Symbolism In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

Therefore showing, Cathy had no liking of Samuel or her children and could not stand to be cared for. She had a way of destroying the life of anyone who crossed paths with her, and by biting Samuel’s hand, caused his livelihood to decline. Comparatively, later on in life Cathy ends up with the “fingers of both hands [constantly] bandaged”, due to severe arthritis (192). Cathy lived her life always harming others, with no guilt or regret and this was her punishment.

Much later in the novel, the narrator makes an edit to his former opinion on Cathy and questions if he was justified in labeling her as a monster her a monster. He leans to being somewhat sympathetic toward this figure who was previously deemed a demon, wondering that “since we cannot know what she wanted, we will never know whether or not she got it.” This quote remains true, as Cathy’s true motivations remain a mystery even as East of Eden wraps up. As her cruel actions seem to have no logical or clear aim, the reader is left questioning her motives, and if she really was just a “malformed

Cathy the embodiment of evil in the novel, who lives by fear is found consistently using it to her advantage to apprehend whatever her black corrupted heart desires from the unsuspecting people around her. Often times she would blackmail men and uses sex as her weapon of destruction, her blackmailing these men often led to them committing suicide due to the impending stress that she implements in their lives, in the beginning of the novel Cathy preys on her lust driven teacher and eventually drives him to suicide and lures school boys into a barn where her mother finds her tied up with her skirt

As a child, she obtained the knowledge how to mimic the emotions she is incapable of feeling. She uses this to her advantage in order to gain power and control by manipulating people, especially men. When she claims her own freedom by killing her parents in a burning house, she finds her first victim, Mr. Edwards. She uses her beauty and charm toward Mr. Edwards to gain his love and trust. Mr. Edwards was a cunning shrewd owner of a brothel, and withdrew his love and trust when he unraveled Cathy’s “dark secret”-not only the house, but her swindling.

She used the characters trusting natures to achieve her own predatory ends. Cathy was born with an innocent look that fooled many; she had golden blond hair, hazel eyes, a thin and delicate nose, and a small chin to make her face look heart shaped. According to the town Cathy lived, Cathy had a scent of sweetness, but that is just what Cathy wanted the town to see and think.

A central question raised by John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is whether it is possible to triumph over evil, answered by the discussion of free will and inherited sin. The idea of “timshel” is canvassed through the struggles of Caleb “Cal” Trask. The concept of inherited sin is illustrated through the actions of Cyrus Trask, Charles Trask, and Cathy/Kate Trask.

Cathy's true maliciousness was not only seen through her actions, but also her appearance. Even when Charles did not know of Cathy’s true nature, he still thought there was something off about her. He even told her “I don’t trust you. There’s something -I almost recognize”(116) when he first gets the chance to talk to her. On this first interaction, Charles recognizes Cathy's lack of humanity and her monstrous behavior. The discomforted he feels toward her may be a result of his own outburst of evilness, and as a result, he recognizes it in her as well. Similarly, when Samuel Hamilton stayed for dinner

In the novel East of Eden many examples show just how powerful fear can be if used for selfish gain or as a defence mechanism even though it may backfire from time to time. Fear being one of the biggest overtones (if not the biggest) allows us to see how huge an influence fear can be in a person's life and on other people. As with Cathy the main antagonist who lives to hold the fear of her blackmailing someone and men’s sexual desires over their heads to attain whatever her twisted desires are no matter what method she has to use. Cathy the embodiment of evil in the novel, who lives by fear is found consistently using it to her advantage to apprehend whatever her dark corrupted heart desires from the unsuspecting people around her.

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

One of Steinbeck's most compelling characters in East of Eden is Adam Trask. In the beginning of the story he searches long for his Eve, and a sense of happiness he knows exists somewhere.

The novel, East of Eden, features Biblical overtones from the stories of Genesis. The novel was written by John Steinbeck and turned into a film by Elia Kazan in 1955. Kazan’s purpose was to show how the Bible could influence media and culture. The film was released on April 10th, 1955 and featured James Dean as Cal, Richard Davalos as Aron, Julie Harris as Abra, Raymond Massey as Adam, and Jo Van Fleet as Kate. East of Eden is set in the time before and after America joined

“East of Eden” is considered a work of literature because of it’s many complex characters, insights into human nature, and use of literary elements to convey universal themes to the reader.

From the very beginning, Charles Trask is is suspicious of Cathy when she shows up to the Trask’s farm. Charles even states, “You know what I think? I don’t think I’m half as mean as you are under that nice skin. I think you’re a devil” (116). Also, on the way home, Samuel Hamilton remembers the eyes of a criminal who was being executed. He realizes that Cathy’s eyes were similar to the criminals and that she also had evil traits. Lee recognizes Cathy’s evil when working for her as a servant. However, Adam is not able to recognize this because he only sees Cathy as what he wants her to be and not for what she actually is. For example, when Adam and Cathy move to the Salinas Valley, Adam thinks that Cathy wants to go and is a good wife, but Cathy does not actually want to go. Also, Cathy tries to kill her baby because she doesn’t want children, but Adam is happy and overjoyed when he finds out that Cathy is pregnant. In addition, the only people who Cathy fears are the people who are able to see her true self, like Samuel Hamilton, Charles Trask, and Lee, but takes advantage of people who are unable to see this quality of her, like Adam Trask and Mr.

History, is the story among which all literary works are linked to, and this statement is true more than any other in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Whether one believes that all stories in the Bible have actually happened or not, at least some concepts of them did. How would a writer arrive at the ideas of two brothers and jealousy of love, without having seen it or felt it before? Yet again, how would these ideas survive for so long, unless many people felt them as well and connected to them. The story of Cain and Abel has been around a long time, but the feelings of jealousy between siblings longer still. What stories offer, are not only a feeling of understanding to a child, but a lesson to be learned as well. It is a common cliche, that without knowledge of it history is destined to repeat itself, but if stories are born from past experiences and these too are contained in the archives of history than is it possible to say the same for those as well? What John Steinbeck does in his book is show that without the understanding of the possibility in choices, some of history 's greatest and oldest stories are able to continue to new generations to haunt their lives. In the use of metaphors, analogies, and symbolism, John Steinbeck displays the Cain and Abel story in two generations, and the horrors along with the beauties that the possibility of choice creates.

In The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, evil transforms certain humble citizens into envious savages. It is this evil which moves the story along and adds drama. It causes the beginning of a happy spirit, but the downfall of goodness and humanity.