Similarities Between Good And Evil In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

Describing “good” and “evil” is similar to counting clouds in the sky; it is impossible to define these abstract traits of behaviors in words. In the extreme world, what is perfectly good is favorable by oneself and others, and what is absolutely evil is pernicious to all. Though, in reality good and bad coexist, and how someone or something is deemed depends on different perspectives and situations. All humans are born rational individuals who act irrationally due to their innate personalities, beliefs, and assumptions, and none has the ability to read minds in order to completely comprehend and eventually judge the deceptively complex nature of others. John Steinbeck, however, has his own opinion that individuals can be judged only after

death, but is it possible to judge without knowing whom or what to judge?

Therefore, no one can deem others, alive or dead, for he or she has no knowledge of their emotions, experiences, and history.

Cathy Ames, as depicted by John Steinbeck in the novel East of Eden, is a despicable criminal though perhaps a desperate person who has tried to be good but has been failed by the world around her. Since childhood, she has no siblings to realize good qualities in humans, and she is assumed to be a good person due to her innocent

beauty. Her parents played no significant role in guiding her from wrong and right. Cathy’s father “kept the little flame of suspicion to himself. It was better if he did [not] know anything... As for Cathy’s mother, she was so bound and twisted in...half-lies, warped truth, suggestions, all planted by Cathy, that she would not have known a true thing it had come to her” (Steinbeck 78). Cathy could have, but did not, learn to be good. Her father had chosen not to care about the potential danger of his suspicion, and her mother did not try to catch Cathy from lying and consequently teach her that lying is wrong. The faith, envisioning mistakenly that this innocent girl would never kill, manipulate, and become a prostitute, distances the already defective connection between Cathy and other human beings. Furthermore, the first-person narration of Steinbeck only portrays her as pure evil, not how she struggles to believe in the kindness of humans. “[S]ince we cannot know what she wanted, we will never know whether or not she got [the evil]...Who knows but that she tried to tell someone or everyone what she was like and could not, for lack of a common language...It is easy to say she was bad, but there is little meaning unless we know why” (Steinbeck 185). The devil is the devil, while the angel is be the angel. There is no justice for Cathy to prove that she is not entirely the devil because it is less bothersome to label her as bad than to actually care and consider the alternatives of her complex human nature. Her sinful actions are results of mysterious motives that no comprehension can be reached, so there is no certainty to define her as a horrible person.
Admired and respected, John Proctor from The Crucible is a prideful man of his name and integrity, whose honorable death excuses him from committing three sinful crimes. His first crime is adultery. The relationship between John Proctor and Elizabeth has been and remains unpleasant as their affection and faith decline. She acts so coldly that her “justice would free beer” (Miller 58). As much as John Proctor tries to recreate a connection, Elizabeth distrusts him and refuses to love a husband shared by another woman. John Proctor is made seemingly the victim of the neglect, but he still loves Elizabeth unconditionally and is willing to defend this assailant during the false accusation of witchcraft due to his regrets of the affair with Abigail, potential leading Elizabeth to her death. Now it seems that his sin is worthy of redemption because his action is a plea for forgiveness, but the penalty of adultery is barely mentioned. His second crime is lying courageously. When he falsely confesses to Judge Danforth, he attempts to simultaneously save other victims by simply saying “no.” This lie makes him a hero when he refuses that he has seen “Rebecca Nurse...May Easty…[and] anyone with the Devil” (Miller 147). Lying is considered sinful in the Puritan doctrines, and he who lies will be tortured in Hell. However, will he who saves others go to Hell as well? Will he who selflessly chooses to take all the burden on his own and save others live a peaceful life after death? He who saves others will go to Heaven, and John Proctor qualifies the passage to Heaven despite his flaws. His third crime is committing suicide indirectly by allowing himself to be hanged. Humans’ bodies are members of Christ, and to kill oneself is to hurt God and is deemed as selfish to other Christians. John Proctor’s great integrity does not allow his name to be signed on a paper as evidence of a false accusation “because it is [his] name[.] Because [he] cannot have another in [his] life[.] Because [he lies] and sign[s] [himself] to lie” (Miller 150). God cannot judge a man who dies with honesty, so no one else have the privilege to label John Proctor as sinful. None of these crimes causes him unbearable punishments yet instead earns him a reputation as a gentleman. Therefore, even a hero as John Proctor has done sinful actions, so it proves a difficult task to label him as good or bad.
Another example lies with Thomas Jefferson, the author of the simple words “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which formally recognized the American individuals with promising freedom and equality, yet he was mislabelled by the unknowledgeable few as a hypocrite for not addressing African slaves as equal men.

Replacing the weakly immuned Indians, African slaves had played an important role in assisting the agricultural development in the South. The very existence of slavery in this Virginian author’s home proved more ironic for a man who so profoundly spoke of freedom. History, however, omitted the reason why he excluded such a mention in his passages. In his original draft, “Jefferson denounced the slave trade as an ‘execrable commerce ...this assemblage of horrors,’ a ‘cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberties” (Wiencek). He was complaisant to censor the issue of slavery in order for all representatives of states, including the southern states who depended on slave labor, and the northern states, who owed very few slaves themselves, to sign the Declaration. If he had not done so, the American Revolution would not have been urged, King George III would have still exercised his monarchical dictation, and democracy would not have been founded in the American nation. Although Jefferson could have prevented the American Civil War by recognizing the African slaves, he decided to prioritize the

establishment of a nation first, so America owes him and the other Founding Fathers for speaking up for the greater good
Judging is one of humans’ instincts, so it is common to deem others as long as doing so still remains respectful toward them. An honorable person as John Proctor and Thomas Jefferson may be hypocritical to his or her nature, and a vile person may have insecurity as Cathy does. No one can judge anyone else, alive or dead, for being good or bad because these qualities are perceived and defined differently by each individual.