East of Eden: A study in human development
The characteristics of people are formed by multiple factors. In many situations, children are raised under similar conditions, however, their later characteristics and life choices are very different. In the book, East of Eden, author John Steinbeck explores the development of humans, from childhood, to adulthood, and eventually, to death. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, is a genealogical novel about the lives of the Trasks, particularly the main character in the book, Adam Trask. Along the way, the Hamiltons, Ames, and many other characters are introduced. Steinbeck makes a point of showing the continually changing nature of some characters, while describing the ceaseless staticness of others. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck presents his views on the construction of human behavior and the components that are incorporated in it.
Setting is an important element in East of Eden. Described are beautiful, panoramical views of the surrounding landscapes of the Salinas Valley, California. "The Salinas Valley . . . is a swale between two ranges of mountains. . . . . On the wide level acres of the valley, the topsoil lays deep and fertile. . . . . Under the live oaks, shaded and dusky, the maidenhair flourished and gave a good smell, and under the mossy banks of the watercourses whole clumps of five-fingered ferns and goldy-backs hung down" (Steinbeck p. 480). Steinbeck then goes on to describe the human history of these areas. The groups of peoples that lived there are described in sweeping generalizations. "First there were Indians, an inferior breed without energy, inventiveness, or culture . . . their warfare was a weary pantomime. Then the hard, dry Spaniards came explor...
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...dies the original Hebrew text and finds that the verb used there is "timshel." Timshel’s literal English translation is "thou mayest." During the course of the book, Steinbeck transforms the word into a metaphor for a style of living. It comes to describe the freedom of choice in one’s life. Steinbeck recognizes the fact that one's environment can affect them. However, he also recognizes one can work with what they are given and make the best of it. Steinbeck best sums up these views in a dialog between Samuel and Adam.
"You can’t make a racehorse of a pig," said Adam.
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make a very fast pig" (659).
Works Cited
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.
Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: Viking, 1952.
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.
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.
In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Steinbeck uses Cal and Aron Trask to represent the biblical story of Cain and Abel, demonstrating a struggle of good and evil through an underlying religious point of view as well as the overlying fictional telling of the same story. Cal’s innate evil nature contrasting Aron’s inherent goodness are evident throughout the novel and portray Steinbeck’s overall theme of a constant conflict between morality and immorality.
1 Apr. 2014. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguing, 1933. Print.
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
In “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck parallels between the boys, Adam, and Cyrus are noticed. The parallel most apparent to me is how Cal and Aron are extremely similar to Charles and Adam in aspect that they seem to have to complete opposite personalities. Cal and Charles being the ones who have a darker side to them and also being the sibling that most people don’t understand, while Aron and Adam are loved by everyone and seemed to be more cared for. Also, I noticed that Cyrus made up his own fantasy of being in the most important wars and telling others that he was an expert, when in reality he had created his own war life through what he read in books and had only been in service for a few months, yet believed his made-up experiences to be true. In the same way Adam found Cathy and made up his fairytale how he
"What is Kantianism and how does it affect me?" as many would ask themselves. Kantianism came about when the German philosopher Immanuel Kant viewed rationality as the ultimate good and that people were all fundamentally rational being. The idea is that the actions that people are to perform are not guided by emotions or goals but rather on duty, what is expected of a person to do in a given situation, making it a deontological moral theory. It is an absolutist theory because he specifies that there are certain moral actions are deemed absolutely bad like killing or lying.
Experts believe that these two share similar traits, such as incapable of feeling or understand the emotions of others and lack of sense to determine what is right or wrong. But the key difference between a sociopath and a psychopath is the ability to have a conscience.
Smallpox is a disease from the variola virus. Smallpox has caused an estimated number of 300 million deaths in the 1900s alone. Smallpox is said to have been around since the ancient Egyptian times. The disease was eradicated in the late 20th century and two samples are still kept, one in U.S.A and one in Russia. Smallpox creates bumps and blisters all over the body and has been one of the most fatal epidemics the world has seen.
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Ethical fashion is usually associated with basic, plain t-shirts and loungewear in neutral colors with organic slogans printed on the front. Peter has taken an entirely new approach to the concept designing clothing that is fashionable, wearable and still has ‘sex appeal’ which he himself describes as the “missing element” in the ethical fashion market.
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... time (Levy, 2010). Due to the fact that TVE has roots in all of the major technologies (telephone, television, and the Internet), it is truly one of the most profound creations because it shows progression of all three fields, not just one or the other. Distributors and programmers alike are rolling out products that deliver content to new platforms: smartphones, tablets, game consoles and smart TVs. By blending the technologies that are most dominant today, TVE is trying to make a permanent place for itself. This technological advancement is still very new so it has growth of its own to achieve. However, it is always necessary to reflect upon the history of a concept to recognize the ways it can be utilized and further transformed in the future. TVE’s history is a colorful blend of all technologies that made society into the multi-tiered civilization it is today.
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