The Holy Bible as a Sustained Allusion 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.

Regardless of William Golding's personal beliefs, his use of biblical allusions in Lord of the Flies strongly contribute to the building of the characters and the outcome of the story. The book of Genesis is essentially about the beginning of many important realities; the creation of the universe, God's plan and how God’s perfect, sinless world was turned into a shattered society by sin. In Lord of the Flies the book progresses through the boys loss of innocence and fall from grace.

John Steinbeck’s historical novel, East of Eden, is a story of the genealogy of the Trask and the Hamilton families living in Salinas Valley, California. and their experiences involving choice. Along with numerous biblical references, Steinbeck emphasizes the story of Cain and Abel through the characters of Cal and Aron Trask. The novel revolves around a central idea of the Hebrew word Timshel, which signifies “thou mayest”. In other words, an individual may choose between justice and evil and that one is in control of their own destiny. Adam Trask, Cal and Aron’s father, deals with Timshel because he chooses to be righteous. Cathy, Adam’s wife, deals with Timshel because she chooses to be morally evil. Cal struggles with the idea of

A tale of two brothers. Cain slays Abel out of wrath. Cain and Abel are two brothers and the sons of Adam and Eve. God gave Cain the job of a farmer and Abel the job of a shepherd. When Cain and Abel find out that they both have to sacrifice a lamb to God, Abel sacrifices his best lamb to God while Cain sacrifices some extra wheat he has. Cain becomes angry at Abel and God because God favored Abel’s sacrifice. Cain then leads Abel to a field and slays him out of rage. These events take place in Genesis’ book Cain and Abel. Genesis interprets the human experience in many ways throughout the story. Genesis interprets the human experience in the story by showing jealousy, attention seeking, and that crime will be punished.

The biblical story of Cain and Abel also plays a central role in the novel East of Eden. The novel portrays this analogy through the characters of both Charles and Adam, and Cal and Aron. In the Christian Old Testament, The Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve's sons, Cain and Abel, offer sacrifices to God. Because God prefers Abel's gift over Cain's, Cain becomes infuriated and kills his brother in a jealous rage. The characters of Charles and Adam Trask, who share the initials C&A with their biblical forebears, closely follow the Cain and Abel paradigm. Cyrus Trask favors Adam's birthday gift of a puppy over Charles' gift of an expensive knife, and Charles almost beats his brother Adam to death in a jealous rage. However, unlike Charles, Adam becomes the wanderer. Finally, Adam then later moves to California, where he settles and raises his twin sons. His brother, Charles, remains on their Connecticut farm. When Charles dies, he leaves his fortune to his brother: clearly, although jealousy drove them apart, the brotherly bond is still there. Years later, Adam's wife Cathy, or Kate, gives birth to the next generation of Trask brothers, Caleb Trask and Aron Trask; another set of brothers who share the initials C&A. Unsurprisingly, these brothers perpetuate the Cain and Abel ideology. After the birth of their sons, Cathy abandons Adam, and he sinks into such a severe depression that he neglects to even name his children. Samuel suggests to Adam that he name the children Cain and

Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is the eldest and Abel is the youngest. Cain is described as the tiller of the ground whereas Abel is the keeper of sheep. Both men know that God requires an offering, but the offering of Cain is quite different from that of Abel. Abel fears God, and because of this he offers the best of his flock to the Lord. He kills the animal and makes a sacrifice of blood. Abel understands that the shedding of innocent blood for the forgiveness of sin is acceptable. He also knows that this action of his is representative of surrendering his heart to God. By contrast, Cain brings what he has grown and gathered from the earth. In a way, a foolish man would think

When the lawyer calls for Bartleby in order for them to examine the copies together Bartleby responses by saying, “I would prefer not to” (11). The lawyer describes his feelings by saying, “for a few moments I was turned into a pillar of salt, standing at the head of my seated column of clerks” (11). This is an allusion to the story of lot in which god came to Lot, who was currently staying in Sodom and Gomorrah, and told him and his wife to flee and to not look back. As the city was destroyed Lot and his wife proceeded to flee, but Lot’s wife ended up looking back causing her to turn into a pillar a salt. Here the lawyer is comparing himself to Lot’s wife in the sense that they are frozen in place. However the lawyer starts by saying “for a few moments, meaning that this effect on him would not last forever like Lot’s wife's effect did. Since it is thought that Lot’s Wife looked back because her daughters were still in the house it suggests that the lawyer has some type of care for Bartleby that caused him to feel like a pillar of salt. By the narrator using quotations of biblical allusions to describe his feeling towards Bartleby it frame a story by creating a clash in the narrator's mind as to how he feels about Bartleby and whether or not he should get rid of him.

In Genesis, God interacts with Adam by speaking to him face to face. Whether God was giving out instructions or punishment to Adam and Eve, he was always doing it on a personal level. The usual portrayal of God as an omniscient being is instead replaced as mentor to Adam and Eve who is trying to help them understand their existence. This close relationship is shown even when man does something wrong. The only rule that God gives to Adam is that he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve go on to break the singular rule and be punished; but not to the extent most would think. Before partaking of the fruit God says that, "the day that you eat of it you shall die"(Genesis). Instead of dying, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden and go begin their lives. God punishes them for their actions, but also gives clothes and allows them to take the knowledge they have gained from the tree. Even after breaking the one rule that he has set for them, God allowed them to keep the knowledge they gained to begin mankind. This grace towards humanity is shown once again with Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering and not his own. Even with Cain having killed his own brother, God still does not punish Cain severally; "you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth"(Genesis). This punishment is especially seen as inadequate as Cain goes on to settle in Nod and have his own family. This mercy by God shows that he was unable to punish humanity even for the most serious of offenses. This lack of punishment shows God's sympathy for mankind because of his close relationship with them. This close relationship stems from God's close bond with mankind because of their similar image and knowledge. This relationship that began as two very similar beings, has further blossomed as God has given great responsibility to

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.

The novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an allegory to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, and many of its characters become embodiments of both good and evil. As they struggle to overcome what has been decided for them they are taught they hold the power to overcome and rise above their destiny’s. When the Hebrew idea of “timshel” is introduced to the allegory of Cain and Abel, it become apparent that whether life is predestined or not; mankind holds the ultimate ability of deciding what will become of himself. Adam’s choice to move on from Cathy, Cal’s decision to

Steinbeck has various biblical allusions throughout East of Eden that most of us seem to look over, making the reasoning behind his plotline and character choices seem a little choppy. By having background knowledge on the Hebrew word Timshel, knowing the story of Cain and Abel, and knowing the ongoing battle of understanding the fate God's’ presence has on humans, readers gain a deeper understanding and comprehend the material and get more out of it. However, Steinbeck throws a curveball to his readers with involving Cal; he shows the drive humans all have to do good and feel good about themselves. Cal represents the ambition in all humans that sometimes gets bottled up and buried deep down. This book shows the silver lining that we miss

“…the naked riders leaning forward…They rode up out of the river among the willows…” –page 45

In HTRLLAP by Thomas C. Foster he talks about how many authors include biblical allusions in their stories. The transformation of turning into an insect could actually symbolize his desire not to have to return to a job he hates. In part one it says, “Gregor goes back to bemoaning his life as a traveling salesmen.” The transformation into a bug can be seen as a freedom from the from what he thought to be a boring life.

Vivid images, from visions, to detailed explanation and accounts of places and events, to symbolic imagery used to explain parables, or teach and encourage the first century churches are driving forces within the Biblical text. Metaphorical language, by virtue of the fact that it preserves the literal meaning of the symbol, while intending an analogical secondary meaning, is able to communicate profound truths about reality, mainly by creating an alternative, symbolic way of seeing and understanding the world. (Liubinskas, Susann. 404) Throughout the New Testament of the Bible the most commonly used images are the: body of Christ, and vine imagery. These images work together to create a powerful example of the necessity for unity among individual believers, and that unity tying them Christ.

Created by Johannes Gutenberg, The Gutenberg Bible was the first mass produced book through the use of a moveable printer. Known for its artistic Latin writing, the Bible only has forty-nine copies remaining, one residing at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The Gutenberg Bible exhibits religious qualities from the message, directly from God, and the original purpose of the creation of the Bible.