EAST OF EDEN A Novel By John Steinbeck

EAST OF EDEN A Novel By: John Steinbeck

JOHN STEINBECK BRIEF BIOGRAPHY § 1902 -1968, Salinas, California § Family of moderate means § Worked through college (taking literature and writing courses) Stanford University § 1925 - moved to NYC where he tried freelance writing but was unsuccessful § Became popular in 1935 with Tortilla Flat § Focus was social novels dealing with economic problems of rural labor

BOOKS § Tortilla Flat- humorous novel about Monterey paisanos § In Dubious Battle- deals with the strikes of migratory fruit pickers in California § Of Mice and Men- About the imbecile giant Lennie § The Grapes of Wrath- Oklahoma tenant farmers who are unable to earn a living from the land migrate to California; this book was banned well into WW 2 -1940 - Won the Pulitzer Prize § East of Eden- he now writes a novel about people-a story about a wife, husband, family and fatherhood-He described it as a novel about himself

EAST OF EDEN: SETTING NEW ENGLAND Cyrus Trask and his family live in Connecticut. As the novel progresses Adam decides to move to the Salinas Valley in California. At this point the Trask and Hamilton (the two major families in the novel) families meet. SALINAS VALLEY § Steinbeck begins-description of the valley § Recalls the sights and smells of his Salinas childhood § Valley-described as an arena for the struggle between good and evil. The valley is enclosed by the inviting Gabilan Mountains to the east—”light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness” –and the “dark and brooding” Santa Lucia Mountains to the west. § Mountains symbolize the human struggle between good and evil.

SALINAS VALLEY REPRESENTATION § The land between the Salinas Valley is the representation of the lands where the biblical Adam and Eve live after God banishes them from Eden § After being driven from Eden, Adam and Eve are forced to live in a world in which the dangers and temptations of evil are ever-present. § Likewise, the main characters in East of Eden struggle to exercise free will in the face of the inherited evils of their ancestors.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION § EDEN by Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God eating from the Tree of Knowledge. The summary of the story of Eden http: //www. sparknotes. com/lit/oldtestament/section 1. rhtml § TIMSHEL In Hebrew timshel means ‘thou mayest’, in East of Eden it means to triumph over sin

THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL § The beginning of sin § Cain and Abel where the closest humans, apart from their parents, to being “perfect in sin” § Understood and grasped the concept of love and salvation § Understood heaven, angels, good and evil § Cain’s personality and character seemed evil from the beginning § He didn’t know that his sacrifice was not in line with what God wanted. § This makes the reader sympathetic towards him

MAJOR CHARACTERS Steinbeck of Course! Narrator and son of Olive Hamilton Eden is considered a semi autobiographical novel The story of his family and the Trasks

Trask Family Cyrus Trask * Patriarch of the Trask family *Father of Adam and Charles *A LIFE BASED ON A LIE- military heroics-government appoints him to an important office in the Army administration *Leaves fortune (most likely stolen) of more than $100, 000 to his sons Adam Trask *Father of Aron and Caleb *Good heart but impractical *Innocence leads him to fall in love with Cathy Ames *Abel role in the 1 st generation of the Trask family Charles Trask man *Son of Cyrus Trask and the half brother of Adam. Violent, cynical, manipulative who works his father’s farm and amasses a large fortune * Plays the Cain role in the first generation of the Trasks

Other Trask Family Members Mrs. Trask *First wife to Cyrus-mother to Adam Alice *17 year old Trask neighbor-2 nd wife to Cyrus-mother to Charles Caleb *Trask twin-son of Adam(? ) and Cathy Aaron *Trask twin-son of Adam(? ) and Cathy * Wife to Adam-EVIL Lee * Adam Trask’s cook and servant in California

Hamilton Family Samuel Hamilton *Patriarch of the Hamilton Family *Joyous, self-educated Irishman-moves his family to the Salinas Valley in California *Remains a joyous man until the death of his daughter Una *Never a rich man- although well respected in the community Liza Hamilton *Samuel’s wife and mother of their 9 children with *small, extremely morally strict *focus-raising all of her children (feeding, clothing) and instilling them good morals

Other Hamilton Family Members George Hamilton Lizzie Hamilton *eldest son-virtuous Will Hamilton *next girl-hateful Dessie Hamilton *2 nd son, conservative, rich Tom Hamilton *3 rd son-like his father Joe Hamilton *4 th son-lazy, college type Una Hamilton *eldest girl-thoughtful, studious *next girl-always laughing, dressmaker Olive Hamilton *Author’s mother-a teacher Mollie Hamilton *Youngest-violet eyes, very pretty

EVIL, EVIL…… Cathy Ames *the epitome of evil-described as a moral monster *most static of all the characters in the novel *to be consistent we will refer to her as Cathy although she is referred to as Catherine and Kate at various points in the novel

Themes, Motifs and Symbols… Good vs. Evil Paternal Rejection Sibling Rivalry Timshel/Freewill Salinas Valley Charles’ scar Cathy’s hands Inheritance (tainted money) The story of Cain and Abel

CAN YOU OVERCOME THE INHERITED TRAITS OF YOUR FAMILY? ?