Relationship Between Good And Evil In East Of Eden

People have those voices in their heads that help make decisions; the devil and angel that sit on our shoulders fighting desperately to persuade us to hear their case. Both sides make a point, and which do people to pick; the angry one sporting the red or the decisive figure in white? The choice between consequence and reward is simple, but the battle between good and evil is not so easily ended. In the book, East of Eden, written by John Steinbeck, the common theme of good versus evil occurs within main character Adam Trask. Adam is surrounded by many positive and negative forces that truly shape the development of his character throughout the progression of the novel. Steinbeck uses symbolic characterization of Samuel Hamilton and Aron as

good and Cathy Ames and Caleb as evil to prove how perceptions on life and overall nature of people influence and change the mindsets and personalities of people.

Steinbeck characterizes Cathy Ames to show how Adam Trask has negatively developed and changed as a character from the evil and sinful nature from his wife Cathy. The parasitic, disastrous Cathy is the embodiment of evil and the most static of the main characters. She displays murderous and sexually tendencies from an early age. The narrator introduces Cathy to the novel by expressing how, “[he] believes there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies. . . . And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul” (Steinbeck 72). The narrator uses this phrase to introduce Cathy Ames. Throughout, Cathy displays an evil that is so present and obvious which makes the narrator wonder her existence. He hypothesizes that although Cathy is physically beautiful, she is yet a “psychic monster,” which represents the true evilness in her character as she is able to hide her dark nature with her beauty. Adam is hypnotized by her beauty and is blind to her viciousness. Cathy is Adam’s wife so spending time or any interaction leads Adam to forget his highly-respected morals and dignity. He permits Cathy to do what she wants which ends up destroying his relationships within his friends and his kids Caleb and Aron. Adam’s perspective from the community also degrades as a result. With these interactions comes much manipulation. Cathy is a master manipulator. She describes an experience with fellow sex partners how, "They thought they were so smart. They looked at me and thought they knew about me. And I fooled them. I fooled every one of them. And when they thought they could tell me what to do—oh! that's when I fooled them best" (Steinbeck 421). Cathy abuses her powers and uses them to her advantage as she gains joy and profit from her wrongful acts. Not only does this occur with most of the people Cathy encounters, but it especially targets Adam. Although Adam is able to block the evilness from his wife, he is too weak and naive to stick up for what he thinks is right. Cathy’s persuasion is later able to get Adam to move to California and leave everything behind. Shortly after the move, Cathy gives birth to twins then betrays Adam by shooting him and fleeing. Literary critic, Bryan Aubrey, from Novels for Students, states that, “[Cathy] is consistently evil in her thoughts and actions, manipulating others for her own ends without a trace of conscience. Cold and callous, she seems to be without a single decent feeling” (130). The “consistent” manipulation by Cathy leads Adam to a deep state of depression. The depression carries in his life as he poorly takes care of his children and attempts to seek for help.

In addition to the characterization of Cathy, Steinbeck’s use of characterization of Samuel Hamilton shows how Adam has positively developed and changed as a character from the discipline, awareness, and nature from Samuel.

Samuel Hamilton is a poor farmer who raised nine children on little to no income. Despite the fact that his customers do not pay him money for his labor – blacksmithing, well digging – he is still gracious and kind to everyone he meets. He is highly respected in the community and very close to the Trask family. Later in the novel, when Adam and Cathy move west, Samuels joins for the purpose of helping Adam dig and build a well. After the betrayal from Cathy, Samuel attempts to assist and support Adam through his depression and raising of his children. As Samuel discusses with Adam about his parenting, Samuel states that,“The greatest terror of a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection” (Steinbeck 270). Being a mentor and disciplinarian throughout Adam’s life, it is common that throughout the novel, Samuel always gives useful advice to Adam. From the time they met, the tips and advice generally always connect directly to whatever conflict Adam seems to be facing at the time. At this point in the novel, Adam is so focused with the abandoning of his wife that he lacks the ability to raise his children. He displays no father-like qualities and Samuel realized that it was becoming a problem. He warns Adam of the negative consequences that will arise with his children if he cannot snap out of the depressed state he is in. This makes Adam come to some realization that he needs to change for the sake of his family. Samuel is also a very intelligent person despite poor business decisions in the past. As as a result, Samuel has become very familiar with the concepts of farming and land. Samuel began to realize that because Adam is still morose

with his emotions, the land he purchased is going to waste. Lectured from Samuel about wasted land, Adam questions why Samuel was so bothersome and his response read, “To see whether I can raise a little anger in you. I'm a nosy man. But there's all that fallow land, and here besides me is a fallow man. It seems a waste. And I have a bad feeling about waste because I could never afford it. Is it a good feeling to let your life lie fallow” (Steinbeck 295)? Although Samuel never made much money in his lifetime, he was very smart with the money he had. He knew that if Adam refused to accomplish something with the land he has or business in general, he will lose large amounts of money. Adam disregarded Samuel and made it seem like he did not care about anything he said, but deep down, Adam knew he was right and started to straighten up because of it. Adam began to put work into his land with his children which benefited him greatly throughout the novel.

With the impact of Samuel and Cathy on Adam’s life, the way in which Adam treats his children Caleb and Aron is critical proof that Adam has changed. Steineck drew heavily from the stories contained in the book of Genesis in the Bible, particularly the tale of Cain and Abel. In the Jewish and Christian religious traditions, Cain and Abel are the sons of Adam and Eve and throughout the story, God repeatedly rejects Cain but always accepts Abel. This causes feud between the two which then leads Cain to sinfully murder his brother from inevitability to bear the rejection. The biblical story connects directly to the development of Caleb and Aron as Caleb is constantly rejected from his father who appreciates his son Aron more. As Caleb becomes to realize the difference in relationship between him and his brother with Adam, he contemplates his anger and says, “It [is] because I am jealous. I’m jealous. That's what I am. I don't want to be jealous...Why am I giving the money to my father? Is it for this good? It’s for my good... I sit here wallowing in jealousy of my brother” (Steinbeck 538). Adam comes to the realization that evilness is genetically acquired and cannot be fixed. Because Adam is so torn by the betrayal of his mother Cathy, he refuses to love and connect with his son Caleb because he is just like his mother and recognizes how much of an impact evilness could have on him again. Literary critic, Sara Constantakis, describes this event as how, “Adam Trask shows only one of his sons, Aron, understanding and love. Deprived of paternal understanding and connection, [Caleb] grows up feeling unloved and coimes to believe that unlike his brother who is all good, he is bad. When he learns that his mother is still alive and running a brothel in Monterey, he begins to think that he inherited his badness from his mother” (Constantakis 109). Caleb begins to comprehend how he developed the bads traits from his mother Cathy. He then comes to realization that his life is mirrored as Cain in the biblical story and his brother Aron is Abel. The first initials of their names match as well. These observations lead Caleb to think that he may never be loved by his father and that his brother will always be more respected than he is. Later in the chapter, Caleb contemplates giving his father a fifteen thousand dollar donation/gift from what he earned from selling the beans. He does not know how his father will react but Caleb hopes that this will be the act that finally binds the relationship between him and his father. As Caleb hands the money to his father, he explains how, “[he] bought futures at five cents and when the price jumped-- It’s for you, fifteen thousand dollars. It's for you” (Steinbeck 543). Adam had the idea of shipping lettuce packed in ice to New York. When the venture fails, Aron is ashamed of his father for failing publicly. Caleb vows to return the lost money to his father. Caleb profited from the bean reselling and decided help his father financially but could also strengthen the relationship. When Adam learns about the bean-reselling operation, he becomes angry and rejects the gifted money.He then tells Cal to return the money to the farmers he robbed in his war profiteering.
Steinbeck’s use of symbolic characterization of Cathy Ames as the evil and Samuel Hamilton as the good prove how Adam’s perspective on life changes. Adam encounters many conflicts that heavily arise between the two characters opposing personalities. People will generally suffer a similar experience as Adam does throughout their lifetime. In today’s world good and evil coexist, often in one entity. The choices that humans make determine whether or not the world should consider that person good or evil. Many people make bad decisions in order to achieve a good outcome. However, most struggle with the choice of what to do.