Shaun C. O’Malley
Sociology 310 M&F
Novel Analysis
East of Eden

I must admit that I was not happy when I saw that I had to do a book report. When given the list of books to read, I thought to myself just clothes your eyes, point, and which ever one your finger is on you will read. that finger of mine landed on East of Eden, and wow did I luck out! This saga of two families the Trask family in Connecticut and the Hamilton family in California. This saga of two brothers, Charles and Adam Trask, then Cal and Aron Trask in the next generation. This saga of families and friends, Samuel Hamilton, his wife, his children Will, Olive, Tom and Dessie Hamilton, as well as Lee the Chinese American friend and caretaker of Adam Trask and his sons, did not disappoint. The oldest stories are retold in East of Eden, good versus evil and brother versus brother. There is racism, violence, blindness, betrayal, and deceit. There is love, father to son, brother to brother, man and woman, and friend to friend. The characters are complex no one is totally good or absolutely evil, even Cathy has a human layer. East of Eden is the biblical Cain and Abel story replayed. The conflict of brothers is powerful in both generations. The book begins by describing Samuel and his family living in Salinas Valley. After describing Samuel and his family, we are introduced to the Trask family namely the father of the family Cyrus Trask, who was an army veteran. His wife died after his first child named Adam. Cyrus married again and had another son, one year younger than Adam, named Charles. The boys grew up close to each other. On one of Cyrus’ birthdays Adam gave his father a puppy while Charles gave him an expensive Swiss knife. Cyrus never used the knife but was always played with the dog. Charles grew very bitter at Adam for this. Adam at eighteen, was sent into the cavalry by his father. Ten years later Cyrus had died and Adam returned home to live with Charles. After this the book moves to the Ames family. The Ames had a daughter who was very beautiful named Cathy. Through her beauty, she learned to manipulate people. Cathy conspired to kill her parents and because of this the towns-people tried to kill her. During this Cathy crawled to the Trask house. The police question her about her beating but she claimed to remember nothing. Adam fell in love with her and married her, not knowing she was possibly pregnant with Charles’ child. Adam and Cathy move to Salinas Valley where they bought a large farm, while Cathy gave birth to twin boys. She at one point shot Adam in the shoulder trying to kill him and then ran off to work in a brothel. Adam grew very depressed after Cathy left him. He neglected his children. Samuel (mentioned earlier) found out that the children were one year old and still not named so he went to visit Adam to knock some sense into him. At Adam’s house, Samuel, Lee and Adam begin talking about names of people in the Bible. They start talking about the Story of Cain and Abel. Adam named his kids Caleb and Aaron. Caleb (who is known as Cal) and Aaron (who changed his name to Aron) grew up taught by Adam that their mother was dead. Because of jealousy over an unexpected gift (a mirror of the previous brothers) Cal bitter at Aron decided to get revenge on him by taking Aron to see his mother at the brothel. Aron was so shocked when he saw his mother working as a prostitute he joined the army. He later died in the military and Cal felt that he was guilty of murdering him. Adam was so distraught by Aron’s death that he went into shock and died. But just before he died, Cal asked for his forgiveness. Adam only muttered the word “Timshel” referring to the idea that one chooses their own path and aren’t inherently evil. Since this book is obviously inundated with religious symbolism my first Macro topic will be to discuss Religion and the struggle between good and evil, this idea of original sin. When Cyrus dies he leaves a stolen inheritance that taints his family for generations. This sin is passed down to his sons Charles and Adam. Charles(the only character that can out manipulate Cathy) a man consumed by a much more malevolent sin and Adam a man consumed with a lesser benevolent sin. This is best exemplified when Charles sleeps with Adam’s bride on the night of their wedding. Cathy a woman who embodies evil drugged her husband Adam and had sex with Charles. Adam and Cathy move to Salinas Valley and give birth to twin son’s Cal and Aron. The original sin and retelling of the Cain and Abel story has now been passed down to them. This is best exemplified when Cal knowing that their mother Cathy is still alive and working in a whore house, shows his brother the truth, leading to Aron enlisting in the Army where he will later die. This idea that sin is innate, is a common theme throughout a large part of this novel, until the caretaker Lee translates the meaning of the word timshel to thou mayest. Lee's translation of timshel as thou mayest, gives hope that one is not corrupted because of who they are descended from. Timshel explains that everyone has a choice to be either good or evil. This becomes an especially liberating Idea to Cal as Adam gives him his blessing and Cal realizes he has the power to overcome his family’s legacy of evil. One of my favorite characters in the book is a Chinese-American named Lee. I love this character because it allows us to see Racism in a way that is still predominant today. Most racism I encounter today isn’t necessarily the hate-filled, KKK, Skin Head racism that most of us think of when we hear the word, but a much more benevolent racism, for example, Chinese people are bad drivers or black people are loud. In chapter 15, Lee an American raised, college educated man who appreciates books and philosophy reveals to Samuel (A character who see’s Lee for the man he is) that “Me talkee Chinese talk” to play into American stereotypes and expectations of him. This novel does a great job of revealing the precariousness of societies views on race and ethnicity. Lee is able to manipulate and control many of the characters including Adam, because like most people he buys into this idea that Lee must be “Less then” because of his ethnic background. This novel also is able to portray that overt racism towards Lee, like when the deputy calls him “Ching Chong.” Growing up in America I learned from an early age that the Economy and more specifically money makes the world go round. We are lead to believe that money can be the solution to so many of life’s problems. But the truth is that we find most of the world’s evil is caused in the pursuit of money. Mr. Steinbeck does a great job of exemplifying this in his novel. We first see this when Cyrus Trask lies about his Civil War record to gain a good Government position, and when he dies leaves a stolen fortune to his two sons. Kathy Ames the character described as “Evil” lives a life consumed by the pursuit of money and power. In this pursuit she murders numerous people including her parents, and tries to murder Adam. We also see this when Cal son of Cathy and Adam swindles 15,000 dollars from farmers during the war. These examples of the corruption that consumes many of these characters pursuit of wealth, is a concept that has and will, mirror society in the past, present, and future. My first Micro topic of Sexual Behavior can only begin by discussing Cathy Ames the books great villain. Today some might view here as a strong liberating woman who uses her sexuality to get what she wants. Her single minded pursuit of her own self interest should make her, in some aspect, a feminist heroine. Cathy chooses prostitution as a business because she can't stand the thought of living as a house wife with her husband. She enjoys prostitution, it is her passion. If a man were to have the same sexual behaviors as Cathy would he be considered evil? Probably not, the idea that female sexuality has been equated with evil, is a notion that has been around since the early days of the Church. There is a quote on pg. 74 that reads, “Cathy learned when she was very young that sexuality with all it attendant yearnings and pains, jealousies, and taboos, is the most disturbing impulse humans have.” I love this quote because it shows to me that Cathy identifies sex as something that is just as natural as breathing or using the bathroom, and she understands that this need that all people have, has become something that is hidden and only done in the shadows of society. Because of this she realizes that she can use her sexuality to gain power and wealth. Parenting is a topic I feel compelled to share about after reading this novel, namely the dynamics of a fathers love for his sons, or lack there-of. We start off clearly seeing that Cyrus displays a clear preference for Adam over Charles. The truly sad part of this is that Charles who clearly seems to love his father much more then Adam recognizes his fathers greater affection for Adam, and because of this he grows up to be extremely resentful. The best example of this from the book is when Cyrus likes Adam’s gift of a stray puppy (a gift which he didn’t put much effort into) over the knife that Charles got him, a gift he put a lot of effort into. It goes without saying that this leads Charles to be resentful, thus straining his relationship with Adam. This Idea of the father loving one son more than the other is then passed down by Adam to his two sons Cal and Aron. Adam openly shows his favoritism to Aron believing he is good and promising while Cal is not(when in reality it is the opposite). I cant help but see the direct correlation between the lack of love shown by both fathers to their son’s Charles and Cal, and their resentment of their brothers for it. Violence an act that is committed by numerous characters in this drama is a perfect topic for my third and final Micro-topic. East of Eden is stooped in violence, this great novel begins and ends with two of the most bloody wars known to man at that time, the Civil War and the Great War. When Cyrus is injured, Adam a man who detests war must enlist in the army. He then ends up serving in campaigns against Native Americans, a campaign that some today would call genocide. Adam who despises war his entire life must then watch as his son Aron enlists in the Army and later dies in the Great War. We also experience the violence that surrounds the life of Cathy Ames. She first murders her parents in a fire and then is nearly beaten to death by the towns people. When she is saved by crawling into Adams life, she repays him by attempting to murder him. Later on Cathy then murders Faye the madam of a brothel, which Cathy then takes over and uses drugs to control and manipulate her whores. Cathy finally and fittingly dies by her own hands committing suicide by overdosing. The Macro issues of Religion,(idea of good and evil) Racism, and Money definitely affect the Micro issues of Sexual Behavior, Parenting, and Violence. This concept of good vs. evil, and to a lesser extent money and racism are the underlying themes of this entire novel. These acts of sexual behavior namely by Cathy are done to gain money and power, and for her to be “Evil” is how she accomplishes this. We see Racism in this story committed by those who are ignorant and blind, those who refuse to see the greatness in each individual. This is exemplified by Adam who wants to see the “Ching Chong” in Lee, not the educated man he really is. Adam is also guilty of perpetrating this “Blindness” onto his sons. He see’s Aron his favorite as driven and Cal as lazy, when in fact it is the exact opposite. The want for more and more money leads many of these character to act in corrupt and violent ways. Cal rips off 15,000 dollars from good honest workers, while Cathy murders to acquire her riches. We can also look at this the other way these Micro issues impact the Macro issues. Predominately the way these two fathers raised their sons. Each father had a favorite which caused the other brother to resent their kin. This completely destroyed Charles and led him to lead a life of evil. He is even described as the only character who can out manipulate Cathy. He grew up to be the man he is because the lack of a strong maternal figure and the knowledge that he was second best in his fathers eyes. Cal is also faced with this evil because he knows he is second best in Adam’s eye. Cal feels because of this and the fact that his mother is Cathy that he is doomed to be evil, it is only when Lee teaches him the idea of Timshel that he believes that he is in control of his fait, and it wasn’t decided at birth. The acts of violence lead one to ask are some these characters purely evil or purely good, we must decide if there is such a thing, or are they human beings who make choices, some good some bad. The underlying theme of this saga is the battle between good and evil, Using some of the most famous stories(and/or references) from the bible and re-introducing them in a modern light. Throughout this novel we as readers are also able to identify a plethora of subsequent themes including racism, fatherhood, sibling rivalry, and the freedom to chose one’s destiny, these themes that were relevant when this novel was first published in 1952, are still relevant today. Steinbeck’s story telling allows us to vicariously experience the struggle for acceptance, love, money, power, guilt, passion, freedom, and the human capacity for self destruction. Through the literal story telling of a family and those relationships that surround them, we are able to inescapably understand the effects the lager picture plays in the lives of each individual. By the same means we are able to identify the actions of individuals, and how these actions can control and change larger events. On a personal level I must thank you for this assignment, because it helped me to view this novel and the lives that it portrayed from a larger Sociological perspective, while identifying these effects on the family unit, these are things that I would not normally have been able to identify.