East of Eden - Part Three

Character

So far in the book, Aron is described as a saint who is veok f thusry sensitive and naivc.f. c.f.e about love, very much litike his fto ather, Adam. An example of Adam being sensitive is when he gets taunted by Cal in the woods while hunting. "Through his gathering tears Aron could see his brothto ibi er’s eyes...He studied Aron, saw his quivering lips" (338). Aron quickly starts crying after Cal tells him about rumors of their mother. An example of Aron being naive about love is when he meets Abra, a girl in Salinas who breaks his heart (orchestrated by Cal). "I wanted to marry her,” Aron said. “I put a letter in the box, asking her" (351). After an hour or so, Aron immediately falls for Abra, who he knows nothing about, but wants to marry her already, just like Adam did with Cathy. Though Aron looks innocent and is sweet, he has a dark side. If pushed over the edge, he'll fight back. His interior might not be as nice as his exterior. 

Setting

Making up an imaginary setting is hard, so its best to write about what you know. This is an important thing John Steinbeck did. If you read through some of his books, you'll see he wrote about one place in particular: the Salinas Valley. He wrote about the Salinas Valley not only in East of Eden, but also Of Mice and Men. An example of the the setting of the setting being the same is during the first chapters of both books. "The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay" (East of Eden,1). The author simply states the setting takes place in the Salinas Valley near the river. The Salinas Valley (well more of Soledad) is also talked about in the first chapter of Of Mice and Men. "A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green" (Of Mice and Men, 1). The setting of Of Mice and Men is described to be near the Salinas Valley, especially the Salinas River. Most people who've read East of Eden have obviously read Of Mice and Men. When people have read these books, they're able to make connections to the other books. This helps people understand the book more, on a deeper level.

Plot

Parallelism is factor in the book used repeatedly between the characters in the book. An example of parallelism is when Aron falls in love with Abra, after just meeting her before. “I wanted to marry her,” Aron said. “I put a letter in the box, asking her" (351). Aron quickly falls in love and wants to marry Abra after a short amount of time (basically one day), just like his father did with Cathy. Another example of parallelism is when Adam writes to Charles again.“You’re going to try to write to your brother, aren't you?...That’s right” (361). Adam again tries to reconnect with his brother after a long period of time. All these events probably happened at least twice in the book. The reason why these specific events are repeated is because the author is trying to emphasize something, probably a bigger picture or message.

Conflict

A character who has a deep internal struggle is Cal. Cal constantly struggles with how his brother Aron seems to get all the love from. An example of Cal feeling inferior to Aron is when they first meet Abra. " He knew she preferred his brother, but that was nothing new to him" (348). Cal feels like he doesnt get loved so much he already expects it. Another example of Cal deeling jealous of Aron is when Cal is thinking while talking to Abra. "Cal did not question the fact that people liked his brother better, buthe had delvolped a means for making it all right" (349). Cal again notices people view him compared to his brother. This makes Cal unhappy the way he is, but still continues on.

Theme

Another one of the main themes are how guilt affects others and how we respond to it. An example of this is when Tom commits suicide. "He was too tired to kill himself...mother had a strong distaste for suicide" (408). Tom filled with guilt over Dessies death he kills himself. another example ia when Cathy talks to Adam about money. "Her whole body shook with something that felt likerage and also felt like guilt" (385). I think Cathy feels guilty about leaving Adam. Guilt is a hard ans uncontrollable emotion which react to differently.  

Author's Style

One of the tones used a lor was a grave and deathly tone. An example ofthis is when Samuel fdied. "The air was crystalline as it sometimes is when rain is coming"(311). Samuels funeral is dark and gloomy unlike his character. Another example is when Dessie dies. "The Gray One was Murder" (408). Tom is descibi ng his sins casting a dark and twisted emotion. Steinbecks use of tone helps the reader understand whats happening in the book amd how the characters feel.