James Dean

Many novels have titles with a meaning that is not obvious until the reader has completed a large portion of the book. The novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck has a meaning that only becomes apparent as the reader completes part of the book. The title is referring to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, two brothers who fought for God’s admiration after their parents were banished from Eden. This story took place east of Eden and is the clear inspiration for the title. Through the sibling rivalries

The personalities of the two most influential women in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, Cathy and Abra, are complex. One is evil, and the other is good. Despite their different personalities, they are surprisingly similar. Moreover, the women’s involvement in the story portrays the cycle of good conquering evil. Steinbeck describes Cathy as the “Eve” of the Trask family and depicts her as serpentlike and catlike. Her sly and calculated personality prevents her from completing a task without

In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Cal is portrayed as an evil, quick witted person. His quick actions do not have any thought put into them. The extreme emotion that comes up within himself causes him to make wrong turns on two way streets. This causes several conflicts in the book. From watching Cal, I learned that instinctive acting without thought leads to destructive outcomes through his actions. When Adam states, “You’ll have to give it back,” these six words were enough to set Cal on fire

In East of Eden, John Steinbeck reinforces the theme of timshel—”thou mayest”—by paradoxically showing how characters fail to face their fates. These characters are seemingly preordained to follow a certain path as they each fall prey to fate. With every darkening failure in the story, there becomes a brighter hope that someone will break the cycle of sin by choosing to live freely. Charles and Adam Trask are unmistakably bound to the story of Cain and Abel. Through their names and their actions

Not all people have a fate that can not change, John Steinbeck's character Abra is a strong headed and strong willed woman. She notices the evil within herself and accepts it. Instead of letting it lead her life she strives to change it. She serves as the “strong female principle of good as opposed to Cathy” (Steinbeck 146). Where Cathy has trouble seeing the good in others and doing the right thing Abra has no trouble. There is a constant contrast between the two characters and readers often find

There are two types of people in this world: one that is able to change and others that refuses to change. In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck mainly focuses on female character that can be illustrated as either a person who is able to fit in to changes as a wife and a mother, or who simply just deviates from home and/or family life. Although Steinbeck characterizes Liza as an example of a completely devoted wife and a mother, Steinbeck evokes the idea that a domestic woman

Timshel; meaning “thou mayest”, holds a significant role in East of Eden. It shows that anyone can desire to surmount vile in their hearts and create morality within them self. In the novel, Steinbeck portrays the significance of timshel through the introduction of free will, the internal conflict of Caleb, and the blessing of Adam. Steinbeck portrays the significance of timshel through the introduction of free will, which plays an important role in the theme of Cain and Abel and provides the interpretation

Cathy Trask’s behavior in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden defines the monstrous ability capable of existing in the human soul. Steinbeck puts it best when he said: “And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born?”(72) From childhood, Cathy used her monstrous ability to get what she wanted and escape the unwanted. Even into adulthood, she used her inhuman ability to hurt the ones she loved, and the ones who loved her. Many see her true evil nature without even

In the novel East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, two main characters, Cathy and Adam, both commit acts of violence, but in different ways. Cathy is a prostitute who killed her parents and left her husband, Adam, to take care of their children, Caleb and Aron. Adam stuck around with the twins, but he was there for them mentally leaving them with their housekeeper Lee. This caused the boys to endure the pain of having parents not around for them during their childhood. At a first glance, Cathy’s actions

In the collected works of John Steinbeck, he portrays how fragile the world and all of the creatures that inhabit it are through the use of mental instability in his writing and characters. The characters of Jody, Lennie, and Cathy all show major signs of mental uncertainty. All of the characters have different forms of the instability, but they all connect by having the same struggles of relating to the world. In East of Eden, Cathy has issues bordering on sociopathic. The calculated skill of this