'East Of Eden': An Analysis Of John Steinbeck's Philosophy

Madhavi Shashank Steinbeck’s Philosophy

Through both East of Eden and his Nobel Prize Speech, John Steinbeck clearly demonstrates that every human has the internal and eternal conflict of whether to be good or evil. He believes that “this the only story we have” (413) and it has been this way since we were born. This constant battle between virtue and vice “will be the fabric of our last [consciousness]” (413). Through every character Steinbeck uncovers, the reader learns about the “human heart in conflict with itself” and how these characters are stuck “in a net of good and evil” (413). By the principle of “timshel”, which directly translates to thou mayest, humans have a choice between choosing good or evil. Steinbeck

Have I done well -- or ill?” (413).

Steinbeck believes that everyone has “a capacity for greatness”, and “underneath their [man’s] topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved” (414). This is certainly true for Cal, who struggles to free himself of the cycle that all of the people similar to him choose: to succumb to “mankind’s essential illness” of giving in to the cycle of anger, jealousy, violence, guilt, regret, and, in some cases, seeking redemption. Cal “had found… another secret tool, to use for any purpose he needed” (338). His new tool is the knowledge that Cathy, their mother, is alive and it could break his innocent and naïve brother’s heart. Cal “knew it was the sharpest weapon he had found” (338), and should he choose to use it, he could control Aron because of his immense love for their missing mother. Throughout the next few chapters, Cal toys with the idea of using his new weapon, while manipulating his brother along the way. After listening to a disturbing and unsettling conversation between Lee and his father, Cal wishes he had never overstepped his boundaries and eavesdropped on this conversation. He