Comparing The Novel, Cain By Jose Saramago And Gilead By Marilynne Robinson

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 view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job's fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job's constancy is only because of God's preferential treatment. Satan tells God, "But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job's life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."(41), and "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(41). Self-pity creeps into Job's thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and

     In this essay I will take an interpretive look at Genesis chapters 5-9. The main focuses will be: the relationship between God, Noah, and Noah’s generation of mankind; the barriers and boundaries for

God comes to Cain to confront him with the responsibility and Cain denies him. God comes not to find the truth, but to allow Cain the opportunity to admit the truth. Never being able to admit his sin and receive God's blessing, he receives a curse. His farming shall not flourish as it once did, and he must wander and be a fugitive. God puts a mark on Cain as one of deserving of death yet one chosen by God to live. One interpretation of the mark is that God believes death is too good for Cain and punishes him by making him live with what he has to do. It can also be looked at as allowing Cain an open door through which he can return whenever he is ready to face things more honestly.

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.

The relationship between man and God is a long and complex journey that has evolved for centuries. This divine and omniscient being has been a center piece for peoples' lives around the world. This single being is so powerful that he is able to make the sick feel strong and the poor feel rich. One being is worshipped around the world for his divine status. But what if he isn't as superior to humans as the world thinks? In the classic biblical works of literature, The Book of Job and Genesis, a new interpretation of God is presented in a form that is human in his relationship and actions with humans.

Through the Cain and Abel allegory, East of Eden gave me insight into human nature. Like the Cain and Abel story, East of Eden follows two brothers; Aron, the “good” one and Cal, the “bad” one. Like Abel, being good comes easily for Aron, while Cal, the Cain of the story, must grapple daily with his innate inclination toward evil. Cal’s struggle began as a baby when he was recognized as the “smart one—the dark one” (Steinbeck 270). Cal shows his inherent evil characteristics, a darkness in him that coexists with the good, even from the start. By the end of the novel, through maturity and experience, Cal overcomes his intrinsic evil and chooses to a live a life of integrity and meaning. Cal’s internal conflict and ultimate triumph supports the idea that to prevail over evil, one must experience it and choose to actively resist it. Through biblical allusions, East of Eden required me to contemplate my own life and how Cal’s long struggle related to my own issues, leading me to gain a greater appreciation for the power of human good.

“Cain got down beside Rosetta. “Are you all right?” When she looked up at him, he saw that she had tears in her eyes. ”(White, 1456)This quote shows how long of a journey it has been. With al, the ups and downs finally getting getting to the end when Rosetta kills Eberly.

As we have seen, God promises a blessing to those who trust in His word and strive to live by it. Christians do not want to miss out on God’s blessing, especially those waiting for Him to reveal something. Now reading any book of the Bible, even Job, one begins to understand that God will bless you as you strive to study and practice His way of life. The Bible prophetically warns of even more pain in many different forms then what is done here Job, and through this we begin to portray God in a different light (Janzen 2012). However, the book of Job reveals God’s level of intervention during such a violent time. Due to the context and dire situation it would be difficult to imagine anything more then the pain for the members of Job’s family and the community at that time. They needed encouragement and the assurance that the trials Job faced would soon be over. The evil powers of Satan that governed Job’s life for a moment would be destroyed, and a triumphant sense of peace would be reestablished. The message of Job was intended for those in a particular time and circumstances of pain. Christians familiar with other violent writings would understand the book's symbolism, for practically everything Job went through was a test that other biblical figures felt during similar times of persecution. Job’s story was written to all people that may face the same trials, and find peace after their

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Adam’s son Cal reflects the character of Cain in the Bible. Cain is born to Adam and Eve. When Cain and Abel present gifts to God, God favors Abel’s gift. Cain grows jealous and kills his brother out of jealousy. Though similar to Cain, John Steinbeck uses the choices Cal makes to contrast his character to Cain in the Bible and to demonstrate that, despite being evil, people can choose their course in life.

Cain is questioning if God knows my pain, why would he bring me into the world?   Throughout the story, I feel that Cain came to the conclusion, in this act especially, that their isn't any purpose or joy in any life. For example, he told Adah's son that he would of been better off not being born. Just because he has a certain view of life, doesn't mean he should generalize all lives before and after him. Cain also expressed his views of power by stating, "...and Good and Evil seem to have no power themselves".

God’s role in the Bible is characterized in several different ways, with dramatically competing attributes. He takes on many functions and, as literary characters are, he is dynamic and changes over time. The portrayal of God is unique in separate books throughout the Bible. This flexibility of role and character is exemplified by the discrepancy in the depiction of God in the book of Genesis in comparison to the depiction of God in the book of Job. On the larger scale, God creates with intention in Genesis in contrast to destroying without reason in Job. However, as the scale gets smaller, God’s creative authority can be seen in both books, yet this creative authority is manifested in entirely distinctive manners. In Genesis, God as

By murdering his brother, Cain was able to temporarily alleviate the frustration he experienced by not being able to obtain God’s approval of his sacrifice.

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.

Did you know that the Holy Bible was written over 3500 years ago ("When Was the Bible Written?" - Biblica. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.)? In Genesis 1-4, by God this book was written over thousands ago. This story in the Bible is about one great God putting everything we know into existing and creating human however one of the human named Cain gets jealous of his younger brother Abel and kills him. Ultimately, the story portrays the relationship between creation story, jealousies, love, murder and punishment in mankind. In return of God’s creation being jealous, God states the punishment upon Cain however, God still shows love by letting Cain Know that if anybody body tries to kill will suffer sevenfold vengeance (The Norton Anthology World