East of Eden Blog #2 Chapters 15-29 June 5-11
Steinbeck uses these chapters to form various relationships and to show how those relationships change throughout time. In this blog, I want you to discuss those relationships. Make sure that you discuss these relationships as they are presented early on in the chapters as well as how the relationships have changed by the time you have made it though chapter 29. I have listed possible topics…
Adam and Cathy
Adam and Lee
Adam and Samuel
Samuel and Cathy
Kate (Cathy) and Faye
Adam and the twins
Lee and the twins
Samuel and his children
Cathy and men in general
Cal and Aaron
Also…
Steinbeck discusses the brothel as an instituition as vital to men in those days as church. What do you think?
Steinbeck explores the concept of guilt and its impact on mankind…your thoughts?
Steinbeck introduces prejudice through which characters?
Feel free to comment on the discussion about Cain and Able.
Finally, I would love to see some discussion about the irony that Steinbeck employs in these chapters.
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The number of the relationships that change for better or for worse in these chapters is significant. The first relationship I’d like to discuss is the relationship between Cathy and Adam Trask. I believe this relationship developed in three stages the first was and act, the second was denial and the third was liberation. In the beginning of their relationship both Adam and Cathy were actors in a performance they created in their minds. Adam played the role of the naïve husband that believed a person with such an angelic face as Cathy could do no wrong, and Cathy played the innocent wife that was perfect and fragile in every way and needed someone to look after her. The second part of the relationship between Adam and Cathy came as soon as the bullet pierced Adam’s shoulder and Cathy walk out of the door. Denial that Cathy could ever do a thing to him darkened Adam’s mind until there was nothing left but a shadow of the man he once was. During this period in their relationship Adam struggle to hold on to what little life he still had in him while Cathy started a new life in Salinas and denied the fact that she ever knew Adam Trask. The third and final part of this relationship was the liberation period where Adam faces the fear that has been eating at his heart for so many years. With the confrontation of his lost wife his eyes are finally opened to what scum she really is and he release himself from the self pity and agony of loss so that his life is completely turned around and he can finally live his life without the fog of Cathy blocking his way. Another relationship that changed drastically throughout these chapters was the relationship between Adam Trask and his Chinese servant Lee. In the beginning of these chapters Lee is no more than a simple servant to Adam and his family and serves no other purpose other than cleaning and making food for Adam and his wife Cathy. Although as the chapters progress Lee transforms into a man of great intellect behind his pidgin and cheeky smiles. Adam starts to lose his will to live after Cathy deserts him and the only thing that keeps him from slipping away was the persistence of Lee to never let Adam slip down to the point of no return. As Adam needed Lee more and more for everyday life a relation began to grow between the two of them. Finally after Adam released himself from the restraints that bound him to a dull and meaningless life Lee became like a brother to Adam and he depended on Lee to show him how much of his life he had missed due to his prior condition. So no more was Lee just a servant but a close friend, scholar and mentor that helped Adam with every major decision he faced. The final relationship I would like to mention is the relationship between Adam and his two children Caleb and Aron. This change of relationship was in my opinion the one with the most dramatic transformation. Adam had no love or care for his children after the love of his life shot and left him. He was blank to the world and lived in a haze he was in no condition to raise let alone build a relationship with his children. As the twins grew their father was a mystery to them and they admired him even though they never talked to their father they just knew that he was a symbol of power and laws and discipline was down upon them through Lee. It was after Adam’s liberation from Cathy that the boys saw their father for what he truly was and it was the first time that Adam could finally be a father to his boys. At first the boys were timid to their father’s new found openness but as they grew they started to find fulfillment in pleasing their father, especially Charles.
ReplyDeleteI believe that to some men the brothel was of the same importance to men as the church. The author gives credible evidence why these two contradicting things are in some ways one in the same. He says that men could come out of there bleakness by way of songs, poetry and the scripture that were practiced in the church, but a man could also relive the bleakness of everyday life by visiting the whore house and satisfying the desires of the flesh. I personally believe that the whore house and the church were set on a large rotation in a man’s life that was never ending. Deep in the man’s heart he truly wished to be good but it was the temptation of his human nature that finally drove back to the brothel. After a man had been tempted and pulled into the instant satisfaction of the brothel a feeling of insurmountable guilt over came him and he felt obligated to attend church and again regain favor in the eye of the Lord. But as the church grew dull to him thoughts of the brothel began to seep into his mind until he could not control the urge anymore and needed some where to vent his desires and not keep them unsatisfied in heart out of fear of becoming bitter, and so with this lack of will power the rotation of brothel and church would start again on another cycle. To me guilt in the heart of a man is a poison that his conscience releases in his soul to destroy the sinful pleasure that exist inside him. This poison weakens a man to the point of complete desperation where he cannot operate properly, this was part of the problem in Adam’s case, his guilt was brought on by his idea that he had failed Cathy and was not good enough for her, which was a completely ludicrous thought. The only antivenin for this poison would be the repentance of one’s sins to God and others and the ability to forgive one’s self of mistakes of yore and to push forward to a brighter future and leave the ways of the past.
ReplyDeleteSteinbeck shows prejudice through the character of Cathy. Cathy is a prejudice against all men with her stereotypical beliefs that all men want the same things and that all men consist of only dirty sneaky thoughts in which they use to gain the upper hand this on everyone they come and contact with each other and within Cathy’s mind she is the superhero that is taken down the evil tyrants of men by exploited there weakest points and blackmailing them until they are shells of the men they once were. Adam exposes this personality flaw about Cathy in chapter 25 and this is the key that frees him from his prison. The key is the fact that Cathy is unable to love or show respect for any man because since birth she has kept the same prejudice mindset about every male in her life from her husband to her own father. I believe one example of irony in these chapters is when peace loving calm Samuel Hamilton beat the devil out of Adam. Samuel did what needed to be done but I did not suspect that Samuel who shied away from violence would ever use physical force to solve any type of problem especially out of his own family. But alas the shocking method proved to do the job and it was only a few weeks before Adam finally stood up and became the man he needed to be for his family.
Excellent commentary...you sound like a psychologist.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel there are a variety of different relationships formed. Each of these alters in some way as the story progresses. The first I’d like to recognize is the relationship between Kate and Faye. It’s known that Kate undeniably holds some quite menacing qualities. Having this knowledge in hand it’s easy to assume that Kate has a hidden agenda when she introduces herself to Faye. Kate uses her manipulative characteristics to build her relationship with Faye. She puts on a front where Faye can only see the Kate that is being portrayed as a trap, the loving and perfect Kate. Faye begins to fall in love with Kate and has a greater respect for her over the other girls. Kate takes advantage of Faye’s loneliness and longing for a daughter of her own. After reeling her in and making sure she has her share of Faye’s will the true Kate starts to slowly become visible. The first occurrence of the vindictive Kate shows when she is drunk, Kate starts to lose control after the alcohol has entered her system and the monster within her is unleashed. She puts on a horrific show where she yells and screams at Faye leaving here utterly terrified and astonished by this seemingly perfect little girl’s performance. After this Kate is now ready to carry out her plan of taking control. Kate kills Faye differently; she kills her slowly, giving her doses of different drugs over a period of time which eventually leads to her death. What stands out to me to be one of Kate’s most evil doings is when she preformed her own sick and twisted form of torture upon Faye. She knocks Faye out with ammonia and cruelly pokes her with a sharp hook to make her believe she is having an awful nightmare and then comforts her when she wakes up. The relationship between Faye and Kate is in many ways tragic. It saddens me to see how much trust and love Faye had in Kate and how Kate used this to her own evil advantage for her own selfish prosperity.
ReplyDeleteAnother relationship in the novel that changed was that between Adam and Lee. In the beginning Lee was just help and acted ignorant because he felt due to his race and how it was perceived he should act in this manner. As the years passed Lee became more comfortable with his surroundings and obviously Adam became family to him as well as the twins. It’s seen that Lee is anything but ignorant and actually holds many intelligent thoughts on many perpetual circumstances and all in all is a wise man with dreams and aspirations just like any other individual. In my opinion, I see Lee as the mother of the house and Adam the man. Now by no means am I meaning for this to come off in the wrong tense, but the more I’ve thought about it, it makes sense in a way. Lee keeps house and tends to Adam’s needs around the house. Lee also became somewhat of a parent figure to Cal and Aron and seemed to nurture them growing up, just as a mother. Lee was a vital individual in Adam’s life though he may have seemed to be overlooked in some cases. In all honesty I think Adam would have completely fallen apart without Lee’s assistance over the years.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that the brothel held the same importance as the church to men in this novel. In my opinion, though there is a great deal of opposition between the two institutions, the brothel and the church were both places for men to let go of all of their stressful circumstances that come from everyday life. In a normal day situation a whorehouse would be looked upon with disgust by the church and vice versa. Though in this novel the men of the church find comfort in this place. While knowing it is sinful they still take part in it to fulfill their own selfish desires and then take advantage of God’s grace and forgiveness, relying on it to see them out of this dark place in their lives every time. I think that this circumstance just makes Cathy’s theory about men stronger and contributes to her hate towards men. The feeling of guilt can hold a man prisoner in his mind, leaving him completely hopeless and discontented with his place in life. The effects of guilt are present through Adam and later on Tom. Adam feels guilt involving his situation with Cathy. In his mind he feels that Cathy left because he could not please her or the ridiculous thought that he was not good to her or better yet good enough for her. These thoughts trouble Adam’s mind for years and ultimately have immense effects on his lifestyle and his relationships with others, especially his own sons. The ideas of prejudice are shown through the characters Cathy and Lee. First of all Cathy is prejudiced towards men in general. She is overtaken by the thought that men are all the same, that they all hold the same outlooks and consist of the same scum desires and thoughts. You always find Cathy in some mess of a situation involving a male. From her own father to Mr. Edwards to Adam (even Charles) to the whorehouse. Cathy is like a Hitler in a sense. Hitler was prejudice against the Jews and went about eliminating them in sick ways. Cathy, a prejudice against men, does everything in her power to destroy men by exploiting them and manipulating the in ways that most would wish for death if they hadn’t already reached that point. Another example of prejudice in this novel is Lee. Lee is of Asian descent and is seen as an ignorant man in this time period that cannot fulfill his own desires in life due to his race. Irony is present in these chapters. Two examples are Faye and the significance of the whorehouse and the church to men. The irony involving Faye was just the simple fact that she was such a sweet and loving older lady who surprisingly ran a whorehouse. Another example was mentioned earlier in this blog; the importance of the brothel and the church to men. These two contradicting places would never seem to go hand in hand though they certainly do in this novel. In Chapter 19 it discusses Reverand Billing who was a thief, an adulterer, etc. Even with all of these accusations he still held a high position in the church. This ironic happening makes you realize just how corrupt our society has become.
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ReplyDeleteSorry i accidentally posted the last part too many times and had to delete them.lol
ReplyDeleteGood job. I like your examples of irony.
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