John Steinbeck's East of Eden: Modern Biblical Story of Cain and Abel

When God proclaims that he favors Abel's gift over Cain's, Cain becomes angry and jealous towards Abel and he eventually kills him. Although God is fully aware of what has transpired, He asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain answers Him untruthfully saying, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:2-5). After God reveals to Cain that he knows of Abel's murder, God banishes Cain to another part of the land and places a mark on him so that no man will kill him.

The novel, East of Eden, features Biblical overtones from the stories of Genesis. The novel was written by John Steinbeck and turned into a film by Elia Kazan in 1955. Kazan’s purpose was to show how the Bible could influence media and culture. The film was released on April 10th, 1955 and featured James Dean as Cal, Richard Davalos as Aron, Julie Harris as Abra, Raymond Massey as Adam, and Jo Van Fleet as Kate. East of Eden is set in the time before and after America joined

East of Eden, written by John Steinbeck, is a profound, complicated retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel, focused around the overall struggle between good and evil . John Steinbeck wrote this for his own sons, John and Tom, to show them not only the history of their family in the Hamiltons, but also the concept of sibling rivalry emerging from the competition over paternal love and acceptance (Shillinglaw). This was first evident in Adam and Charles Trask, and then in Adam’s sons, Aron and Cal Trask. The absence of a true mother figure in these two instances of brotherly contention enhances the need for acknowledgment and love from their parental figures. And yet, both mother figures in East of Eden choose to abandon their

Cal Trask is the most prominent Cain like figure because he has always been the twin who was looked down upon and he causes his brothers death with an act of jealousy exactly like Cain did to Abel. When Adam says,”You’ll have to give it back” Cal is torn apart and in a state of jealousy and hatred towards his brother(Steinbeck 540). He knows that Aron is the preferred twin and this really makes him upset. This exact thing happens in the bible when Abel’s gift is the one God likes more of the two. This builds up jealousy in Cain and pushes him to the point where he murders Abel. Also when Cal says,”Oh, it’s

In John Steinbeck’s classic, East of Eden, one of the main conflicts in the beginning of the novel is Adam joining the army. It is stated that Adam will be joining the cavalry, a dangerous and unappealing route in the U.S military. His father, who had served in the military and speaks highly of his time there, illustrates the horrors that Adam will face while on duty (Steinbeck 25). The Cavalry was originally formed in the late 1700s and continued operation through the 19th century to protect American settlers heading west from vicious attacks from the Native Americans (Marlin). However, the Cavalry was a brutal and perilous branch of the military that deeply affected the men who joined. This can first be seen in the history of the Cavalry.

It is then, when Caleb plans to give Adam 15,000 dollars that he made by investing in bean business. Caleb hopes that this money will make up for a great loss of money that Adam suffered when a plan to send lettuce to the east coast in refrigerated train cars failed. Adam rejects Caleb’s money, following the pattern of God rejecting or rather neglecting Cain’s gift as Cyrus ignoring Charles’ knife. On the other hand, it seems that Aron does not give their father any apparent gift, although many scholars, for instance David McCright argues that Aron’s gift “is a subtle one. He simply returns home from college for Thanksgiving and he is warmly received” (McCright 24). This time, Steinbeck let the readers know the most information about the gift that Caleb plans to give Adam. In the first offering, we only knew about it thanks to Charles and his memories of it, but this is different, the readers can actually see how much thought Caleb gave to it. He talks about making the money with Samuel’s son, Will Hamilton, who is also very clever and business-oriented man. Will asks him why he wants to make that money and give it to his father and he directly asks him if he wants to buy Adam’s love, to which Caleb replies that yes, he wants (East of Eden

Choice can be defined as the act of selecting or making a decision when faced with multiple possibilities. In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the motifs of houses, hands, and money reflect how the pattern of good and evil repeat due to the reoccurring theme that one has the right to choose.

Environmental factors play a key role in the development of any human being. Within a family unit, the ones who are closest can effect the way they are to be as adults. Adam Trask grew up with his half-brother, Charles. He had a “difficult relationship with [him because he} was jealous of him and [beat] him when they [were] boys” (“East”). Fighting for the love of Cyrus Trask, Charles took his anger out on Adam, scarring him and his view of his brother. Adam had no control within the feelings of Charles, making him that more repelled by the idea of his abusive brother. Biblically paralleled with Cain, Charles truly affects Adam’s look on any type of Cain figure that crosses paths with him, such as the effects of Cathy after she breaks his heart. Adam’s son, Aron Trask, also has a Cain figure in his life as well. Aron is the “innocent, good brother, in contrast to the aggressive, malicious Caleb” just as Adam was in contrast with Charles (“East”). He and his twin brother aren’t as aggressive as Adam and Charles were, but mentally and verbally. Caleb abuses Aron when he told Abra that Aron put a snake in her box making her reject him. Caleb is also jealous of Aron, but for his popularity. Charles and Caleb both effect Adam and Aron in a revealing way. When Charles tries to convince Adam that their dad was a liar, Adam immediately denies it, not wanting to accept the truth. As for Caleb telling Aron about their mother’s life as a prostitute, he reacts the same way when he is

In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, the overarching theme of good vs evil is very prominent throughout the story. Steinbeck uses many parallels to biblical stories to highlight how evil is inescapable but, one’s decision on reacts to it is not. Just like in the story of Adam and Eve, Cathy, who parallels Eve, brings evil into Adam’s life. From the first encounter the reader has with Cathy, it is evident that she only sees evil in the world. She uses this pessimistic view to take advantage of and exploit people’s flaws.

History, is the story among which all literary works are linked to, and this statement is true more than any other in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Whether one believes that all stories in the Bible have actually happened or not, at least some concepts of them did. How would a writer arrive at the ideas of two brothers and jealousy of love, without having seen it or felt it before? Yet again, how would these ideas survive for so long, unless many people felt them as well and connected to them. The story of Cain and Abel has been around a long time, but the feelings of jealousy between siblings longer still. What stories offer, are not only a feeling of understanding to a child, but a lesson to be learned as well. It is a common cliche, that without knowledge of it history is destined to repeat itself, but if stories are born from past experiences and these too are contained in the archives of history than is it possible to say the same for those as well? What John Steinbeck does in his book is show that without the understanding of the possibility in choices, some of history 's greatest and oldest stories are able to continue to new generations to haunt their lives. In the use of metaphors, analogies, and symbolism, John Steinbeck displays the Cain and Abel story in two generations, and the horrors along with the beauties that the possibility of choice creates.

“Now Cain said to his brother Able, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Able and killed him (Genesis 4:8)”

In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, biblical allusion is a literary device that references characteristics of judeo christian doctrine. Steinbeck alludes to the bible with his characters and setting in East of Eden. Salinas Valley and Adam Trask’s garden allude to the Garden of Eden. Steinbeck portrays the biblical allusion of the chapter Genesis from the bible throughout the book. The characters in the novel are allude to those in the book of Genesis. Steinbeck’s characters alluded to Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Seth. All the conflicts in the book of Genesis, parallel the conflicts in the novel. The conflicts of represent the same fundamental theme of the choice between good and evil. Which is how the research question, To what extent does biblical allusion impact the structure and theme in John Steinbeck, East of Eden, shows its significance. To answer the research question, the investigation will look at the biblical allusion to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Lilith. The investigation will further seek to explain how each biblical allusion impacts the structure and theme of the novel.

Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck uses many biblical references to illustrate clearly the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil. Much of the plot of East of Eden is centered upon the two sets of brothers representing Cain and Abel.  Both pairs are similar to Cain and Abel in the way they go about winning their fathers’ favors.  All four give gifts to their fathers, and the fathers dismiss the gifts of Charles and Caleb, the Cain representations (Marks, Jay Lester. p.121).  Caleb and Charles Trask are obviously the more malignant brothers.  They are also the more loving towards their father.  Steinbeck’s purpose in this is to illustrate the need of the Cain character in

Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain is the eldest and Abel is the youngest. Cain is described as the tiller of the ground whereas Abel is the keeper of sheep. Both men know that God requires an offering, but the offering of Cain is quite different from that of Abel. Abel fears God, and because of this he offers the best of his flock to the Lord. He kills the animal and makes a sacrifice of blood. Abel understands that the shedding of innocent blood for the forgiveness of sin is acceptable. He also knows that this action of his is representative of surrendering his heart to God. By contrast, Cain brings what he has grown and gathered from the earth. In a way, a foolish man would think

Gandhi once said, “I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul”.