John Steinbeck 's East Of Eden

East of Eden, written by John Steinbeck, is a profound, complicated retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel, focused around the overall struggle between good and evil . John Steinbeck wrote this for his own sons, John and Tom, to show them not only the history of their family in the Hamiltons, but also the concept of sibling rivalry emerging from the competition over paternal love and acceptance (Shillinglaw). This was first evident in Adam and Charles Trask, and then in Adam’s sons, Aron and Cal Trask. The absence of a true mother figure in these two instances of brotherly contention enhances the need for acknowledgment and love from their parental figures. And yet, both mother figures in East of Eden choose to abandon their

1. A. “When a child first catches adults out—when it first walks into his grave little head that adults do not have divine intelligence, that their judgments are not always wise, their thinking true, their sentences just—his world falls into panic desolation. The gods are fallen and all safety gone… they do not fall a little; they crash… it is a tedious job to build them up again, they never quite shine” (Steinbeck 19-20). B. This quote utilizes a metaphor to explain how children tend to believe the words of adults. For most children, adults appear wise and intelligent, always knowing the right thing to do and say.

Steinbeck’s character, Lennie, is large and strong, but his mind is weak and slow. His companion through the story, George, looks after Lennie and has plans for a good life for

Steinbeck wanted to show the effects of land ownership and what pursuing dreams can do to people. This lesson is still true to this day and affects everyone around

In any form of written work, the author will give each of the character a set of different characteristics. John Steinbeck is no different. He does, however, gives many of his characters a similar, concurrent trait; that trait is dignity. It can be seen in characters of Steinbeck’s books, The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. The Grapes of Wrath is about a family’s journey Oklahoma to California, in hopes of a new life, after being evicted from their previous home. Similarly, Of Mice and Men is about two guys in California who travel together, trying to save money in order to buy a plot of their own land. Character’s from these two books that share the characteristic of having dignity, also share another similarity; they are all

Steinbeck has written ''Of Mice And Men '' about an adventure of George and Lennie trying to accomplish their American dream's during the Great Depression during the 1930's where thousands of people lost their jobs in the Wall Street Crash making them feel hopeless. George and Lennie come to work at a ranch near Soledad in California. There they meet fellow ranch mates and a woman called Curley's Wife. In this essay I will focus on how Curley's Wife's personality and actions change throughout the novella and who she affect her and other bunkmates throughout the novella. In addition to that I would be showing how Steinbeck creates tension by using Curleys Wife.

What do Steinbeck’s first description of George and Lennie tell us about their characters? Discuss this in the regards to the role/relationship of Itinerant workers in the 1930’s Great Depression:

Steinbeck’s own family and their dreams was a great inspiration for his multi-generational novel East of Eden. His maternal grandfather Samuel Hamilton emigrated from Ireland in the 19th century to buy land, build a ranch and raise his family in Salinas Valley. From an online article “John Steinbeck's Derry Roots” we find out that “Samuel Hamilton was born at Ballykelly on 7 October 1830… Samuel emigrated at the age of 17, at the height of the Great Famine, to New York where he married a young Irish girl, Elizabeth Fagan in the summer of 1849. They came to California and set up a ranch in the foothills of the Salinas Valley.” When Samuel came to California, all the fertile land was taken. As Steinbeck writes in the first chapter of East of

‘..Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world they got no family they don’t belong no place.’ This is what many felt during the ‘great depression’ in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck gives us the sense that many felt lonely ‘they got no family they don’t belong no place. The main theme of this novel is alienation; the three characters, Curley’s wife, candy, and crooks are all alienated, and felt it by another person at some point. They all have dreams... it’s the American dream... but not all dreams come true...

East of Eden, a novel by John Steinbeck, tells the convoluted story of two families over the span of multiple generations. The novel is considered a modern day retelling of the Genesis story from the Bible. Though the novel is fiction, Steinbeck manages to incorporate several references to various historical events, specifically wars that America was involved in. A few of the wars that are alluded to are the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I. For some of the wars that Steinbeck mentions, he gives correct facts about, such as the Civil War. Steinbeck properly illustrates the medical techniques and prostitution at war camps. Other wars, though, he speaks about with less truth, such as the War of 1812. Steinbeck grossly underestimates

(Steinbeck 173) His equanimity is astounding, despite the mark of his Grandparents death, and the abandonment by siblings Noah and Connie. Somehow he becomes a cosmopolitan; he recognizes that the sky has more than one spherical view. Today’s problematic events will not deter

Considering the fact that the world is filled with poverty and economic concern, Steinbeck allows the reader to engage in a connection with the characters through their actions. Every movement made is either one in the

John’s mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was the daughter of Irish immigrants. It was she who passed on a love of storytelling to her only son. Olive liked to tell imaginative tales about ghosts and leprechauns. The stories impressed John so much that as a child, and even as a man, he insisted that he could see supernatural beings from time to time. John Steinbeck remembered his mother as energetic and full of fun. He called his father, in contrast, “a singularly silent man.” Steinbeck’s father, who was also named John, had worked as an accountant and had opened a feed and grain store. After that business failed, he was appointed treasurer of Monterey County. He would hold that position for the rest of his life. Steinbeck confided to a journal that his father was “a man intensely disappointed in himself.” His father had never felt a driving ambition to be anything great or important. He had chosen a safe, practical course in life to provide for his family.

The title of Steinbeck’s novel can be seen as a metaphorical symbol of the large influence of the Bible on the creation of the author’s work. In Genesis, the first books of the Bible, we are told that Cain is exiled from Eden, the presumed paradise land, and cast to the east of Eden, “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.” He has committed sin and is consequently sent out to survive in the world of evil. Cal, similarly is rejected from his father and is inadvertently cast upon a world that he believes is filled with evil. Furthermore, the idea that the author chose to title his novel East of Eden and not simply Eden, reiterates the notion that the Salinas Valley and the prosperous

John Steinbeck's short story is somehow hard to understand. There are a lot of discussions about it too. It is really a highly symbolized story, though the central meaning is not very obvious. There are a