ipl-logo

East Of Eden Allusions

1741 Words7 Pages

From a young age, Steinbeck had encountered many hardships. Based off a few of his hardships, he created his novel East of Eden. It is told through the eyes of Olivia Hamilton’s son, who is as everyone comes to realize, John Steinbeck himself. Through Steinbeck’s experiences, the reader learns about two generations who deal with evil goodness within their families.
This story starts in Connecticut on a small town farm. Cyrus is with Adam’s mom, whose name is never learned, and has Adam Trask. Mrs.Trask later dies of suicide because she gets syphilis from Cyrus. Cyrus then meets Alice, who he marries. They then have Charles Trask. At this time, Cyrus studies military history that way he can lie about his time served to try and make himself …show more content…

Steinbeck’s novel includes many biblical allusions to liberate the theme. Based on the biblical story of Cain and Abel, East of Eden is set in California’s Salinas Valley. The reason for the setting is because this is where Steinbeck grew up. Steinbeck claims he wanted to write this story for his sons, but he also claims his life was pretty tough growing up, so he somewhat involved his life into the book. The story starts out explaining the Trasks brothers. One is quite evil while the other is pure good. This story is different as it has lots of many different themes. One of the main themes is free will, and how the two generations struggle with it. The story depicts the struggle Caleb and Charles have within. They have anger built inside of them and hate their own brothers, just like Cain did with his brother Abel. By the time Caleb and Charles realize they choose to be good, a death occurs. What Steinbeck is giving off by this story is do not wait too long to be good because something bad can always happen. The synopsis states that “this piece of work is a piece in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored yet another enduring theme: the mystery of identity ; the inexplicability of love ; and the murderous consequences of love's

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Internal Struggles In East Of Eden

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cal’s Internal Struggle Not any one person or character has a single characteristic. Personality is made up of a multitude of different things, good and bad. This holds true in John Steinbeck’s, East of Eden, because even though Cal makes immoral decisions he is still human with other admirable attributes. Cal fights against his nature that was passed down to him by Cathy without ever giving up. He discovers how special Aron is, but keeps his composure, “Cal stared fiercely at his brother, at the pale hair and the wide-set eyes, and he suddenly knew why his father loved Aron, knew it beyond doubt.”

    Read More

  • Biblical Reference Foreshadowing Characters In East Ofela Eden By John Steinbeck

    147 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the novel “East ofela Eden,” the author John Steinbeck uses a biblical reference forshadowing the fate of each charicter. Notably, the reacurring names that starts with “A” and “C”, referring to Cain and Abel from the bible, the sons of Adam and Eve. Additionallt, Cain out of spite kills Abel because God accepts Abel’s offering rather than Cains. In the novel the charicters who are sinful have names that begin with C-Caleb, Cathy, Charles, and Cyrus and the “good” charicaters have names start start with A such as Adam, Aron, and Abra. Furthermore the relationship bewteen Cain and Abel is quite similar to Charles and Adam becuase Charles once tries to kill Adam.

    Read More

  • Mexican-American War In East Of Eden

    1416 Words  | 6 Pages

    Steinbeck tells the story of the Trask and the Hamilton family. As the reader progresses through this narrative, it is understood that both of these families contribute to the war effort in distinctive ways exhibited through personal endeavor. Furthermore, Steinbeck focuses on good vs. evil, represented through the good, Abel-like and the evil, Cain-like characters; determinism, shown through Cathy and the wickedness that possesses her; and timshel, introduced by Lee, the Chinese servant of Adam Trask, and symbolized by the free will of the characters. In addition to these various ideas, the narrative also comments on the wars that America participated in during the time frame in which East of

    Read More

  • On Renown Allegory Of East Of Eden By John Steinbeck

    653 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Steinbeck’s renown allegory East of Eden explores the characteristics of human nature, including the potent principle of free will. Steinbeck’s use of rhetorical strategies throughout the passage enables him to illustrate his message, emphasizing the significance of creativity in the essence of humanity and the threats against it. Steinbeck utilizes various elements of vivid language, rhetorical appeal, and style to elucidate his argument, urging individuals to fight for their free will and to assert their individuality. Steinbeck’s use of metaphor in the first paragraph depicts the extent of the significance of free will through his vivid comparison of individuality to the “glory [that] lights up the mind of a man.” (Steinbeck 1)

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Choices In East Of Eden By John Steinbeck

    529 Words  | 3 Pages

    In East of Eden Steinbeck turns back to the ideals of the bible through some of his characters. A Lot of the bible ideas come with Adam Trask and the timshel he carries throughout the story. Adam's virtue comes into to help free his son Cal. In the story the Men view themselves as part of the natural world. Cal, felt since his mother was bad he had to follow her steps.

    Read More

  • Adam And Eve In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

    629 Words  | 3 Pages

    “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty” (Maya Angelou). Often to achieve great literature, another inspirational work must be warped and altered so that it may evolve into another piece to be cherished for years to come. In order to achieve the East of Eden, John Steinbeck transformed the Biblical accounts of Adam and Eve and their sons, Cain and Abel, into a modern telling of the good and evil found in most people. Steinbeck reincarnates the family of Adam and Eve through multiple characters, demonstrating that both their failures and triumphs are in almost all people, but their destiny is controlled by their own individual decisions. Steinbeck illustrates Adam

    Read More

  • Maturity In John Steinbeck's The Red Pony

    1266 Words  | 6 Pages

    Due to this event, Jody is introduced to the “existence of death and evil in the world”(Critical Companion to John Steinbeck

    Read More

  • John Steinbeck's Accomplishments

    1889 Words  | 8 Pages

    John Steinbeck grew up in Salinas Valley, California where his appreciation for nature grew daily. He was the only boy amongst three sisters in addition to his wise mother, Olive Hamilton, and successful father, John Steinbeck Sr.. The locals of the Salinas Valley greatly honored the Steinbeck family. In addition to growing older, John’s personality began to unravel, especially two aspects: his clever spirit and sensitivity (Williams 6). His quick-witted personality led him to attend Stanford University for an English degree at the age of 19. Wanting to get involved at college, John joined an English club in which he could share his personal writings.

    Read More

  • Voltaire's Alludes To The Garden Of Eden

    342 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning on the novel, Candide, Voltaire alludes to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were banished from by referencing how Candide is banished after kissing Cunegonde. The rest of the book seems like one large quest of Candide trying to find his way back to this garden. However, it is only when he changes his viewpoint on the world and learns through experience of the hardships that he can finally, “cultivate his own garden” (144). I believe the purpose of including all of these biblical allusions to show how through hard work our paths can be determined ourselves rather than just letting everything be. That is why, I think, Voltaire also included the variety of all the religions.

    Read More

  • Free Will In John Steinbeck's 'East Of Eden'

    669 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vuong Do Ms. Hinshaw English 3H, 2 13 September, 2015 Timshel Seashell at the Seashore Sean Covey once said, “You are free to choose what you want to make of your life. It's called free agency or free will, and it's your birthright“. A life is only worth living if there are rights and freedom. East of Eden is a bibliological novel, written by John Steinbeck, that is based on the Bible. The author uses the characters to symbolize the conflict between good and evil.

    Read More

  • Biblical Allusions In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

    969 Words  | 4 Pages

    In John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, the author explores mankind’s endeavor to overcome internal and worldly evil by utilizing biblical allusions and circular prose. One can infer that the novel is a great biblical allusion with the story of Cain and Abel from the Book of Genesis being a reoccurring insinuation. Steinbeck applies these biblical allusions to specify the moral and immoral characters in his novel. For example, Charles Trask receives a “long and crinkled scar” on his forehead that “turns dark brown” while he is filled with a malevolent rage (46). Later on in the story, Cathy Ames is also marked with a scar during a grisly altercation with the pimp she was exploiting.

    Read More

  • Father And Son Relationships In East Of Eden, By John Steinbeck

    905 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cain ended up murdering Abel out of envy of his favorable position, and that conflict is reflected through Charles and Adam Trask, and later Adam’s children Caleb and Aaron. The characters struggle with the notions of good and evil. Timshel is a repeating theme. The concept is the biblical depiction of the internal strife between good and evil that lies in each character. Adam Trask is a central character in the novel, who the reader sees mature and struggle as both a son and a father.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Temptation Analysis

    573 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steinbeck uses a very similar setting as an allusion to the Garden of Eden. According to Steinbeck, “On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees-willows fresh and green with every spring…” (Steinbeck 1).Moreover, the setting of “Of Mice and Men” was a representation of George and Lennie’s peace, their haven from the reality potential danger and insults that actually happen in the

    Read More

  • Cathy In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

    508 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edwards, who falls in love with her and gives her a lot of money and gifts. Soon he finds out who she really is and what she did, he takes her to a small town to Connecticut, where he beats her almost to her death and leaves her there (East of Eden 130). Cathy manages to crawl to the Trask farm, where she finds help and comfort by the two brothers (East of Eden 146). Adam falls in love with her immediately, but Charles sees right through her. As she is getting better, she manipulates Adam into asking her to marry her (East of Eden, 154).

    Read More

  • Historical Stage In Genesis

    1002 Words  | 5 Pages

    Historical stage To analyze this chapter it is essential to have some historical background of where the setting is. There cannot be any specific fact that Genesis was indeed on earth, but there is some historical allusion that the bible makes. “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east”(Genesis 2:8). In this chapter, it illustrates that the Garden of Eden is located on earth on the east side. This can be traced back to the first vegetation in the world which was in Mesopotamia.

    Read More

More about East Of Eden Allusions

Open Document