Good And Evil In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

The chilling allegory, Something Wicked This Way Comes, written by Ray Bradbury, teaches readers about friendship, time, fear and good vs. evil through the tale of two thirteen year old boys, Jim Nightshade and Will Holloway, and their coming-of-age story. This novel was published in 1962 and later set a new approach to writing horror stories. Bradbury uses Jim Nightshade to depict the evils of desires and Will Holloway to show how the devotion of a true friend can save people. In this novel, each character has a specific role that teaches the reader a lesson on morals.

From the publication of East of Eden to today the rights and empowerment of women have escalated exponentially. Women are no longer obligated to follow the nurturing mother ideal; they can be independent and strong. Then, in the novel, East of Eden, some believe the author oversimplifies his female characters by filing them into either traditional, caring mothers or heinous villains. However, Steinbeck utilizes their simple, one-dimensional archetypes to show how complex his female roles truly are through subtle details.

In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, rhetorical devices are used to illustrate the characters throughout the book to be either be good or evil by the usage of diction, connotation and denotation as well as other rhetorical devices. By using rhetorical devices it allows the audience to gain a better deeper comprehension of the book. The rhetorical devices allow Steinbeck to describe the characteristics of each character to define them as either good or evil which allows the reader to analyze the parallels between one another. In addition, rhetorical devices for example metaphor, tone, diction, simile, imagery, analogy, allegory, and paradox contribute to the author’s style which creates an image for readers to comprehend. Steinbeck uses word choice, tone, anaphora to highlight the juxtaposition between Cathy Ames and Abra Bacon to illustrate how evil and goodness change the perspective about their inherent point.

East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, reflects the complexities in father/son relationships. The connection between a father and his son is vital to their development. The novel explores the impact of these relations is immense. The central allusion of the novel is comparing several characters to Cain and Abel, who were formed through their attempted relationship with their father-like figure, God. They struggled and vied for the attention, love, and respect of God, which subconsciously influenced their actions and thoughts. 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.

It is noteworthy that this story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the foundation of the religion with the largest number of followers worldwide. Why does it continue to resonate with so many people even today? The reason is that this utopia contains archetypes that reflect the collective unconscious that is found across all cultures. This is the result of universal themes in this story about humanity’s needs and desires that we still see occurring in our society today. The story of Genesis contains three archetypal characteristics that illustrate these patterns that still demonstrate humanity’s needs.

In Of Mice And Men, George and Lennie were very close due to the fact that George looks after Lennie. They form almost a parent and child bond. Lennie does not know his own strength and continuously kills small animals that he wants to care for and pet. Lennie not knowing his own strength is developed further when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s Wife. Lennie was stroking Curley’s Wife’s hair to the point that she became alarmed and panicked and when she did so, Lennie broke her neck by shaking her too hard, he wanted her to stop yelling. He did not mean to kill her and knew he did a horrible thing that would make George mad at him. George had to think about Lennie’s consequences of this, Curley wanted to lynch Lennie but George did not

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Cathy Ames is presented as a monster. She is the most evil character in the novel, and rightfully so. Cathy manipulates other characters into doing her bidding by tapping into their weaknesses and trusting natures. Physically speaking, Cathy had a face of innocence, formed in the shape of a heart, which contrasts with her morally culpable, sinful behaviors. Cathy was born a Catherine, the name meaning “pure” which she is shown not to be from the very beginning. She is described to go from “a pretty child” to a “pretty woman,” oozing innocence and delicacy. However, even as a child Cathy produced a “disturbance she distributed so subtly” (73). Her immorality becomes clear to the reader when it is said that “Cathy learned that by the manipulation and use of this one part of people she could gain and keep power over nearly anyone” (75). Here we see that Cathy, even at a young age, is able to see within people and use their weaknesses against them. She is quickly dismissed as a monster by the narrator, but right before Cathy Ames ends her life, we are shown a broken little girl. However, this does not gain her sympathy because she made the choice to live her

Children learn to pursue a pure conscience, close bonds of trust. and to cause commit no sins. This lesson repeats itself, all the way until adulthood, but many forget it as well. As a result, society turns to deceit to solve their issues for them. Others deceive themselves by living in a world of illusions, providing short-term bliss. That said, once the illusion crumbles, it also destroys him. Likewise, John Steinbeck explores the double-edged sword of deception in his novel East of Eden. Just as in society, many characters throughout the story appear innocent and sinless. Despite this initial virtuosity, Steinbeck’s East of Eden evinces humanity’s contrasting and inherent dependence upon selfish uses of deception without considering the

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.

Adam and Eve had a perfect Garden of Eden, until Eve ate the apple and contaminated the garden. In being tricked by the snake, Eve betrayed God’s word. Mankind has often betrayed others because of the darkness in their heart. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses Phineas as a sacrificial lamb to portray Gene’s savage side and demonstrate that peace can never be achieved at a worldwide level until man accepts the darkness in his own heart.

Everyone knows that they have a choice a choice of whether to do good or evil. As Steinbeck said himself “As for that struggle between good and evil in human history, there is no other story.” Within John Steinbeck’s book East of Eden the main theme which is really pronounced is the choice between good and evil. Mr. Steinbeck conveys this theme by using various literary devices.

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.

“The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.” This quote was said by Philip Zimbardo during his ‘Psychology of Evil’ TED talk. Zimbardo explains in his presentation what defines humans as good or evil. He goes into depth on the negative impact of the external environment of a person. He follows by saying his ideology of evil came from the novel Lord of The Flies by William Golding. In Lord of The Flies, Golding uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in order to create a story about a group of boys who crashed on a desert island and are forced to adapt to the primitive environment. …

“His whispered word seemed to hang in the air: ‘Timshel’’’ (Steinbeck 602). In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Adam Trask says one word to forgive Caleb and free him from feeling rejected. Adam shows that he is honorable through his actions and feelings. He is against violence, he serves his time, and he pays his debts. He feels remorse for sending men into the army and will not accept money earned from war. The people around him like him for his personality and behavior. His plans for his future cause him to be well received in his new home. He is naive in that he sees the best in people. He does not see the negatives in people or his ideas. Despite the fact that Adam Trask neglects his children for most of their lives, he demonstrates his selfless and good-hearted characteristics by being naive, honorable and likable.

Steinbeck describes three life stories, and how they turned out at the end of their lives. He shares a really interesting approach to view life. How people are regarded in these situations are by their ultimate life output: good or evil. It is not the quantity of mistakes that make a person better or worse, but how those mistakes were done, and if the person tried to improve or simply was satisfied with mediocrity.