Society of Choices
What makes a person walk a path in life they have chosen compared to a friend or a family member? Is it the society that they are a part of? Is it a person’s own individuality?
In the Bible [Genesis 4:1-8] we learn the story of two brothers, one called Cain, and the other Abel. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve who were the first humans created by Jehovah. Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer.
There came a day when Cain and Abel both went to make an offering unto Jehovah; Abel made an offering from his flocks while Cain made an offering from the first fruits of his harvest. Cain’s offering was rejected by Jehovah, Cain became jealous of Abel and his favor with Jehovah. In a jealous rage Cain slew Abel.
What drove Cain to slay Abel? Was it that he was jealous of Abel because Jehovah accepted Abel’s offering over his own? Was it just plain sibling rivalry taken to the most extreme measure.
What if the situation was reversed and it was Abel’s offering which was rejected by Jehovah? Would Abel have slew Cain. To understand this look into the occupation of each. Cain was a farmer, a land owner which is a very respected upper class member in a communal society. Abel was a shepherd, a keeper of sheep and not a landowner, which is a lower class member in a communal society. Cain held a high position in society while Abel did not. When the “Lord” of the estate showed favor to a lower class member of society, Cain instantly became jealous and slew Abel in his rage.
Usually an upper class member of a communal society holds a status that is above those of the lower classes and is beyond their laws.
When the Lord asked Cain where his brother was, Cain lied and replied, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”, arguing the point that he had responsibility over his brother’s whereabouts.
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 the story. Abel, Adam and Aron, is the opposite of his brother and naturally good and pure. The purpose of Adam and Aron in East of Eden is to clarify the belief that purity must know wickedness (Marks, Jay Lester. p.122). Steinbeck illustrates the need for both good and bad with the actions and beliefs of these supposed “good” characters. The representations of Abel, Adam and Aron are both described as unloving. Adam has not treated his children fairly and his treatment is caused by his innate goodness. Aron grows as an ignorant selfish person because he is naturally good (Fonterose, Joseph. p. 3382). Steinbeck uses Cain to illustrate the choice man has. In the case of Charles, Cain dies an unhappy man who did not live a worthwhile life, Caleb on the other hand, chose to realize his dark past, but chose to continue living his life with hope (Marks, Jay Lester. p. 122-123).
Tobias Wolff's short story, "The Rich Brother", is a parallel story to the biblical fable of Able and Cain. The biblical story of Able and Cain is that of the first story that puts man against man. Cain and Able are children of Adam and Eve, where Cain is the eldest and Able the younger of the two. In the biblical story Cain and Able end up giving gifts (sacrifices) to appease to their God. This in turn, creates tension between the two because Able's sacrifice of the lamb is much favored by God than is Cain's offering of his crops. Cain becomes outraged because he believes that Able has purposely tried to embarrass him, ultimately, leading Cain to become so enraged that he ends up murdering his only brother in cold blood. Throughout, 'The Rich Brother', Wolff portrays Peter as Cain because he shows a lack of devotion to God, creates a rival ship with his brother, and climatically abandons his only brother Donald.
Upper Class are white collar job, jobs in the field of CEO, Politician and doctors, people who work in specialized fields.
The Cain and Abel story, possibly the most enigmatic story of good and evil in the Bible, is the basis for East of Eden. Although allegorical elements are scattered throughout the whole novel, the most evident theme struck me as three of the main characters discussed the ramifications of God's words to Cain after Abel's death. Lee, a Chinese servant to one of the novel's main families, explained to his two companions a little-known conflict between the translations of Genesis 4:7 in two versions of the Bible. In one translation, God tells Cain that "thou shalt" rule over sin. In another, God says to Cain, "Do thou" rule over sin. The first is a promise, and the second is an order. Lee concluded that the ambiguity presented by the two translations is at the heart of the universal human story.
“Twas mercy that brought me from my Pagan Land” referring to the mercy of the lord. Wheatley refers to Africa as a “Pagan Land” (122), portraying her thankfulness for leaving Africa. This depicts Africa as a moral less place, where citizens were not safe or happy. Once educated Wheatley saw her previous soul as “benighted”, meaning pitiful and ignorant. She then references the thoughts of white citizens saying, “Some view our sable race with a scornful eye, “Their colour is a diabolic die” (122). Although referencing the thoughts of others, Wheatley does not negate their insults, only states that “Negros, black as Cain” can be refined and converted. The reference to Cain refers to the story within the Bible of Cain and Abel, where Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. This created a depiction of the African race as sinful, violent, and ultimately inferior. Wheatley saw herself separate from her race but with enough connection to hope for compassion and their
Steinbeck uses the biblical story of Cain and Abel in East of Eden to show us that we do not have set fate. Steinbeck uses the Hebrew word “timshel”, which means “thou mayest”, to suggest that man has the ability to choose good or evil. “Timshel” affects the characters in East of Eden such as Cal and Aron and their choice of overcoming good or evil. Steinbeck sees this novel as his most important work, and he uses it as a way to state his personal ideas concerning mankind:“The free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.”(Steinbeck,132). Steinbeck shows God has given humans free will and their ability to choose good or evil, if they so decide. He portrays the “C” characters to be connected to Cain, such as Charles and Cal and the “A” characters to be connected to Abel, such as Aron and Adam.
Often times, Cal compares himself to Aron, which is in comparison to good versus evil. The story of Cain and Abel is the generation of Cal and Aron, while Cal has the ultimate fate of killing his brother and total damnation to wither with sin, he tries to alter that by “compet[ing] for attention and affection in the only way he knew—by trying to imitate Aron” (440). As he tries
The God of Genesis is portrayed very differently. God is a forgiving God. One sees this when God states, "of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:17). However, when Adam and Eve do eat the apple-though he does make them mortal-God allows them to live. God also does not strike down Cain. The God of Genesis is also a personable God. God talks directly to the h...
This is one of the most significant differences between the two interpretations because unlike Sacks, Hansen adds Cain’s emotion to the story, which influences readers to connect with his character. In addition, Hansen does not elaborate Abel’s emotions or even his part of the story. This makes connecting with Abel’s character impossible for the audience because they are barely given any insight to him. In addition, Hansen conveyed Abel as a perfect person, “Abel is all piety and rectitude, too good to be true.” (Ron Hansen, The Story of Cain) This quote from his interpretation expresses how Abel is not the brother the audience should relate to because no human is perfect. When speaking of Abel being killed Hansen stated, “must have been more than a few in the audiences who felt a forbidden pleasure at seeing him laid out”, (Ron Hansen, The Story of Cain) this supports how determined Hansen is for making the audience think of him as the antagonist of the story instead of the protagonist he really is. He is portraying Abel’s death as not being a tragic
In a scene replicating the offering in the Bible, Charles gifts Cyrus an expensive pocket knife while Adam presents him a stray puppy that he obtained with seemingly no effort. It should be noted in this first iteration of the mirror to the biblical story, there is an emphasis on “physical things”: Cal’s physique is emphasized, the boys’ physical activities are emphasized, and the gifts each boy gives is an object. This indicates that, in this iteration, Steinbeck focuses on the surface element of value in the Cain and Abel story: people have a social need to be valued and will act accordingly, a logical case of cause and effect. Cyrus’s disregard for Charles’s gift eventually sends Charles in a rage that almost had Adam killed, which is directly parallel to Cain’s rage, although Adam doesn’t suffer Abel’s fate. This diversion from what is written in the Bible allows Steinbeck to (slowly) transition to the next iteration of the Cain and Abel implementation with the lives of Cal and Aron. Likewise, the same concept of an ambition for love shows up, with Cal trying to win over Adam’s love unsuccessfully while Aron does it
...creation stories occurred before the Sacrifice of Cain and Abel, and this would follow the same standard as the stories of the New Testament below.
When Sethe chooses to murder her daughter, rather than allowing her to be returned to slavery, she must face the consequences of her actions. Sethe’s murder of Beloved creates an allusion to the biblical character of Cain. According to the Bible’s Old Testament, Cain’s slaughter of Abel marks the first murder ever committed. In the aftermath of Abel’s death, Cain mourns that, “My punishment is greater than I can bear...I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on earth” (English Standard Version, Gen. 4.13-14). Sethe experiences a similar reaction after she takes Beloved’s life. Taken to prison after killing Beloved, Sethe faces ostracism from her community. However, living with the memory of the murder seems a worse fate. Like Cain, the “punishment”, both psychological and physical, that results from her murder is so great that it almost destroys her. Her murder, like Cain’s, violates society’s norms and both opens her to judgment and sets her
In Demian's version of the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was actually the better man of the two. Abel was described as being weaker, and therefore less necessary than Cain to mankind. Demian didn't doubt that this part of the story was true, but he put much less stock in the notion that Cain was then marked by God. Rather, in Demian's version, Cain was labeled by the society he was in. They were afraid of the "faintly sinister look" that ...
For the eternal Lord avenged the killing of Abel. He took no delight in that feud, but banished Cain from humanity because of his crime. From Cain were hatched all evil progenies: ogres, hobgoblins, and monsters, not to mention the giants who fought so long against God - for which they suffered due retribution. (Beowulf, 29)