East of Eden Study Guide
Are you looking for a good Novel Prize winner book that is not too well known, but still impeccable? You found it! John Steinbeck wrote this novel for his two sons and didn’t expect in 1952, when the book was published, that it would be so widely acclaimed by the audience from all over the world.
The story revolts around two American families of Samuel Hamilton and Adam Trask. They both move to the Salinas Valley in California. Adam is madly in love and married to an ex-prostitute Cathy who managed to sleep with his brother on the night of their wedding. She wants to leave her husband and even tried to get rid of his baby. The attempt fails and the couple ends up having two twin sons. Adam continues to love his wife even when she shoots him and leaves the babies for continuing to live the careless life she is used to.
Samuel Hamilton, on the other hand, is happily married to a strict lady named Liza who loves him back. They have nine kids and are a well-respected family in the Salinas community. Samuel tried to protect Adam and his sons from trouble by not telling them that Cathy now runs a local brothel. After so many years Adam visits Cathy at the brothel and finally realizes that that woman has no more power over him.
It is a notable book with a very developed network of characters. The contrast between two families and then inside the family members makes the reader think about the fate and one’s power over the destiny.
Steinbeck openly proclaimed “East of Eden” his best work that is a culmination of everything he has created before. It is a quintessence of simple writing style and the beauty of the descriptions. So let’s discover this masterpiece!
Author: Frank Frazier
New Essays
Through his narrator in East of Eden, John Steinbeck says that there is only "one story in the world", that of good and evil (Steinbeck 412). The original story of good and evil can be traced back to the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, from which Steinbeck picked his title and formed many central...
Villains are what make the stories interesting; they are people who are displaying the worst of human characteristics. In East of Eden, that callous and malicious individual is Cathy. Cathy is devoid of human empathy and shows this many times throughout the novel. Cathy has committed many heinous...
In John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, the deprivation of a sound conscience is a theme that is associated with Cathy Ames, and afflicts the people around her. The author uses foreshadowing to portray the future of Cathy and her multiple victims. By doing so, the author builds onto the...
James Bryce once said, “The worth of a book is to be measured by what you carry away from it. ” Any good piece of literature should both challenge and enrich you, and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is no exception. More than a mundane reiteration of a biblical tale, East of Eden explores the...