East of Eden (novel)

This article is about the novel. For other uses, see East of Eden (novel) (disambiguation).

East of Eden

File:EastOfEden.jpg First edition cover
Author	John Steinbeck
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	The Viking Press
Publication date	September 1952
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	728
ISBN	N/A
Preceded by	The Log from the Sea of Cortez
Followed by	Sweet Thursday

East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.

Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John (then 6½ and 4½ respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.

The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's maternal grandfather. A young John Steinbeck also appears briefly in the novel as a minor character.

According to his last wife Elaine, he considered this to be a requiem for himself—his greatest novel ever. Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: "It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years." He further claimed: "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."

Plot summary

The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley, California, between the beginning of the 20th century and the end of the Great War (World War I), though some chapters are in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the story goes as far back as the American Civil War.

In the beginning of East of Eden, before introducing his characters, John Steinbeck carefully establishes the setting with a description of the Salinas Valley in Central California.

Then he outlines the story of the warmhearted inventor and farmer Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from Ireland. He describes how they raise their nine children on a rough, infertile piece of land. As the Hamilton children begin to grow up and leave the nest, a wealthy stranger, Adam Trask, purchases the best ranch in the Valley.

Adam Trask's life is seen in a long, intricate flashback. We see his tumultuous childhood on a farm in Connecticut and the brutal treatment he endured from his younger but stronger half-brother, Charles. As a young man, Adam spent his time first in the military and then wandering the country. He was caught for vagrancy, escaped from a chain gang and burgled a store for clothing to use as a disguise. Later he wired Charles for 100 dollars to pay for the clothes he stole. After Adam finally made his way home to their farm, Charles revealed that their father had died and left them an inheritance of $50,000 each. Charles is torn with fear that his father did not come by the money honestly.

In a parallel story, a girl named Cathy Ames has been growing up in a town not far from the brothers' family farm. Cathy is "a monster", a cunning and horrible character without any conscience, who perpetrates many evil acts starting in her childhood. A series of events finds Cathy, having been viciously beaten, close to death on the brothers' doorstep. Although Charles is repelled by her, Adam falls in love with her, and soon marries her.

Adam Trask — newly wed and newly rich — now arrives in California and settles with the pregnant Cathy in the Salinas Valley, near the Hamilton family ranch. Cathy does not want to be a mother or to stay in California, but Adam is so ecstatically happy with his new life that he does not realize there is any problem. Shortly after Cathy gives birth to twin boys, she shoots Adam in the shoulder and flees. Adam recovers, but remains in a deep and terrible depression. He is roused out of it enough to name and raise his sons with the help of his Cantonese cook, Lee, and his neighbor Samuel Hamilton.

The character of Lee is very well developed. Although he pretends to be a wealthy California family's stereotypical Chinese servant, he is actually a very well educated man. He becomes much more than a servant to Adam Trask, instead becoming a good friend and adopted family member. Lee, Adam, and Samuel Hamilton have long philosophical talks and one of them in particular is of great importance to them: a discussion of the story of Cain and Abel, which Lee maintains has been incorrectly translated in English-language Bibles. Lee tells about how his relatives in San Francisco, a group of Chinese scholars, spent two years studying Hebrew so they might discover what the moral of the Cain and Abel story actually was. Their discovery that the Hebrew word "Timshel" means "thou mayest" becomes an important symbol in the novel, meaning that mankind is neither compelled to pursue sainthood or doomed to sin, but rather has the power to choose.

Meanwhile, Cathy has become a prostitute at the friendliest and most respectable brothel in the city of Salinas. She renames herself "Kate" and embarks on a devious--and successful--plan to ingratiate herself with the owner, murder her and inherit the business. Kate makes her new brothel infamous as a den of sadistic domination. She is not concerned that Adam Trask might ever look for her, and she has no feelings whatsoever about the children she abandoned.

Adam's sons, named Caleb (Cal) and Aaron (Aron) — echoing Cain and Abel in the Bible — grow up oblivious of their mother's situation. At a very early age, Aron meets a popular girl named Abra from a well-to-do family, and the two fall in love. Although there are rumors around town that Caleb and Aron's mother is not dead but is actually still in Salinas, the boys do not yet know that she is Kate.

The popular and beloved Samuel Hamilton finally passes away and is mourned by all. Adam becomes inspired by the memory of Samuel Hamilton's inventiveness and loses almost all of the family fortune in an ill-fated business venture. The boys, particularly Aron, are horrified that their father is now a town laughingstock.

As the boys reach the end of their school days, Caleb decides to pursue a career in farming and Aaron goes to college to become an Episcopalian priest. Unfortunately, Caleb has also become a bit of a recluse and in his nighttime wanderings around town, he has discovered who his mother is.

Caleb decides to "buy his father's love" by going into business with one of Samuel Hamilton's children, Will Hamilton, who is now a successful automobile dealer. Caleb's plan is to make his father's money back, capitalizing on World War I by selling beans grown in the Salinas Valley to nations in Europe for a considerable premium. He succeeds beyond his wildest expectations and wraps up a gift of $15,000 in cash which he plans to give Adam Trask at Thanksgiving.

Aron returns from Stanford for the holiday. There is tension in the air, because Aron has not yet told their father that he intends to drop out of college. Rather than let Aron steal the moment, Caleb gives Adam the money at dinner, expecting his father to be proud of him.

But Adam refuses to accept it. Instead, he tells Caleb to give it back to the poor farmers he exploited. Adam explains by saying,

I would have been so happy if you could have given me — well, what your brother has — pride in the thing he's doing, gladness in his progress. Money, even clean money, doesn't stack up with that.

In a fit of jealousy, Caleb takes his brother Aron to see their mother, knowing it will be a shock to him. Aron, his idealistic world view shattered, enlists in the army to fight in World War I. He is killed in battle in the last year of the war, and Adam suffers a stroke upon hearing the news from Lee. Caleb, who later befriends Abra after Aron leaves for war, tells her why Aron left and tries to convince her to run away with him. She instead persuades him to return home.

The novel ends with a bedridden Adam giving Caleb his blessing in the form of the word Timshel.

Characters

Cathy Ames/ Kate Representative of Satan, and the most evil character in the novel, Cathy, who will be named Kate in the second half of the book, is a parasite who embodies evil. As more than one character points out, Cathy lacks some human quality. As she grows up she perpetrates such evil acts as framing two neighbor boys for rape, driving a young man to kill himself, and burning down her parents' house with them locked inside. In a cold-blooded plan to make money, Cathy becomes the mistress of Mr. Edwards, a successful pimp from whom she steals. Mr. Edwards eventually discovers the thefts and beats her nearly to death. She manages to crawl to the Trask brothers' farmhouse and seduce Adam Trask. He is her escape route: the couple moves to California.

After giving birth to twin sons, Cal and Aron, Cathy tells Adam she is abandoning them. She shoots Adam when he attempts to stop her from leaving. She takes a job as a prostitute and poisons brothel-owner Faye while taking over the business. She gives her whores drugs, encourages sadomasochistic sexual practices and blackmails her customers. Late in life she commits suicide after encountering her son Aron.

Abra Bacon Abra Bacon meets Aron as a child and falls in love with him until she realizes as an adult that Aron has been in love with an idealized version of who he believes her to be. Daughter of a county supervisor in Salinas, she learns her father is a thief. Her maturity and goodness contrast with the evil Cathy. Lee, who loves her like a daughter, shares with her the knowledge that she doesn't have to follow in her father's footsteps.

Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards is a businessman who runs a New England prostitution ring and leads a double life. His deeply religious wife knows nothing of his business affairs. Mr. Edwards falls in love with Cathy when she approaches him for a job. Soon, she had him completely in her power. He leaves her for dead near the Trask farm after nearly beating her to death.

Ethel Ethel is a prostitute at Faye's brothel who digs up the empty bottles of poison used by Kate to kill Faye. She attempts to blackmail Cathy but is later found dead by Joe Valery.

Cotton Eye Cotton Eye is the brothel's piano player who is addicted to opium. Kate slyly tells Faye she feels sorry for him to gain her sympathy and cast her in a positive light.

Faye Faye is the good-hearted madam of the Salinas whorehouse who comes to think of Kate (Cathy) as her daughter and leaves the brothel to her in her will before Cathy poisons her.

Dessie Hamilton Dessie Hamilton is the happy go-lucky and most beloved daughter to Samuel and Liza. She opens a dressmaking business in Salinas, and falls in love with the wrong man who causes her deep distress she can share with no one. After she closes her business, she moves back to the ranch where Tom inadvertently gives her a medication that causes her death.

Liza Hamilton Liza Hamilton is the wise mother of the nine Hamilton children and the tiny wife of Samuel. Strict and hard working with good sound sense, she acts as a counter-balance to her dreamer of a husband. Unlike him, Lisa is pragmatic to a fault and abhors drinking until, that is, the doctor prescribes port wine in her old age.

Olive Hamilton Olive Hamilton is the daughter of Samuel and Liza Hamilton who becomes a teacher and mother to the narrator (and the mother of the author) John Steinbeck. As an example of a loving mother, she contrasts the nefarious non-mother Cathy Ames.

Tom Hamilton Tom Hamilton is the son of Samuel's heart. A poet who remains on the farm after his parents grow old, he sinks into deep depression after his much-beloved father dies. He accidentally causes the death of his sister Dessie and kills himself out of guilt.

Una Hamilton Una Hamilton is the deeply unhappy daughter of Samuel and Liza Hamilton. She marries a photographer and moves to Oregon where he keeps her in great poverty. Her death causes the beginning of Samuel's demise.

Samuel Hamilton Samuel Hamilton is the much-beloved and admired Hamilton family patriarch who acts as a mentor for Adam Trask and stands in sharp contrast to Cyrus, the dishonest Trask family patriarch.

A self-educated immigrant from Northern Ireland, he demonstrates the positive principle of life. Although he farms the most barren land in the Salinas Valley, he is enormously prolific, fathering nine children and enjoying life to the fullest until the death of his favorite daughter Una saddens him deeply and permanently.

Samuel Hamilton was indeed author John Steinbeck's grandfather who emigrated from Northern Ireland where he was self-educated from borrowed books. Although Samuel experienced initial distrust from his new California neighbors because of his Irish background, in time he wins their hearts with his goodness and hard work as a blacksmith and pseudo-doctor. Although he never achieves wealth on his poor farm, he is happy with his lot. His family never goes hungry and have everything they need. Reminiscent of a biblical patriarch, he fathers a dynasty of nine children. Like many Irish, he tends to dream of the future, always attempts to improve things, and, fearful of his wife's scorn, drinks whiskey on the sly.

Will Hamilton Will Hamilton is the son of Samuel and Liza and the antithesis of his dreamer father. Samuel. Practical to a fault, he was born to be a businessman. The first to sell cars in the Salinas Valley, he becomes Cal Trask's business partner.

Lee Lee is the Chinese-American cook and housekeeper to Adam Trask's family. He speaks in a Chinese pidgin dialect to "survive" life in America. He brings up Adam's children from the time they are abandoned by their mother. A philosopher, he is a heartfelt friend to Samuel Hamilton and Adam Trask and forms the third insightful part of their dialogs. He researches the Cain and Abel story for years and brings to life the novel's central concept of timshel, or "thou mayest."

Horace Quinn Horace Quinn is the sheriff who as a deputy covered up Kate's life as a prostitute to protect Adam and the twins. Later in the novel, he informs Adam of Kate's death and tells him that Aron is his mother's beneficiary of $100,000.

Aron Trask Aron Trask is the fair-haired twin son of Adam and Cathy Trask and the twin brother of Cal. Deeply religious and celibate, he plans to enter the ministry to escape the world. He is favored by Adam, much to Cal's chagrin, and is in love with Abra Bacon. When he discovers his mother, who abandoned him as an infant, is still alive and living as a prostitute, he leaves Stanford and runs away to join the Army and dies soon after.

Adam Trask Protagonist of the early part of East of Eden, Adam Trask is a benevolent and deeply honest man who grows from a dreamy, misdirected youth into a passionately alive man who comes to care deeply about his sons, Cal and Aron, after he snaps out of the trance imposed upon him when Cathy leaves him.

The son of Cyrus Trask, he falls in love with Cathy Ames when she wanders injured and helpless into his farm. Adam represents the biblical character Abel who was slain by his brother in a jealous rage. His blessing of his son Cal at the end of the novel authenticates timshel, the novel's central concept which mandates that humans are not predestined to fail or to succeed but have free choice.

Alice Trask Alice Trask is the passive mother of Charles Trask and caring stepmother to Adam Trask. She rarely talks. She smiles, however, when no one sees her. Adam leaves her little gifts of love, but she wrongfully believes them to be from her son, Charles.

Caleb Trask Known as Cal, the dark-haired son of Adam and Cathy is jealous of his seemingly perfect twin brother, Aron Trask. Loving his father deeply, he persists in doing the wrong things for the right reasons, and failing to see the further implications of his actions. Cal represents the novel's second Cain figure, indirectly killing his brother Aron (Abel) whom he forces to enlist in the Army. Ultimately, however, he demonstrates the novel's major concept of timshel, that people can overcome their background and choose free moral lives.

Charles Trask Charles Trask acts out in anger against his half-brother after their father Cyrus favors Adam's gift of a puppy over his gift of an expensive knife. He is representative of the biblical Cain figure who kills his brother when God favors the gift of Abel's lamb over his gift of grain. He has a dark brown scar from an accident and remains on the family Connecticut farm as Adam wanders and manages to amass a fortune of $100,000 that he leaves to Adam and Cathy.

Cyrus Trask Cyrus Trask is the family patriarch who commits the "original sin" that determines the action of the novel. The cruel father of the brothers Adam and Charles, he lies about his record as a Civil War hero and gains an important administration job in Washington D.C. which allows him to leave an ill-gained inheritance of $100,000 to his sons.

Mrs. Trask Mrs. Trask is the deeply religious mother of Adam Trask who commits suicide soon after her husband Cyrus Trask returns home from the Civil War and infects her with gonorrhea.

Joe Valery Joe Valery is an ex-convict bodyguard and bouncer who attempts to control Kate who is fearful her murder of Faye will be discovered. As her arthritic pain increases, Kate comes to rely more and more on him and when she realizes that he is extorting money from her, she commits suicide, but not before turning him in to the sheriff.

Major themes

The book explores themes of depravity, beneficence, love, and the struggle for acceptance, greatness, and the capacity for self-destruction and especially of guilt and freedom. It ties these themes together with references to and many parallels with the biblical Book of Genesis (especially Genesis Chapter 4, the story of Cain and Abel).

Steinbeck's inspiration for the novel comes from the fourth chapter of Genesis, verses one through sixteen, which recounts the story of Cain and Abel. The title, East of Eden, was chosen by Steinbeck from Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden" (King James Version).

Steinbeck's allusion to Cain and Abel is furthered by the naming of the Trask family; the first letters of the names of the brothers are in match throughout the generations (Charles and Adam, Caleb and Aaron).

Some of the biblical parallels include:

Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel	East of Eden, Charles and Adam	East of Eden, Caleb and Aron
Cain is a "worker of the ground"; Abel is a "keeper of sheep" (Gen. 4:2, ESV).	Charles is a farmer who works diligently even after he inherits considerable wealth from his father, Cyrus.	Caleb invests in bean crops. Aron vies to become a priest (who are commonly compared with shepherds).
God rejects Cain's gift of crops in favor of Abel's lamb (Gen. 4:3, ESV).	Cyrus prefers the gift from his son Adam (a stray puppy he found) over the gift from his other son Charles (a hard-earned expensive knife).	Adam rejects his son Cal's money and would rather he lead a good life like Aron.
After rejection from God, Cain kills Abel (Gen. 4:8, ESV).	After being rejected by their father, Charles attacks Adam and beats him nearly to death.	After Adam rejects Caleb's money, Caleb informs Aron of their mother's brothel. Aron, distraught, enlists in the war and is killed in combat.
God put a mark on Cain to deter others from killing him (Gen. 4:15, ESV).	Charles receives a dark scar on his forehead while trying to move a boulder from his fields.	Caleb is described as having a more dark and sinister appearance than Aaron. Also noteworthy is the fact that Adam tells Caleb, "timshel," meaning "thou mayest." This implies Caleb may overcome his evil nature because of the "mark" put upon him by Adam.
Cain is the only one with progeny.	Charles is the only one with children, as it is speculated that the twins Aaron and Caleb are his.	Aaron dies in the war, and Caleb is the only one able to carry on and have children.

There are also contrasts with the Biblical story. For example, in Genesis, Cain becomes a vagabond. In East of Eden, it is the brother Adam who spends several years as a vagabond.

Writing East of Eden

As he wrote the novel, Steinbeck went through a number of possible titles for the book, including "The Salinas Valley", the working title from the beginning; "My Valley", after a Texas businessman suggested he make it more universal; "Down to the Valley", and then, after he decided to incorporate the Biblical allusion directly into the title, "Cain Sign". It was only upon transcribing the 16 verses of Cain and Abel in the text itself that he enthusiastically took the last three words of the final verse, East of Eden, as the novel's title.

The novel was not well accepted by the critics of its day, who found it heavy-handed and unconvincing, especially in its use of Biblical allusion. Nevertheless, it became an instant best-seller in November 1952, a mere month after it was released, and is now considered one of Steinbeck's finest achievements.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

• The book was adapted for cinema in the 1955 film East of Eden by director Elia Kazan, and starring James Dean, Julie Harris, Richard Davalos, Raymond Massey, Jo Van Fleet, and Burl Ives. The movie deals with the second half of the book, hence Dean acts the part of Adam's son Cal while Davalos plays Aron, Cal's twin brother.
• Universal Pictures has scheduled production of another film adaptation of the novel: East of Eden (2010 film). The film will be directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton. Previously, Ron Howard and Paul Attanasio were attached to the project.

• In 1981, a TV miniseries was aired, more faithful to the novel. It starred Timothy Bottoms, Jane Seymour, Bruce Boxleitner, Karen Allen, Warren Oates, Howard Duff, and Anne Baxter.
• A Korean television series with the same name began in August 2008. The plot, however, is almost entirely different.

• In 1989 Alan Cook was commissioned by the Western Stage of Salinas, CA to adapt the novel for the stage. Directed by Tom Humphrey, the three part, nine hour play premiered in 1992 as part of that year's National Steinbeck Festival. The Western Stage revived the production two years later, and again in 2000. In 1996, at the 12th Annual Brown Forman Classics in Context Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, a truncated two part version of Cook's adaptation was performed as part of "Steinbeck on Stage and Film".
• In 1996, Takarazuka Revue, the all-female opera company of Japan, adopted the novel as a musical play and performed by Flower Troupe, it was the top star debute of Miki Maya.

Popular culture references

• In Family Guy episode PTV, Stewie is reading East of Eden in the car. Brian tries to have Stewie concede that he's only reading this because the book was listed on Oprah's Book Club; Stewie initially denies that, but Brian eventually gets Stewie to concede the point.
• A song named East of Eden was featured in Lone Justice's debut album.
• A song named "East of Eden" was featured in Mason Jennings's Century Spring album.
• A song written by Peter Doherty (Libertines, Babyshambles) is called "East of Eden"
• A Japanese anime television series titled Eden of the East was released in 2009.
• The song "Monster" by rock duo Meg & Dia is said to be about the novel.

External links

Summaries and Discussion

The following pages contain chapter summaries, analyses (of themes, symbolism, and motifs), and/or character profiles:

• Steven Jacowski on East of Eden Background information; character information; discussion/review.
• East of Eden at Oprah's Book Club
• SparkNotes: East of Eden Chapter summaries; character information; analyses of themes, motifs, and symbols; quotations.
• NovelGuide: East of Eden Chapter summaries; character information; analyses of metaphors and themes; quotations
• GradeSaver: ClassicNote: East of Eden Chapter summaries; character information; analysis of themes.
• Google Patents Steinbeck's maternal grandfather, Samuel Hamilton (on whom the Samuel Hamilton character in the novel was based) holds three patents: a Thrashing-Machine, a Header Spring, and a Plowshare Attachment.
• IBList: East of Eden Editions, covers, reader ratings and reviews.