Themes, Styles, And Techniques Essay

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

During our East of Eden reading, we reflect on past reading and find deeper meaning in quotes and paragraphs which we normally would have skipped over. We analyze the causal paragraphs that John Steinbeck puts in between chapters and talk about their meaning in the book and what aspects it is referring to. We learn about the importance of Steinbeck trying to make a change and the views he was trying to amend.

The struggle of sibling rivalry over ability and temperament has taken East of Eden in a whole new perspective. Steinbeck’s portrait on sibling rivalry shows the good vs. evil of each character in the story. The nature of good vs. evil as natural selection is also seen in siblings, as a compete for something physical, mental, or something emotional. The sibling rivalry from the biblical characters embraced Steinbeck’s characters throughout every concept in the novel, the good vs. evil confines the characters personality in every idea of Steinbeck’s novel. From the biblical story of Cain and Abel to Adam and Charles to Cal and Aaron the story continues through out every

For my 9th grade Summer Reading Assignment, I had to read “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck and annotate my thoughts, questions, as well as key scenes and literary elements. Below are my annotations.

The strategies that the author tried to present description of the character by saying that he just explain how well he did in school and the studies that he joined. Next the author, tells us about being the hospital and Indian restaurant. The author is trying to show that he wants to engage audience by giving away hints of his struggles so he can make it sound more interesting. Some passages are found in chapter one and page three “my suffering left me sad and gloomy”, “[His] majors were religious studies and zoology”, and “[His] life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at [his] side to remind me…’” (Martel, 5). In these two verses, it shows the narration of how the main character struggled by not giving up and still maintained to get his education.

Have you ever wondered if anyone in the world has the same personality, traits as you? Do you think they have done similar things like you? John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men shows a similarity between characters in Genesis 2 and in the novella. As Emma Lee states in her article, “Five reasons that the Bible will help you understand Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck makes allusion to The Garden of Eden as it’s presented in the story of Genesis 2 when Eve was deliberately compared to Curley’s wife as both suffered terrible consequences. Steinbeck makes these allusions with the sole purpose to show the comparison of the different characters in The Garden of Eden and Of Mice and Men. Moreover, the characters are similar in the way they represent

In John Steinbeck's East of Eden, two unique families collide with one another. The Hamilton’s and the Trasks are two families who live in the Salinas Valley; each experience different triumphs and hardships throughout the course of their life. The experiences of the two families is based on the world in the late 18th and early 19th century, however, the actions of many characters are very similar to human actions in the present. The Trask family in particular reveals many different parts of the human life.Throughout the story,. friendship, arrogance, depression, and love are four major themes that give an explanation for the development of the world in the past and the formation of the world in the present.

Of Mice and Men is a novella set on a ranch in the Northern western state of California written by Californian novelist John Steinbeck and then published in the late 1930’s. Set in the time of The Great Depression and The nationwide effective Wall Street Crash the book features characters all around who have depressing lives but focusing in on two paradoxical characters that are always juxtaposed to one another. Steinbeck has placed us with two characters that we are able to connect with, being able to sympathise with their dilemmas and problems as the two being long-time companions with a strong relationship but also being a priority to George as he

“Is there, then an evil that is innate, that is the little piece of monster in all of us.” (Cusatis). Every person has two sides, no one is completely good or completely evil. In the East of Eden, John Steinbeck uses a biblical metaphor to illustrate the innate good and evil that humans encounter. The novel includes several characters that are purely evil or do evil deeds. The Trask family is directly correlated to the Garden of Eden and other biblical narratives. “Steinbeck puts more into his stories than Genesis 4” (Fontenrose). Steinbeck illustrates the concepts of good and evil, family, and love to describe the frailties of the human experience.

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.

‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck emphasizes the division in social classes and social structure based on power. The novel and its themes are based around the characters’ interactions and decisions. Their motivations come directly from other characters, and the social construct on the ranch that controls the characters within the novel. Each character has their own journey of giving into the powers that control their society and lives which leads to each of their own inescapable demises.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story about the short lived life of two Migrant workers named George and Lennie during the Great Depressing, who both share a dream to own their own farm, and live off the land. George killing Lennie out of compassion, for Lennie, ends the Dream. Throughout the story Of Mice and Men, the allusions to the bible are apparent, and to the reader the allusions give a broader look on Of Mice of Men.The Biblical allusions in Of Mice of Men such as Eden, Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, are written throughout the story, because the allusions reinforce the idea that the story is more than a story, its about morals and dreams.

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

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men makes numerous biblical allusions to demonstrate how man is incapable of resisting his own primeval desires, revealing humanity's inherent imperfections.