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The Good And Evil In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

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John Steinbeck, in his novel, East of Eden, utilizes different literary strategies to describe the nature of humans and ... Steinbeck conveys his purpose by including biblical allegories and biblical illusions … He uses a … tone to influence the readers to ... Biblical allusions and allegories best define the good versus evil behaviors of the characters seen in the novel. The Trask family and the Hamilton family, allegories for the good and evil in the world, demonstrate their ability to resist temptation or succumbing to it. Samuel Hamilton represents the good and pure nature of humans; many people would act if they did not listen to tempting evil influences. Samuel parallels God, his pure kind behavior and ability to make friends with Adam and Lee allows for others to accept his influence as many accept the influence of God in …show more content…
Cathy possesses destructive qualities which also leads her to corrupt others with her behavior. Cathy represent the serpent from the Garden in this story, transferring evil to the pure and innocent using tricks and deception, “And I fooled them. I fooled every one of them. And when they thought they could tell me what to do— oh! that’s when I fooled them best” (Steinbeck 336). Although Cathy represents the serpent which corrupts and destroys, she cannot control the inner behavior of the men who cannot resist temptation. “Perhaps we can’t understand Cathy, but on the other hand we are capable of many things in all directions, of great virtues and great sins. And who in his mind has not probed the black water?” (Steinbeck 101). The title itself, East of Eden, suggests the stray from God’s plan with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how humanity has the choice of which path the want to follow, good or evil. Steinbeck involves the many biblical references to tie his ideas and describe the battle between good and

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