East Of Eden Theme Essay

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 Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Sandra L. Richter, InterVarsity Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-8308-2577-6

Tim never discussed his dilemma and Elroy never questioned. As Tim stated in his story, “the man knew.” On the sixth day, Elroy took Tim fishing. He continued upstream and then “straight north” until the boat was mere twenty yards from the shore of Canada. Twenty yards was not a long distance for Tim to “jump and start swimming for his life.” However, when it came time to make the decision, Tim experienced a “moral freeze.” He hallucinated a crowd on “the far shoreline” watching his every move, along with Elroy. Elroy was a god-like figure who “looked on in absolute silence as” Tim made his choice. Although he didn’t intervene in Tim’s decision, Elory brought him up to face the reality. All the scenarios and pictures of Canada Tim had run through his head were “no longer a possibility.” His illusion was shattered to pieces because he realized that he was a coward. He didn’t have the courage to go to Canada. He could not continue upstream because “he was being swept away by the silver waves” of people. He couldn’t “endure the mockery, or the disgrace or the patriotic ridicule” that came as a consequence of his decision. The reality was that his “old image of [himself] as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, that [was] all just a threadbare pipe.” The illusionary judgement of people was much stronger than Tim’s courage. His illusion that he was courageous came down crashing. At the time of his

The concept of good and evil traces back into the ancient Zoroastrian faith and is one of the most universal themes in literature today. One author whose works embodies the essence of these two forces is John Steinbeck. Steinbeck incorporates the nature of good and evil through several characters in two of his most renowned books novels: East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. Throughout these two stories, Steinbeck uses characters of evil-- Cathy and Curly’s wife, characters of goodness-- Samuel Hamilton and George, and characters who are a mix of the two-- Caleb and Lennie. With the representation of these two opposing forces through characters, Steinbeck displays how human nature is comprised of good and evil.

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.

Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck uses many biblical references to illustrate clearly the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil. Much of the plot of East of Eden is centered upon the two sets of brothers representing Cain and Abel.  Both pairs are similar to Cain and Abel in the way they go about winning their fathers’ favors.  All four give gifts to their fathers, and the fathers dismiss the gifts of Charles and Caleb, the Cain representations (Marks, Jay Lester. p.121).  Caleb and Charles Trask are obviously the more malignant brothers.  They are also the more loving towards their father.  Steinbeck’s purpose in this is to illustrate the need of the Cain character in

John Steinbeck is the renowned author of novels such as Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, and The Pearl. In his novel The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck expounds on the theme of the cruelty people inflict on one another as well as how they can overcome the inhumanity of others. Steinbeck’s artfully demonstrates that this cruelty is often born out of the human tendency to think of oneself first; others, if they are thought of at all, come second.

Society often fail to understand and see the mental pain that individuals carry throughout their lives. Some people bear its burden, while others suffer greatly because of it, to the point of choosing self-destruction. The narrators from “The Gargoyle” (Davidson) and “Walk to Morning” (Boyden) both experience this pain that ultimately sets them on a course to a deep pit. They survive their near-deaths and later encounter unique life-changing people. As a result, they become better individuals.

While Tom and Mrs. Trask did not hold the gift of Timshel in themselves, Cal does. Although he suffers from a long term, inner battle with good and evil, Lee is there to show his his true potential and the Timshel inside of him. When he confesses to his father, stating that he “did it” and he’s “responsible for the Aron’s death and” his fathers “sickness” (Steinbeck 595) he questions the good in him. While Lee does not come right out and tell him he’s a good man he makes his father tell him, proving to Cal his true potential. After Lee pesters Adam, while he’s on his deathbed, he utters his last words “Timshel”, giving Cal the freedom he deserves. Although the later actions of Cal are unaware, it can be inferred that he prevails, due to his earlier actions when he’s in such a situation. Proving overall that Timshel is inside of him.

He cannot face making the decision to go in front of a long-dead nine-year-old girl, let alone everyone else. His imaginings are so vivid, Tim feels like he has to make a decision under the scrutiny of everyone he has ever known, or will know. And he cannot do it. Even as he sees the innocent lives that he will inevitably take if he chooses to stay and fight, still he cannot take the embarrassment of running away. Finally admitting it to himself, Tim thinks, “Embarrassment. That’s all it was.” (1016). Tim thought that he could make the decision to save himself, but he cares too much about what the world thinks about him.

Beginning at a young age, people are taught to pursue a pure conscience and a bond of trust between close friends and family, all the while turning a blind eye to sin. Children most often learn from their parents and, as a result, believe that their parents are the quintessence of virtue. This concept is one that sticks with them until they catch an adult out for the first time; consequently, their beliefs begin to falter and the realization of a false perfect entity harms the child more than if the illusion were never created. Likewise, many adults struggle with realizing that society is built upon deceit due to masks of decency and credibility, while others deceive themselves by living in a world of illusions because of the pleasure and protection provided. That said, once the illusion is destroyed, it also destroys him. Similarly, John Steinbeck explores the double-edged sword of deception, wielded by both children and adults, in his novel East of Eden. Just as the masks that society wears, multiple characters throughout the story at first originally incapable of committing a sin as great as deceit due to their innocent introductions. Despite this initial virtuosity, Steinbeck’s East of Eden evinces humanity’s contrasting and inherent dependence upon selfish uses of deception, whether it be for self-empowerment, safety, or otherwise, with paltry consideration about the consequences of truth.

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”.

Therefore in conclusion, the protagonists in “Of Mice and Men” and “Into the Wild” uniquely express the fundamental ideas of freedom, companionship and following your ambitions. Their desire for freedom is shared but their perception of obtaining it is different. Steinbeck shows that the ambitions of men will remain unfulfilled while Penn’s film depicts that the ultimate freedom is to share happiness.

The Epic of Eden was written in hope that believing readers would come to an understanding of the Old Testament as their story. A way for them to understand and cross the barrier that is created by the people, places, history and context of the scriptures which can be daunting and hard to navigate. As Sandra L. Richter, who is the author of Epic of Eden, depicts the modern believer as having what is called the dysfunctional closet syndrome. What she means by this is that as believers we are given many “stories, characters, dates and place names” but we do not have a way to sort all the information, like a closet with a bunch of items but no shelves or hangers. Ritcher aims to sort out these barriers and in the course of the book and all in

As the text continues, it becomes obvious that the narrator’s true struggle lies within his efforts to find a form of