John Steinbecks East of Eden - A Biblical Allegory Essay -- East Eden

easterly of Eden A Biblical Allegory In East of Eden (1952) John Steinbeck creates a powerful novel using biblical every(prenominal)egories. By doing this, he can deliver a clear message by describing something unfamiliar to his audience and comparing it to something more familiar. Set in modern times, East of Eden retells the famous story of the downf every last(predicate) of Adam and Eve, and the jealous tilt between Cain and Able. Steinbeck also creates many other fictional characters throug his novel, that capture a biblical sense and help portray an image of the vast confusion of life. One character that resembles a biblical character is Cathy Ames. Throughout the entirety of the novel, her character portrays that of a monstrous almost inhuman creature. ... just as there are animal(prenominal) dickenss, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a malformed gene or malformed egg can produce malformed soul? To a criminal, ho nesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous (72). These abilities Cathy possessed allowed her to manipulate and control nearly everyone. Her inborn talent enabled her to repress normal emotions of hunch forward and thus posses many devil like characteristics. One being the manipulation of sex. In the second half of the story Cathy has married and unintentionally bears the lives of her two unhatched sons. Before arriving in their destination of King City, Cathy deviously attempts to abort the lives within her. He Dr. Tilson looked around the room. He stepped to the bureau and picked up a knitting needle. He shook it in her face. The old offender - the old criminal. Youre a fool. Youve nearly killed yourself and you havent lost y... ...ch children can spend a lifetime trying to decipher the expressions of their love. onetime(prenominal) later Adam becomes deathly ill. While on his death bed Lee pleads with A dam to forgive Caleb and bless him. Dont crush him with your rejection. Give him your blessing ... Thats all a man has over the beasts. Free him Bless him (602). Slowly and with much effort Adam raises his right hand, displaying his act of blessing on Caleb. Like all strong allegories, East of Eden draws one into a world of fictious characters that seem to take on a life of familiarity. The bible, which Steinbeck has chosen to build his novel on, is a book that interests itself not in causes, but in actions and their consequences. By creating biblical allegories, Steinbeck gives a new meaning to an old chapter. Works CitedSteinbeck, John. East of Eden. Penguin Books USA Inc. (1992).