Un-naturalistic
When discussing John Steinbeck’s “Great American Novel,” East of Eden, many obvious topics come to mind. Steinbeck’s many biblical allegories to Genesis, more specifically “Adam and Eve”, “Cain and Abel”, and even “Pandora’s Box” come to mind. But, if a reader really wants Steinbeck’s story to come alive, it is important to not look past the allegories and Steinbeck’s running themes of good overcoming evil, but to look deeper into how he used them to develop his story in a non conventional way. To do this, it is important to look at how Steinbeck was classified as a writer and how he took his classification and challenged his readers to see through and look further in to the text. Throughout the next few pages, I will explain, using Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, his own words about the text, and outside scholars to show that Eden was not a naturalist prose but actually Steinbeck’s response to naturalistic writing. By first discussing naturalism, I will show through Steinbeck’s Eden, that it is unfair to classify Steinbeck himself as a naturalistic writer and explain how he exposes this throughout the text. Using biblical allegories, and most importantly his running theme of good overcoming evil, Steinbeck breaks his naturalistic stereotype and shows that fate is not predestined but that many characters throughout his text are able to overcome their destinies and choose their own paths.
Before discussing how Steinbeck’s Eden in un-naturalistic, it is important to first examine naturalism as a movement of literature. Once naturalism is defined, it will be able to be compared to Steinbeck’s Eden. Naturalism spanned with American authors between the years of 1890 and 1920, some dates vary as some naturalistic ...
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...erstanding of Steinbeck as a man and as one of the most insightful authors of American Literature.
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Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men. New York: Heinemann/Octopus, 1979. pp.475 - 896.
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
Naturalism is the most interesting type of literature, because it describes the actual circumstances of human life through its characters by giving the author the opportunity to make his/ her stories factual or realistic. The short story “Greasy Lake” by T C. Boyle is naturalistic because nature is literally referred to as the key to the progression of life. As for the novel “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton the author expresses naturalism through a 14- year old boy named Pony Boy Curtis. Pony struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes he is an outsider.
... read and his beautiful and descriptive style allow me to say with absolute certainty that Steinbeck has developed into being my favorite author over the past few months. Yet, as I bring this paper to a close, I know that I have barely skimmed the surface of who this man was and why he wrote what he did the way he did.
Clifton Fadiman once said it was wrong to describe Steinbeck as a hard boiled writer. Well, if a comparison with eggs is necessary, "East of Eden" is an overdone omelet.
Hayashi, Tetsumaro. A New Study Guide to Steinbeck's Major Works, with Critical Explications. Scarecrow Press, Jan 1, 1993
Steinbeck develops the theme of power through his depiction of the foreshadowing natural world. Nature remains the only constant in a world of sporadic variables and power is accentuated in its duplicity. Externally nature appears mellifluous, tranquil and unperturbed, internally however lies something far more sinister. The clearing into which George and Lennie stumble may resemble The Garden of Eden, but is in fact a place with dangers lurking at every turn. The rabbits that sit like ‘grey sculptured stones’ ‘hurry noiselessly’ for cover at the sound of footsteps, hinting at the predatory world that will inevitable destroy George and Lennie. Through this, Steinbeck exposes nature as a powerful but vicious symbol of the cruelties of life, as its external beauty establishes a sense of purity which the world cannot sustain.
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 of Steinbeck. Timshel is brought in by Lee who is the servant of the Trask family and discussed by both Samuel Hamilton, and Adam Trask. In chapter 24 Lee discusses the idea of timshel by showing the different interpretations of it through various translations, in the Hebrew translation it says “thou mayest rule over sin” which gives man a choice to fight through their sin and overcome it (302). Thus, “the translation of timshel into “thou mayest” enables the release of the energy in every human being “(Schultz). Timshel helps us not only understand the choices of human beings, but it shows that “Steinbeck constructs his fiction around the theory that timshel should be translated to thou mayest…he tells us about his own philosophy from the use of the Bible” (Warren). Steinbeck uses timshel as a way to let out his own philosophy about humans from using the Bible. This introduction of timshel through Lee becomes a very important part of the story as well as a theme; by this Steinbeck conveys his ideas and thoughts on a man’s destiny. Timshel then becomes a big part of the story which alters the plot of the Cain and Abel story by offering free will. Steinbeck interprets timshel as one of the most important things in the story an...
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row, East of Eden, Of Mice and Men. New York: Heinemann/Octopus, 1979. pp.475 - 896.
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 forgive himself, and Cathy’s decision to let evil overcome her prove that overcoming what is predestined for one lies in the hands of the individual.
John Steinbeck was perhaps the best author of all time. He was the winner of a Nobel Prize, and among other accomplishments, Steinbeck published nineteen novels and made many movies during his lifetime. All of his experience and knowledge are shown through his novels. A reader can tell, just in reading a novel by Steinbeck, that he had been through a lot throughout his life. Also, Steinbeck worked very hard to accomplish everything that he did during his lifetime. Nothing came very easily to him, and he had to earn everything he owned. This helped him in his writing, because he was able to write about real people and real experiences. John Steinbeck got his inspiration from life experiences, people he knew, and places he had gone.
In his earlier books, works like "To a God Unknown" and "In dubious Battle", Steinbeck delved into the man driven by ideology. Anything but "down-to earth", the characters in these books were motivated by what could be. As creatures of speculation, they were driven by the mind's eye. While Joseph lived for the earth, he never managed to be of it, (at least in the manner of your everyday farmer.) Like any man who have walked through the halls of formal education, Steinbeck himself was a man of...
Steinbeck uses the biblical story of Cain and Abel in East of Eden to show us that we do not have set fate. Steinbeck uses the Hebrew word “timshel”, which means “thou mayest”, to suggest that man has the ability to choose good or evil. “Timshel” affects the characters in East of Eden such as Cal and Aron and their choice of overcoming good or evil. Steinbeck sees this novel as his most important work, and he uses it as a way to state his personal ideas concerning mankind:“The free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.”(Steinbeck,132). Steinbeck shows God has given humans free will and their ability to choose good or evil, if they so decide. He portrays the “C” characters to be connected to Cain, such as Charles and Cal and the “A” characters to be connected to Abel, such as Aron and Adam.
Authors’ Steven Crane and Jack London are known for their stories using naturalism, the struggle between man and nature. Naturalism is like realism, but it explores the forces of nature, heredity, and the environment on human beings, who are faced with the forces of nature. Both “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire” demonstrate how inferior and small humans’ really are to nature. Humans cannot control nature or determine its outcome. In both stories nature is the antagonist constantly challenging the humans’ ability to survive. I chose the topic over naturalistic elements because I enjoyed reading these stories. Both stories have a strong since of naturalism in it and both authors’ are known for naturalistic features existing in their writings. In this paper I will give you more of an insight to what naturalism is and what naturalistic elements are present in the two stories listed above.