Blog for Chapters 45-55 (the end) of East of Eden
Explain how Steinbeck uses these chapters to tie up the loose ends to his story. Discuss the fate of the characters and the end of the novel. Comment on the ending.
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Steinbeck uses these ten chapters to close up a number of loose ends. For one the conclusion of the Cathy saga was completed when Joe Valery was killed bearing all of Cathy’s possessions after he had robbed her while she was in her room dead due to her committing suicide. Cathy was completely alone and had no more ideas on how to stop Ethel from exposing her even though ironically Ethel was already dead, Cathy had nothing to live for if she was going to be exposed to the world as a monster and so she gave everything that was hers to her son Aron whom she had never met but only saw at church from the back row. Aron returned from his miserable life at college only to find that Abra was not the girl of his dreams that he wrote about in his companionate love letters. Aron was also exposed to the realization that he did have a mother and that she was no more than a filthy low down whore and this drove Adam to the edge of madness where he gave up his entire life to enlist in the army in hopes that he would be killed because he didn’t want to face the life that was before him in Salinas. Cal waited in anticipation for Thanksgiving dinner to arrive where he could present his father with the money that he had worked to gain. To Cal’s disappointment his father did not except his gift and Cal was utterly crushed. So in desperation Cal turned to the bottle to drown his sorrows in a whiskey river. This decision ultimately led to his brother’s and his father’s demise because while Cal was out one night he saw Aron walking and Cal took his innocent brother to see for the first time who his mother really was and this drove Aron to join the war. Adam began to get heavily involved in the war effort he saw young man after young man sign up for the war and to him it was like they were signing to their death. Adam was in love with the fact that his young productive Aron was coming home from college, he had thoughts of sharing intellectual thoughts and ideas with his young college man but these dreams were shattered when he realized that Aron was not going back to college ever again but was going to join the war and not think about Adam or anyone else. This led Adam into a state of depression where his body began to where away and the soul that gave him life was starting to wear away. Finally after weeks of dread the faithful telegram came through the mail that stated that Aron had fallen in the heat of battle. After the letter came, Adam had a severe stroke which landed him in bed. Lee, Cal, and Abra came to him while he was lying on his death bed barely conscious to the outside world. Lee asked Adam to forgive Cal for what he had driven Aron to do and to not hold anything against Cal because he had repented of his past sin. At last Adam raise his unsteady hand to bless Cal and to forgive him for what he had done with his dying breath Adam whispered the word Timshel and passed away to be with his friends of ole in the next life. To me the end explains the reoccurring theme in the novel that men are not bound by supreme law or destiny but have a choice to either do what is right or what is wrong and when Adam says the word Timshel which means thou mayest it confirms that he believe all men have a choice and must live their lives to fulfillment.
ReplyDeleteVery thorough, Moose. So what did you think of the ending? Some critics do not like the ending and say that it is a bit melodramatic.
ReplyDeleteSteinbeck uses these chapters to leave the novel with a solemn end. It is easy to see that the characters in the novel can never catch a break, whether they deserve it or not. Cathy’s tyranny comes to an end after she commits suicide. Cathy realized that she was a lonely woman and that her lifestyle had no real purpose, no happiness. What kind of life is that; one filled with constant evil doings and hidden motives? I also think Cathy committed suicide out of fear, fear of Ethel and fear of her sons. Cathy left everything she had to her son Aron. Cathy seemed to favor Aron just like Adam. Though Cathy was not proud of him she just like the fact that he did not bring fear to her like Cal. Aron shows the most change near the end of the novel. He realizes that Abra was not the girl he was in love with; that she was more of a mere pastime that would never be what he had tried to made her up to be. Aron realized his dreams of college were not an ambition for him any longer and he wanted to pursue something different. And then tragically after Cal decided to show Aron their mother out of anger Aron decided to enlist in the army where he later died. The effects of this brought more despair on the Trask family. Adam Trask, who showed a greater affection towards Aron, was extremely affected by the choices and fate of his son Aron. Adam was a proud father when it came to Aron and then was heartbroken to find he had enlisted in the army and given up his life at college. This heartbreak not only hurt him emotionally, but Adam started to become physically ill; hearing of Cathy’s death his illness worsened. Then after the news of Aron’s death Adam was faced with stroke that left him completely helpless with no knowing of how much longer he would hold onto life. I feel the most sympathy for Cal, Cal always longed for the affection from his father and seemed to have to go through much more despair verses his brother. Cal lived with much anger towards himself. He didn’t want to be like his mother though he felt at times he was a splitting image of her. He beat himself up for years for being jealous of his brother and for feeling like a heartless human being. Though Cal at heart I believe was nothing like his mother. Inside Cal seemed to have a heart of gold even though he had imperfections just like everyone else. Cal and Charles are very similar characters, actually the whole brother situation with Adam and Charles and Cal and Aron are just alike. It’s like it was passed down or something. Adam had his father’s attention and love while Charles longed for that his whole life and tried to impress him numerous times; just the same with Cal and Aron. Adam showed favoritism to Aron and in ways rejected Cal though I don’t think he meant to. Cal and Charles were both hard characters who had to carry an immense burden their whole lives. They were faced with loneliness, feelings of jealousy, and anger. They both longed for the love of their father’s and sadly never exactly received that satisfaction. Adam and Aron were both seen as the perfect brothers who never had to fight for the affection from their father’s though neither seemed to appreciate it. At the very end Lee, Abra, and Cal all fill Adam’s room where Lee asks Adam to give Cal his blessing and forgive him for the death of his brother. Adam raised his hand to give Cal his blessing and whispered timshel before he retired into his sleep. The word timshel showed a lot of significance in this novel because it reiterated an important theme in the novel about man’s life. Adam in my opinion never truly gave Cal the satisfaction he hoped to receive, the love of a father. Like I stated earlier I feel the most sympathy towards Cal, he never felt love or true happiness and no one should ever be deprived of that.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I always felt like Cal deserved more from his father. Cal loved Adam so much. I was furious when Adam rejected the money that Cal so lovingly gave him!
ReplyDeleteSo was I!
ReplyDeleteIn the end of this story Steinbeck ties up the loose ends of his story by make twisted turns. A man named Joe, an ex convict, finally comes in to Cathy's brothel to work and tries to find her weakness in her. Her weakness opens up when Joe tells her that he has heard that Ethel is coming back to town and she suddenly overcomes with fear. Her past has now been catching up to her in these final chapters with her arthritis and fears. She starts to fear her past catching up to her and from all the mess she made in her life she starts to worry about anyone finding out she finally commits suicide from stress. Cal on the other hand completes the story of Cain and Abel. Whenever his father rejects his money he suddenly gets jelous of his brother because his father loves him more. Money has been passed on from generation to generation and represents the evil that comes down from the generation. The money has all been earned by either theft or prostitution. But from Cal the money has been destroyed and the good son Aron dies and cal ends up getting his father's blessing. This does finish the story of Cain and Abel but it also makes a twisting turn from the generations above. Usually the evil son dies like Charles dies and instead Aron dies also the money also gets passed down from above generations but in Cal's generation the money was destroyed. I think in the end the author tries to destroy evil. From anger Cal decides to show Aron the truth about their mother not from kindness but in order to destroy Aron, which makes him disgusted and makes him enlist in the war. Aron later dies in the war which leaves his dad with a stroke and Cal with the blessing. I was really dissappointed in how the ending turned out. I was glad though when Cathy finally got what she deserved and she died. It also makes me mad how Abra finally decides she doesn't love Aron the good son but Cal the evil one. She doesn't seem to have faith in being moral anymore and soon doesn't have to worry about it when Aron dies. This story shows a lot of differences and similarities in the charachters through generations and in time and the main theme what I think that contradicts the story is good and evil.
ReplyDeleteDid you like the ending, or was it too easy?
ReplyDeleteHALL
I actually didn't like it. It was very dissapointing when Aron died but it was something unexpected.
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