It is commonly proclaimed by cynics and economists alike that humans act with selfish intent, that actions are done with the sole purpose to benefit oneself, even if not immediately. In East of Eden, John Steinbeck claims that it isn’t selfishness, but rather love. From childhood, love is quickly made synonymous with affection. It is only after maturing that one realizes that in terms of human affairs, love is more than an emotion. It’s a driver of human action and reaction, because at heart, love is just an emotionally-charged way of saying “value”. Steinbeck explores this deeper and darker idea of love as a reason -- the reason -- for human actions and alludes to the biblical story of Cain and Abel to do so. At face value, the story of Cain …show more content…
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 …show more content…
Similar to Charles, Cal acts upon his hate, inadvertently sending Aron to the Army and, subsequently, his death. Notice that in this second iteration, there is more of an emphasis on the intangible: Cal’s reflections on his own emotional and mental condition are emphasized, Aron is characterized by a sense of idealism, and Aron’s gift is ambition. Even Cal’s gift of money derives no meaning from it being a physical object but instead is representative of Cal wanting to help Adam’s financial security. This indicates a transition to a deeper analysis of the subject: In this second iteration, Steinbeck expands on the concept of the core human need of belonging to include the conjecture that one’s self-assigned value actually rests much on at least one “external” person’s evaluation. In other words,
John Stapleford’s book, Bulls, Bears, and Golden Calves, provides a thorough overview with a Christian perspective of economic and ethical analysis. He reviews the moral challenges of macro, micro, and international economic issues. Stapleford covers a variety of important public policy issues such as self-interest, economic efficiency, and private property rights. He begins the book by laying a foundation of ethical thought and an analytical framework. Stapleford provides a Biblical perspective on the practical issues facing our current society. For example, there are three billion people in the world who live on less than $2 a day (Stapleford, 2009). The wealthy Americans continue to get richer. The greed and lawlessness of America’s corporate boardrooms is increasing. Legalized gambling continues to increase every year. The expansion of pornography and its accessibility to America’s younger generations has become a rapidly growing epidemic (Stapleford, 2009). This text is grounded solidly in biblical principles. A number of the problems he discusses are not specifically addressed in the Bible, but one of the author's strengths is to develop a Christian rationale for contemporary issues, based on biblical principles. An example of this skill is found in his forceful chapter on "False Hope . . . The Boom in Legalized Gambling" (Stapleford, 2009).
Cannery Row follows a group of unemployed boys that mostly steal what they need to live off of. Lee Chong, the grocer, lets Mack and the boys stay in a meal shack that they turn into their home, even though he knows they will never pay him rent. The boys show their appreciation to Lee Chong by no longer stealing from his grocery store. The boys also want to do something nice for Doc, who lives across the street from them. They plan to give Doc a party and spend a lot of time trying to get everything perfect for him, although they’re also throwing the party just to have a party for themselves.
True love is something that Janie, the main character in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, spends her entire life looking for. Ultimately her primary goal is to be happy and live her life how she wants to instead of how everyone else thinks that she should. Throughout her journey to find true happiness she meets three men, Logan, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake each of whom had a different effect on her as a person. When comparing these relationships, Janie was happiest when with her last husband Tea Cake. Although one could argue the opposite, given the way their relationship ended, it was actually a perfect representation of true love because of the freedom, security, and respect that Janie was given.
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.
In many novels written by J.D. Salinger, there is a recurring theme of love that
As we see in the daily news, people are often cruel and inhumane, and we also see kinder people in everyday life. We see people who give up their own personal pleasure so they can serve others. But while these people are far and few between, it becomes quickly obvious that humans are drawn towards self-happiness. Bibliography:.. 1. What is the difference between a. and a Leviathan.
We will give Hobbes’ view of human nature as he describes it in Chapter 13 of Leviathan. We will then give an argument for placing a clarifying layer above the Hobbesian view in order to account for acts of altruism.
This passage marks the first of several types of love, and gives us an intuitive
Adam and Charles, and Aron and Caleb do not have the opulence of experiencing a strong and affectionate brother relationship; they struggle with extreme sibling rivalry. In fact, the majority of the characters in this novel receive only tragic love, reflected from Steinbeck’s personal life. Steinbeck shows in East of Eden, by exploring different relationships, such as romantic love, parental love, and sibling love, that love is not purely positive and has negative effects.
Although one of the fundamental ideas in East of Eden is that evil is an innate and inescapable human problem, the novel also sets forth hope that each individual has the freedom to overcome evil by his or her own choice. This idea of free choice is encapsulated in the Hebrew word timshel, the meaning of which Adam’s housekeeper, Lee, has researched. The word, which translates to “thou mayest,” appears in the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible, when God tells Cain that he has the freedom to choose to overcome sin. Lee sees this idea of free will as central to the human condition—in fact, he says that timshel might be the “most important word in the world.”
Throughout the book, East of Eden, John Steinbeck thoroughly portrays the main character, Adam, for who he truly is. Throughout Adams life, he is faced with several obstacles that shift his daily actions and concept of love. From birth, Adam was not given adequate love and attention, and while it may seem trite to an infant, it is crucial that they obtain the care they need in order to live up to their full potential as neglect may have many negative consequences on one’s mental wellbeing in the future. In one particular passage (page 22) Adams true emotions and viewpoint of the concept of love is clearly laid out in order for the reader to truly comprehend his emotions. Throughout the passage, tone, rhetorical questions, and logos are utilized
While reading about Cal’s rejection, the reader learns a tough lesson about how painful rejection can be. The worst thing that could possibly happen to a child is growing up without the feeling of being loved and cared for by a parent. Children instinctively see parents as someone who will give the world for them; when this is not the case, they feel rejected and unloved. All Cal wants is for his father to love him and believe in him. However, Adam makes it very clear that he likes Aron better, despite the fact that Cal cares for his father much more than Aron does. Steinbeck writes, "The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears…And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt—and there is the story of mankind…if rejection could be amputated, the human would not be what he is” (268). This quote is entirely correct and all prove true with Cal. Since Cal constantly has this pain of rejection from his father, he experiences anger and the need for revenge on his brother. In the end, this anger becomes too much to carry and Cal ends up showing Aron Cathy, the biggest mistake in his life. However, through all this pain built up over the years, Cal can only see what he wants to do in the heat of the moment, not the consequences that he will face in the
In John Steinbeck's letter to his son “Falling in Love” and Of Mice and Men, the idea that love should be valued and cherished is very prominent in both. In Steinbeck’s letter, he is stressing to his son how he is happy he has fallen in love and believes it is the greatest thing that can happen in life. Steinbeck also portrays this in Of Mice and Men by showing how unhappy Curley’s wife is with her life after marrying Curley while not being truly in love with him. In essence, Steinbeck shows this showing the exact opposite of what he thinks should happen. In the letter Steinbeck says that love is “about the greatest thing that can happen to anyone.” Steinbeck is trying to elude to his son how he should be very excited about what has happened as it may be the greatest thing that will ever happen to
Steinbeck emphasizes how free will is independent of the sins made by the previous generation by showing its relationship to family inheritance. "Cal reached in his jacket pocket
Butler identifies two driving factors behind moral decision making: self-love (not to be confused with selfishness, which has particular ends) and benevolence. 4He claims that “there is a natural principle of benevolence in man, which is in some degree to society what self-love is to the individual” (26). 5Butler claims that it is evident that human beings have benevolent motivations, and he argues that these benevolent motivations can make us happy and be consistent with self-interest. However, “benevolence and self-love are different” (27). Self-love is our general interest in securing our own happiness, while benevolence is seeking the well-being of another. But “their mutual coinciding, so that we can scarce promote one without the other, is equally proof that we were made for bot...