Desire is ingrained in our human nature. It lives within every person and can dictate our actions. The pull of desire can lead us to make horrific choices but, it also can lead us to heroic actions. In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, desire proves how it can destroy, stifle, and even in some cases, improve lives, all while playing a major role in the journey for self discovery, and having severe consequences when it is out of control. Aron’s desire for purity and perfection builds an unobtainable goal that limits his self discovery and eventually destroys his view of the world. In Steinbeck’s version of the Abel and Cain story, Aron feels impure from the sin his mother, Cathy, passed onto him. As a result, he tries to create a perfect world …show more content…
From a very young age, Caleb knows he’s different from his brother, he’s more malicious, “Out of revenge Cal extracted a fluid power, and out of power, joy” (349). Caleb’s malice, desire for revenge, and lack of control leads him to share the secret about their mother that drives Aron to enlist in a war where he dies. Aron’s death triggers a stroke in Adam, something Caleb blames himself for. Caleb also wants to be loved by his father, the way Aron is. Caleb even admits to Will Hamilton that he would be, “trying to buy his [father’s] love” if he gave his father the money made from his partnership with Will (481). Despite Caleb’s mean tendencies, he uses his desire to be nice to positively change who he is. Caleb wants to be a better person, shown after he finds out the truth about his mother and he silently prays, “‘Don’t let me be mean’” (380). Although Caleb knows that his brother isn’t strong enough to know the truth about their mother, and he doesn’t want to be cruel and hurt his brother by sharing the secret, he loses control. He shows true change when he has the idea of putting flowers on his mother’s grave. After deciding on marigolds as the flower Caleb thinks, “I’m beginning to think like Aron” (587). Even though the actions of mother caused terrible strife within his family, including his inclination to be cruel and Aron’s creation of a purer world, Caleb still wants to place flowers on her grave and do something kind for her. This change in Caleb shows how desire can be used as a tool to positively impact life. Instead of allowing himself to be devoured by self pity and settle into his identity of a cruel version of his brother, Caleb uses it to motivate him to do
Cal and Aron are Cathy's twin sons. In their relationship they too have many conflicts, Aron, the "good" son, studies religion and Cal, the "evil" son, gambles and visits whore houses. Aron tries to convert Cal, but Cal refuses to convert a...
Caleb, the father, constantly manipulates to his own advantage. One may think Caleb was a superficial character who speaks softly in a cruel manner. Throughout the book if he feels one of his children have disrespected him he will quietly tell his wife. This sets up manipulation as the children have learnt early on if the do not behave their mother will fall more of a victim to their father. Any decision that is made comes from him. He keeps his children close to the homestead in fear of them running off and he needs them to keep the farm running. His thought would be he would rather have free labour from his children then have to pay for farm hands. He
East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an optimistic film about a boy becoming a man and trying desperately to earn the love of his father and mother in the troubled times of the Great Depression. Cal, the main character is a troubled teen who lives with his entrepreneur father, and a brother who is following closely in his fathers steps. Cal’s mother left him and his brother to become a madam of a whorehouse. The struggle takes place between Cal and his father due to his fathers lack of compassion for his son. The conflict rises further when Cal tries to help his father repay a debt, his father further isolates his son and this turns to violent outbursts. Steinbeck focuses on Cal in order to suggest the theme that without love people become violent and mean.
The color and temperature of a person’s eyes comprise the first layer of his identity. Welcoming, smiling eyes identify their owner as a friend, while angry, bitter eyes warn of a comparably biting personality. A person’s eyes show much at a first glance. In literature, they perform a more significant job, reflecting the character of the soul they guard. In developing the famously complex characters of his novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck heartily subscribed to this literary symbolism by giving special meaning to the eyes of his characters as ‘windows to the soul.’ This can be seen especially in the characters of Adam and Cathy Trask.
John Steinbeck's novel, East of Eden is the epic story of a California family who struggle to overcome issues of betrayal, infidelity, and the age old battle between good and evil and sibling rivalry. The story centers around two generations of brothers in the Trask family-Adam and Charles, and Adam's sons Aron and Cal. In each generation, one of the Trask brothers is moral and good while the other brother behaves badly and immorally. Because the good Trask brothers are favored, the bad Trask brothers develop envious tendencies and a recurrent theme of sibling rivalry appears throughout the book. Steinbeck's dramatic account of the Trask brothers and their rivalry in East of Eden is an impressive tale, but it is also a familiar one that closely echoes a
East of Eden, to be polite, it is not Steinbeck's best novel. Not by a long shot. Steinbeck had wrestled with a moral question and lost. It was as though he had been thinking about life, but not too deeply.
Adam breaks the cycle of fathers picking favorites and brothers hating each other by accepting Cal. Lee said, “Help him, Adam—help him. Give him his chance. Let him be free.” (438) The chance that Lee is asking Adam to give is very important to the resolution of the conflict. The chance that Adam gives Cal shows that he equally accepts his two children by giving them both the opportunity to succeed. The conclusion helps showcase the themes of rejection, good vs. evil, and favoritism. The conclusion also provides peace to the reader by making the Trask family break the cycle of paternal rejection. Overall the conclusion helps the reader also understand that the Trask family is not as bad as they are portrayed because they overcome their mistakes and move on to overcome the rejection and evil they faced earlier in their
Our circumstances do not determine our lives. Instead, our lives are determined by our choices. That is not to say that our lives are not impacted by the country in which we were born, the family which we were born to, or the tragedies which touched our lives. We are given a choice of how we respond to those things, and the power of choice means that the lessons and value of our lives is not determined by outside influences, but instead it is determined by our reaction to those influences.
Holden is going through a stage of depression and denial, as a result of the internal and external conflicts he faces. In the past, Holden struggles to accept his problems and therefore battles against himself and his thoughts. For example, the incident with Sunny shows us how the voices in his head constantly fight between the adult life and the teenage life. As a result of these conflicts, Holden struggles to grasp his purpose with his life. On the contrary, Asher Lev experiences similar internal conflicts against him and his beliefs that cause help him to understand his true identity. Throughout the novel, Asher struggles to be true himself and stay true to who is supposed to be. This conflict against himself helps him to realize his identity is as the son of his parents and the son of “the Master of the Universe and the Other Side”(Potok 348). Asher is put to the test against his own mind and in the end learns how to overcome his internal conflict. Both Holden and Asher experience internal conflicts, but each conflict left a different effect on each of their
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.
At heart a scholar, Lee raises the twins and remains a constant friend to his employer, Adam Trask, and to their neighbor, Samuel Hamilton, who is raising nine children himself. After a scholarly discussion with Adam and Samuel, Lee researches the Cain and Abel biblical story and proffers the novel's central concept of timshel ("thou mayest"). As the twins grow older, Aron and Cal vie for their father's affection, much as Adam and Charles did earlier. Cal is by far the more complex brother, and knows full well that his father loves Aron more because he resembles their mother. As a teenager, Cal gambles, visits brothels, and is consumed by jealousy over Abra Bacon's love for Aron. Meanwhile, Aron falls in love with Abra, who returns his childish love but realizes later on that Aron, who plans to enter the ministry, is only in love with her glorified image. The daughter of a crooked Salinas politician, Abra comes to love Cal instead, and like him, wonders whether a parent's evil nature can be inherited. In an attempt to gain his father's love, Cal decides to go into business to raise $15,000 to recover his father Adam's business losses. The monetary gift, however, results in disaster: Adam reacts violently when he learns that Cal took advantage of farmers during war-time in an effort to make the money. However, like his father before him, Adam fails to
There is a destructive nature of man is shown in Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon through the absence of family. Sci...
East of Eden was a novel that explored the roots of evil in its most primal form. Through intricate plot lines and complex characters, John Steinbeck weaved a tale of brutality, cruelty, and isolation. One important character that helped to illustrate the presence of evil throughout the book was Cathy Ames, an intelligent woman who ruthlessly used other people to serve her own needs. When reflecting upon East of Eden, a debate that often surfaces is whether Cathy's evil was a result of nature or nurture. Arguments for and against both sides are in the book. At some times, Cathy is portrayed as a wicked fiend who's aggression stems from nowhere but her own empty heart. Other times, Cathy appears weak and afraid of people who aren't the least bit intimidating. Those are the moments in the book where one must question whether Cathy is truly evil, or just an impatient and self-centered individual.
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.
At the start of the scene there is only silence to be heard, but as the scene progresses the music starts. This music is an intense, head throbbing, and daunting sound that has a mesmerizing effect that causes confusion to the mind and body. This type of music sends the blood rushing through one’s entire body making the heart race and sweat cumulate. Those feelings are the exact feelings of Caleb as this genre of music begins to play and he frantically begins to dismantle the razor blade and forcefully drags the blade across his arm to let the blood run freely. This sudden change of behavior and drastic measures taken could be the sub conscious control of the sleep deprivation taking over Caleb’s actions. During this moment in the scene, Caleb’s uncontrollable behavior of the cutting of his arm could have been linked to the control of sleep deprivation on the mind, which then correlates to the meme control mentioned in Charles Gleick’s