East of Eden

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East of Eden
First edition title page
Title page of East of Eden
Author John Steinbeck
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher The Viking Press
Publication date September 1952
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN N/A
For other uses, see East of Eden (disambiguation).

East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.

Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John (then 6½ and 4½ respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.

The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's maternal grandfather.[1] A young John Steinbeck also appears briefly in the novel as a minor character.[2]

According to his last wife Elaine, he considered this to be a requiem for himself—his greatest novel ever.[citation needed] Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: "It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years." He further claimed: "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley, California, between the beginning of the 20th century and the end of the Great War (World War I), though some chapters are in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the story goes as far back as the American Civil War.

Adam Trask, after a tumultuous childhood in the East and enduring harsh treatment from his younger brother, Charles, spends his time either in the military or wandering the country. While living with his brother at the family farm in Connecticut, they find Cathy Ames, a viciously beaten woman, on their doorstep. Adam falls in love with her, and soon marries her.

Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from Ireland, raise their nine children on the rough infertile hillside. As the Hamilton children leave the nest, Adam Trask—newly wed and newly rich after inheriting considerable wealth from his deceased father, Cyrus Trask—settles with a pregnant Cathy into a large and fertile plot near Hamilton plot. Shortly after Cathy gives birth to twins, she shoots Adam in the shoulder and flees. Adam recovers and raises his children with the help of his Cantonese cook, Lee.

Meanwhile, Cathy becomes a prostitute at a brothel in the city (Salinas). She renames herself Kate to avoid recognition, and eventually becomes the owner of the most "respectable" brothel in the area after killing its former owner, Faye. Kate makes the brothel infamous for its brutal treatment of clients. Samuel Hamilton later reveals Cathy's whereabouts to Adam, hoping that the truth will not kill him but set him free. Adam later visits Cathy during a trip, and Cathy (now Kate) reveals to him that his brother Charles is possibly the biological father of his two boys.

Adam's sons, named Caleb (Cal) and Aaron (Aron)—after their namesakes in the Bible—grow up oblivious of their mother's situation, with Cal pursuing a career in business with Will Hamilton, one of Samuel's sons, and with Aron going to college to become an Episcopalian priest. Aron goes on to become very popular among the townpeople, while Cal goes on to become a recluse. At a very early age, Aron meets a popular girl named Abra from a well-to-do family, and the two fall in love. Cal finds out about his mother from a drunken acquaintance of his father, and goes to meet her; Kate learns of her two children, and recognizes Cal's similarity to herself in mindset and similarity to Charles in appearance.

Adam becomes inspired by Samuel Hamilton's inventiveness and begins to come up with ideas on how to transport produce across the country using iceboxes on trains. The plan fails, causing Adam and his family, now living in Salinas, to lose most of their wealth. To give a gift to his father—admittedly to buy his father's love—Cal works with Will Hamilton to make his father's money back, capitalizing on World War I by selling beans grown in the Salinas Valley to nations in Europe for a considerable premium.

Aron returns from Stanford for Thanksgiving. At dinner, Cal gives his father the money, but Adam refuses to accept the money and tells him to give it back to the poor farmers he exploited. Adam adds

I would have been so happy if you could have given me—well, what your brother has—pride in the thing he's doing, gladness in his progress. Money, even clean money, doesn't stack up with that.[3]

and concludes with

If you want to give me a present—give me a good life. That would be something I could value.

In a fit of jealousy, Cal takes his brother to see their mother, knowing it will be a shock to Aron (who was still under the belief that she had died and was buried on the East Coast). Aron, his idealistic world view shattered, enlists in the army to fight in World War I. He is killed in battle in the last year of the war, and Adam suffers a stroke upon hearing the news from Lee. Cal, who later befriends Abra after Aron leaves for war, tells her why Aron left and tries to convince her to run away with him. She instead persuades him to return home.

The novel ends with a bedridden Adam giving Cal his blessing in the form of the word Timshel! (a Hebrew word said in the novel to mean 'thou mayest'), alluding to the point that Cal may have the ability to conquer his evil nature.

[edit] Major themes

The book explores themes of depravity, beneficence, love, and the struggle for acceptance, greatness, and the capacity for self-destruction and especially of guilt and freedom. It ties these themes together with references to and many parallels with the biblical Book of Genesis (especially Genesis Chapter 4, the story of Cain and Abel).

Steinbeck's inspiration for the novel comes from the fourth chapter of Genesis, verses one through sixteen, which recounts the story of Cain and Abel. The title, East of Eden, was chosen by Steinbeck from Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden" (King James Version).

Steinbeck's allusion to Cain and Abel is furthered by the naming of the Trask family; the first letters of the names of the brothers are in match throughout the generations (Charles and Adam, Cal and Aron).

Some of the biblical parallels include:

Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel East of Eden, Charles and Adam East of Eden, Caleb and Aron
Cain is a "worker of the ground"; Abel is a "keeper of sheep" (Gen. 4:2, ESV). Charles is a farmer who works diligently even after he inherits considerable wealth from his father, Cyrus. Caleb invests in bean crops. Aron vies to become a priest (who are commonly compared with shepherds).
God rejects Cain's gift of crops in favor of Abel's lamb (Gen. 4:3, ESV). Cyrus prefers the gift from his son Adam (a stray puppy he found) over the gift from his other son Charles (a hard-earned expensive knife). Adam rejects his son Cal's money and would rather he lead a good life like Aron.
After rejection from God, Cain kills Abel (Gen. 4:8, ESV). After being rejected by their father, Charles attacks Adam and beats him nearly to death. After Adam rejects Cal's money, Cal informs Aron of their mother's brothel. Aron, distraught, enlists in the war and is killed in combat.
God put a mark on Cain to deter others from killing him (Gen. 4:15, ESV). Charles receives a dark scar on his forehead while trying to move a boulder from his fields. Cal is described as having a more dark and sinister appearance than Aron. Also noteworthy is the fact that Adam tells Cal, "timshel," meaning "thou mayest." This implies Cal may overcome his evil nature because of the "mark" put upon him by Adam.
Cain is the only one with progeny. Charles is the only one with children, as it is speculated that the twins Aron and Cal are his. Aron dies in the war, and Cal is the only one able to carry on and have children

There are also contrasts with the Biblical story. For example, in Genesis, Cain becomes a vagabond. In East of Eden, it is the brother Adam who spends several years as a vagabond.

[edit] Writing "East of Eden"

As he wrote the novel, Steinbeck went through a number of possible titles for the book, including "The Salinas Valley," the working title from the beginning; "My Valley," after a Texas businessman suggested he make it more universal; "Down to the Valley," and then, after he decided to incorporate the Biblical allusion directly into the title, "Cain Sign." It was only upon transcribing the 16 verses of Cain and Abel in the text itself that he enthusiastically took the last three words of the final verse, "East of Eden", as the novel's title.

The novel was not well accepted by the critics of its day, who found it heavy-handed and unconvincing, especially in its use of Biblical allusion. Nevertheless, it became an instant best-seller in November of 1952, a mere month after it was released, and is now considered one of Steinbeck's finest achievements.

[edit] Film, TV, and theatrical adaptations

[edit] Popular culture references

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Carl Nolte (February 24, 2002). In Steinbeck Country]. San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. ^ Chapter 46 of East of Eden
  3. ^ Chapter 49, section 3.
  4. ^ East of Eden (2009) at the Internet Movie Database.
  5. ^ Interview with Matt Costa where he cites John Steinbeck as an influence, and "The Ballad of Miss Kate" being loosely based on Cathy Ames.
  6. ^ Biography of Meg & Dia where band member Meg Frampton states: I love Fitzgerald, Salinger, and Steinbeck. "Monster", the first single from Something Real, is about East of Eden written by Steinbeck.
  7. ^ Interview with Anna Nalick where she explains: I was inspired to write that song after I read the book East of Eden and there is a character in there who was beautiful her whole life, but [...] she gets old, realizes that her looks are gone and that she's ready to go, she drinks a bottle of poison and she imagines that she's like Alice in Wonderland, slowly getting smaller and smaller and smaller until she finally fades away.

[edit] External links

[edit] Summaries and Discussion

The following pages contain chapter summaries, anaylses (of themes, symbolism, and motifs), and/or character profiles:

v • d • e
Works by John Steinbeck
Novels:
Non-fiction:
Short stories:
"The Chrysanthemums" • "The White Quail" • "Flight" • "The Snake" • "Breakfast" • "The Raid" • "The Harness" • "The Vigilante" • "Johnny Bear" • "Red Pony" • "The Murder" • "Saint Katy the Virgin"
Short story collections: