East of Eden Part 1

Love vs. Hate 

The thematic subject of love vs. hate is a concept that is portrayed throughout the first few chapters of East of Eden. In the book, love which is meant to be passionate and overpowering, is presented in a harsh and perplexing manner; characters who have love for the other present their feelings in a way that confuses readers and allows them to question how love can be so scolding and compelling. Love which is to encourage an individual, ends up evoking an emotion that can be considered deadly when put to action. The character Cyrus Trask, insists that he loves his biological son Adam, despite treating his step-son Charles better than Adam. Cyrus' tough love for Adam is what actually makes Adam despise him. Because Adam sought a different kind of affection than that offered by his father, his mind was set on doing all what he can as possible to get out of the way. In East of Eden, rejected love is transformed into hatred. This can be further seen in the character Charles, who choses to take out his festered anger for his father on his stepbrother Adam. This is noted as Charles remembers a childhood incident even after years passed, almost as if he was still holding a grudge, "Remember the present I gave him, the pocketknife?...he didn't take it to Washington with him...And you gave him a pup. It was at his funeral" (E.O.E. 64). The love shared between these brothers and their father becomes ironic in the sense that, Adam who was loved by his father did not love his father back, while Charles who was barely loved by his father loved his father no matter what; Steinbeck's use of  paradox never ends. So much as to conveying hatred in the novel, Steinbeck goes over the top and hatred is presented in a gruesome and consuming manner. With the character Cathy Ames, Steinbeck expresses how a person's hate for the world is transformed into something not of this world. Because of hate, characters become deceptive and are compelled to living a blinded life; characters create a haven for their selves and believe that that is truly how the world runs whereas that is not the case.



Discussion Questions & Answers

1. Is Cathy Ames doomed by nature to be who she is, or does she have a choice? Cathy is introduced as a monster in Chapter 8; in Chapter 12 she's described slightly differently. Steinbeck seems to be assessing her character as he writes the book. Why might Steinbeck be asking the reader to asses Cathy carefully?

Despite presented as a monster in East of Eden, Cathy Ames holds the key to her destiny. Alluding to Eve in the Bible, Cathy is presented in a grotesque form of Eve; instead of falling for the temptations of the devil, Cathy herself is described as the devil. Instead of suffering as one takes on the consequences of sinning, Cathy embraces the pain and looks for other souls in which she can bring down along with her. Because all what Cathy sees in the world is of hate and evil, she chooses to silt her life with evil doings. In assessing Cathy's character, Steinbeck allows readers to understand that there is good in everyone, therefore it is a man's choice to oppose to the good nature of things in order to become evil. In Chapter 12, Cathy is described differently as to the effect she has on others; here she is portrayed in a good manner because it her existence that brings happiness to Adam Trask. "Adam couldn't remember ever having been so happy. It didn't bother him that he did not know her name. She had said to call her Cathy, and that was enough for him" (E.O.E 116). Because Cathy is capable of being loved despite having the hidden perks of a monster, Steinbeck insists that readers pay close attention to her, for it is a rare thing to have an evil soul and still be admired by multiple.

2. Who is telling the story at any given moment? Steinbeck, Olive's son, a character in his own book? The all-knowing narrator who can even tell what others are thinking? Or is the philosopher-critic a third possibility? Why do you think Steinbeck includes himself in this text? What might be his point in doing so?

 Olive's son, Steinbeck, is the narrator of the book. "When I, her [Olive] only son, was sixteen I contracted pleural pneumonia, in that day a killing disease" (E.O.E 150). Steinbeck, unlike most authors who yearn to show the readers events that occur in the book from an outside view, instills himself in his book's incidents. As a narrator, Steinbeck portrays himself as a bystander who is curious enough in the events happening that he fails to not have an input. His inclusion in the text allows readers to feel closure when understanding that the events presented in the novel resemble that of events that have taken place in reality. Most of Steinbeck's break in the novel- when he presents himself, is very descriptive and informative. His breaks are usually to further analyze a character, "When I said Cathy was a monster it seemed to me that it was so...I wonder if it was true" (E.O.E 184) or to align the cause of an issue, "Surely I can understand this...I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts..." (E.O.E 132).