotypical notions of masculine toughness deny a boy his emotional resources. We call this process,

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.

The biblical story of Cain and Abel has been written in more than one way. The King James version of the Bible states that when God speaks to Cain after he had murdered his brother Abel, God said, "Thou shalt" overcome sin. In the standard American version of the Bible, God says "Do thou" which means Cain will certainly overcome sin. The Hebrew word 'timshel' means 'thou mayest' which is arguably the most important two words in John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden. These two words change the meaning of what God said completely. 'Thou mayest' gives a person the gift of free will. It is not a promise or an order that people will overcome sin, timshel means that people are responsible for their own actions and decisions. It is the thoughts and

For his sin he was expelled from Eden. From that day on he led the life of an exile, doomed to be "a fugitive and wanderer in the earth" (Gen. 4:12) and denied the rights of a normal man, only to bare the mark of a sinner and warning to others. With this Cain walked into the land of Nod (unknown, evil, dark), only to leave a legacy felt by the generations of his offspring.

When God proclaims that he favors Abel's gift over Cain's, Cain becomes angry and jealous towards Abel and he eventually kills him. Although God is fully aware of what has transpired, He asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain answers Him untruthfully saying, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:2-5). After God reveals to Cain that he knows of Abel's murder, God banishes Cain to another part of the land and places a mark on him so that no man will kill him.

Adam was clearly an Abel, good to the core. In contrast, Charles, his jealous brother, was a Cain figure. Adam’s set of twins took on characteristics of good and evil also. Aron, the fair-haired child, was considered the good son throughout most of the novel. He was his father’s favorite and Abra’s true love. The dark Cal, on the other hand, was jealous and mean. He believed throughout most of the novel that he was incapable of goodness and was condemned to the wickedness of his mother. Ironically, by the end of the novel, Cal became a good son and received his father’s blessings. Through the teachings of Lee, the family servant, Cal had learned that he had the freedom to choose goodness over evil.

In Genesis, God interacts with Adam by speaking to him face to face. Whether God was giving out instructions or punishment to Adam and Eve, he was always doing it on a personal level. The usual portrayal of God as an omniscient being is instead replaced as mentor to Adam and Eve who is trying to help them understand their existence. This close relationship is shown even when man does something wrong. The only rule that God gives to Adam is that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve go on to break the singular rule and be punished; but not to the extent most would think. Before partaking of the fruit God says that, "the day that you eat of it you shall die"(Genesis). Instead of dying, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden and go begin their lives. God punishes them for their actions, but also gives clothes and allows them to take the knowledge they have gained from the tree. Even after breaking the one rule that he has set for them, God allowed them to keep the knowledge they gained to begin mankind. This grace towards humanity is shown once again with Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering and not his own. Even with Cain having killed his own brother, God still does not punish Cain severally; "you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth"(Genesis). This punishment is especially seen as inadequate as Cain goes on to settle in Nod and have his own family. This mercy by God shows that he was unable to punish humanity even for the most serious of offenses. This lack of punishment shows God's sympathy for mankind because of his close relationship with them. This close relationship stems from God's close bond with mankind because of their similar image and knowledge. This relationship that began as two very similar beings, has further blossomed as God has given great responsibility to

Gandhi once said, “I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul”.

In the same midrash, a Rabbi states that Cain blames God for creating him the evil being that he is. Cal believes that he is evil and therefore is the reason why his father does not give him as much attention as Aron. This

Therefore, Cain has been given the ability of free will, God has given them the to choice of goodness over evil.

Adam and Able were unwillingly favored by their fathers, which as a result, caused jealousy to enter their brother’s minds. When Cyrus (Adam’s father) said, “Call it bad luck, but Adam is stuck being his dad's favorite. The point is, Adam doesn't ask for Cyrus's favoritism, and he certainly doesn't want his brother's jealousy either. But Charles sees Adam as the thing standing in between him and his dad's love. (Steinbeck,), it left Adam in confusion. Adam did not want his father’s favoritism nor did he want his brothers jealousy, but he couldn’t do anything about it. As a result of the jealousy within his brother, Charles, he had to take Adam out so he could get some his father’s love. In the Book of Genesis, Cain murdered Able over the same type of jealousy that Charles had on his brother. Instead of both of them being mad at their fathers they choose to be jealous towards Adam and Able. This is the major difference with Adam and Able, Cain kills Able, but Charles did not slay Adam. The root cause of the incident was the unfair distribution of

He later lured his brother out to a field, then he killed him. Cain did this because he was “never at heart’s ease” with his new ranking with God. After murdering Abel, God punished Cain by never permitting Cain to die or be killed, forcing him to wander the earth wretchedly.

Cain also provided a worship offering to God. Nonetheless, Cain’s presented offering wasn’t acceptable. Hence, an envious spirit became birthed within Cain, and Cain murdered his brother, Abel, because God accepted Abel’s worship offering but didn’t accept Cain’s offering. God became displeased with Cain and vowed that the ground would no longer yield its fruit towards Cain. In other words, God is not honored with murder.

He also bore a mark that nobody who came in contact with him would kill him. This signifies that as people are young they will make mistakes and by just punishment will realize that they were wrong. Cain now had a lifetime to think about his murder.

4:4b-5a). In Romans 4:15, Paul recorded, “Where there is no law there is no transgression.” Therefore, if God had not made the law available to Cain, there could have been no transgression of the law. Obviously, there was a transgression of the law, because of what God would tell Cain next. “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” This shows irrefutably that Cain knew the law of God, because God points out his sin. Therefore, God did not leave His worship up to sinful man, because He told Cain that he had worshiped Him in the wrong manner. God must have made the law available to Cain for there to be transgression. In the wording of Genesis 4:7 is the implication that Cain knew the law concerning sacrifices; “if you do well, will you not be accepted?” implies that he knew how to do well, thus also showing that God did not leave His worship up to the decision of man.