Religion In East Of Eden

The use of religion to shape the story, actions, and beliefs of new and twisted characters is not a new craze or sensation in the literary world. Greek mythology for century has inspired similar works like “Gladiator” (2000), Disney’s “Hercules” (1997), and even the newest movie “Mother!” (2017), all use religions or mythologies to shape the world around them. While this can create new and dynamic characteristics for characters made to retell the same tales or lessons as the original; the overall use of religion as a theme can lead to the generalizations of how some characters are portrayed. Archetypes and stereotypes presented by religious or mythological text limit the view of some and completely erase the identity of others.Women in many

Mythology and the rules described by it are used as a canvas for society. John Steinbeck, the author of East of Eden uses the beginning stories of the bible to depict the lives of the Trasks settling into the East coast. Through them, Steinbeck uses the family to illustrate the fall of Adam and Eve and the repeating cycles of Cain and Abel through family choices and characteristics. East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an interesting novel where he uses his characters to discuss the lessons of the dangers of jealousy through characters emulating those in the bible.

Becoming a father in the story, places Cyrus in the role of the actual Father in Steinbeck’s novel. As young men, Cyrus and Adam both share the characteristics of Adam, who fall in love with Eve and settle in their own “Garden of Eden”; yet as they begin raising their children, they fall into the role that God holds in the original “Cain and Abel” story. Cyrus begins with the role of Adam, being presented with a land of his own with his wife by a greater power or in this case, the government in reward for his service in the Civil War from G.A.R. or the Grand Army of the Republic. Cyrus in his line of

While Cyrus is not hurt, the prostitute in this story can represent the snake, the STD; the apple, and Mrs. Trask’s death as the fall of Adam and the Eve and the rise of Cyrus’ shift into God. Cyrus in the beginning is revealed to be a convincing liar, which later leads the reader and his children to learn that he probably lied about his actions in the war and the money given to his sons in his will is most likely stolen. “No one could call him a liar. And this was mainly because the lie was in his head, and any truth from his mouth carried the color of the lie,” (Steinbeck, 18). Though this does not affect the story until later, it helps establish Cyrus as an untrustworthy narrator and allows for the characterization of him being a bad father seem more realistic. Like the in the Hebrew translations of God, Cyrus like God is cruel and he shows favoritism to one of his children over the other. In the Bible, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard,” (Genesis 4:4-5). This is similar to Cyrus’ relationship with Adam and Charles. Charles gifted his father a hunting knife that he bought with his own money, while Adam simply brought him a stray dog. Cyrus took both