East Of Eden Character Analysis

Those who triumph over hardships emerge morally superior to others. John Steinbeck enforced this in his novel East of Eden, when great injustice occurred to a certain child in each generation of the Trask family. These young boys continually struggled for their father’s affection, which was typically to no avail. Ironically, these social outcasts grew in character and became morally just, contrary to their weak-minded counterparts. The most prominent household that sustained this abusive cycle was the second generation of Trasks—the family that was the primary focus of the novel—where discrimination towards the disfavored child Cal was what urged him to adapt, and take on a callused-like maturity. Cal was illustrated as dark in many aspects;

By “dark,” Steinbeck essentially labeled Cal as bleak and distant; so much so that his childhood experiences had permanently altered his appearance. In addition, adults who knew the boy detested his unpleasant social oddities, yet respected him for his “precocious maturity, and were a little frightened at it too” (Steinbeck 135). These adults realized the irrational neglect that the boy was subjected to seemingly by fate—as the metaphors of his permanent physical traits hinted to—and viewed his personality as one that was forced into maturity. This admired early-adolescent development did not come without struggles; Cal endured several cycles where “his body was rearranging itself toward manhood…

When Adam Trask’s family became the major storyline in the novel, Charles Trask was quickly left out of the spotlight. His isolation and lack of mention is relatable to Cal’s situation, where he became a social outcast in Salinas and was divided from the rest of the town. Similarly to when Cal said, “Don’t make me mean… I don’t want to be mean. I don’t want to be lonely,” Charles also attempted to be kinder towards others when threatened with being alone (Steinbeck 379). As Adam continued to fight in the army, Steinbeck illustrated how Charles changed in the absence of social interaction. Charles experienced a cycle of fighting for fatherly admiration, and extreme emotional anger that was taken out on his favored brother. Upon returning from war, Adam discovered that this vicious cycle had been broken upon the death of their father. He found that “his brother was no longer dangerous. There was no jealousy to drive him" (Steinbeck 70). Since he no longer had to seek appreciation from his father, Charles had been freed from his emotional cycle, and became a kinder, better person. This was shown in a unique way, when he expressed his disappointment in his lying father. This shows that he cared greatly about his father, since one tends to expect better of those who one loves. In contrast, Adam’s ignorance and