Cain's Weaknesses In The Story Of Cain '

In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain, a human being, clearly feels remorse for his actions against his brother. Although Cain

Cain and Abel in biblical history was the first instance of murder. The Cain and Abel story foreshadows that Aron would be killed directly or indirectly by Caleb. These connections were made when Adam backed away from his children. This childhood brought emotional turmoil all through Caleb’s life. Even after their childhood when Caleb brought his father money after Adam’s failed lettuce investment he refused to take it, which drove Caleb insane.

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the characters of Charles and Cal act as parallels when taking into account the Genesis story of Cain & Abel. The Genesis story of Cain & Abel tells the story of Adam & Eve’s twin sons. Cain, tiller of the ground, was characterized as the ‘evil’ brother, with unsound thoughts and tendencies. While Abel, keeper of the sheep, was characterized as the ‘good’ brother embodying a light pureness and divinity, making him the complete opposite of his brother Cain. Each brother brought offerings to God, and while Abel’s offering of the firstlings of his flock was respected by God, Cain’s offering of the fruit from the ground was not respected. From the rejection God gave Cain, Cain soon grew jealous of his brother Abel,

Cain is very much like each and every one of us and it seems that we are fascinated with him. This could be because there is good and evil in every one of us. Of Abel, we basically just hear that he was born and murdered by his brother. Without a lot of explanation we are left with the nagging mystery of the death of an innocent man. We deal with that continuing mystery each day as innocent people are killed. In some ways you find out that murderers are more like you than different from you. Most of them have snapped during a horrible time in their life and taken the life of a loved one. For them it was not a logical move because none of them really were thinking logically at the time. Typically it was an action coming out of being totally absorbed in the other person.

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.

UNIVERSAL THEME QUESTION: What role does the story of Cain and Abel play in East of Eden? To what extent does it relate to the issues we face today?

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.

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”.

The Bible is a sustained allusion throughout the course of East of Eden, paralleling with the eternal story of Cain and Abel. According to the Bible, Cain is the "tiller of the ground" (Genesis 4:2). Caleb Trask, a farmer at heart, made a vast amount of money by selling beans. Upon presenting Adam with his present of fifteen thousand dollars, Adam not only discarded the gift, but caused Cal pain by comparing him to his godly brother, Aron, who graduated high school and started college at an early age. Adam wished that Cal could have given him something to be proud of-something momentous. Adam's reaction induced Cal with excessive wrath out of rejection. In the Bible, the Lord "had

In the bible there is a story about two boys named Cain and Abel. “ One day, the two brothers bring sacrifices to God. Cain offers grain from his fields, while Abel offers the fattest portion of his flocks.” God favored Abel's gift over Cain's gift. God showed Abel more appreciation for the gift he gave him, leaving Cain by himself feeling hopeless and jealous about how Abel got way more affection and appreciation by god than he did. Cain got so

Noah respected God and did every duty that was asked of him. “Noah was kindhearted and followed the rules” (Genesis 6:7).

Cain and Abel were in a situation much more unique than Esau and Jacob, and Joseph and his brothers faced, for the society they lived in was extremely small, and they each had a direct relationship with God. As the book of Genesis tells us, Cain was the first born son of Adam and Eve. Their next son was a boy whom they named Abel. As Cain and Abel grew up both took responsibilities for making a living.

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.