East of Eden

The story itself is advanced through the development and inter-relationships of characters who are clearly meant to be symbolic in their portrayal by the author. The story is about two families--the Hamiltons and the family of Adam Trask. The intertwined narratives of these two families is meant to show how an individual working on the raising of his moral and philosophical consciousness can take an important part in the making of a new world of sorts.

The Biblical importance underlying the story is made clear again and again: "Two stories have haunted us and followed us from our beginning," Samuel said. "We carry them along with us like invisible tails--the story of original sin and the story of Cain and Abel. And I don't understand either of them. I don't understand them at all but I feel them" (Steinbeck 350). The two families come to California in order to take part in the thriving economic boom which was the result of the exploitation of the fertile farmlands of California. The story carries the reader through the development of three generations of the families. Essentially, the story symbolically re-tells in fictional terms the Biblic

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ns Tom and Joe thought big and George and Will thought little" (Steinbeck 55). In fact, as history and every individuals personal experience demonstrate, all individuals to various degrees think both "big" and "little." The big-thinkers of the world are often incredibly petty in their thoughts. In other words, Steinbeck has drawn characters, for the most part, who do not come to life as much as they should, but instead are meant by the author to represent forces in life which stand in stark contrast to one another--black vs. white, good vs. evil. Those characters who undergo changes and transformation, such as Caleb, are nevertheless basically good or evil, and the reader is easily able to "get" the message each character conveys, but that understanding of the author's intentions does not mean that the reader comes away emotionally convinced or moved to the degree that Steinbeck obviously intends. The evil of the book is represented primarily by Cathy. As Steinbeck introduces her, we are clearly meant to recoil from her evil nature: I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible . . . And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Cathy Ames, East Eden, Pearl White, Joe George, Cain Abel, Adam Cathy, Cathy Steinbeck, Adam Trask, Adam Adam, Cathy Adam's, east eden, original sin, don't understand, cain abel, story steinbeck, responsibility elevation, message theme, adam trask, evil book, monsters born,
Approximate Word count = 1663
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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