Book Review: East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I delayed a long time in writing this review because I didn't know quite how to word the summary of the book without making it sound evil. And I will admit the plot is a little dark, but with good reason. Anyways, I finally found one I like on Wikipedia so I'll share it here:

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 Northern California.

Adam Trask, after a tumultuous childhood in the East and enduring harsh treatment from his younger brother, Charles, spends his time first in the military and then wandering the country. He is caught for vagrancy and asks Charles for 100 dollars. Charles reveals that their father has died and now they have an inheritance of 50,000 dollars each. When the brothers live together at the family farm in Connecticut, they find Cathy Ames, a viciously beaten woman, on their doorstep. Adam falls in love with her, and soon marries her.

Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from Ireland, raise their nine children on the rough infertile hillside. As the Hamilton children leave the nest, Adam Trask — newly wed and newly rich after inheriting considerable wealth from his deceased father, Cyrus Trask — settles with the pregnant Cathy into a large and fertile plot near the Hamilton plot. Shortly after Cathy gives birth to twins, she shoots Adam in the shoulder and flees. Adam recovers and raises his children with the help of his Cantonese cook, Lee.

Meanwhile, Cathy becomes a prostitute at a brothel in the city of Salinas. She renames herself Kate to avoid recognition, and eventually becomes the owner of the most "respectable" brothel in the area, after killing its former owner, Faye, who had called Kate her daughter and said that she would inherit all her wealth. Kate makes the brothel infamous for its brutal treatment of clients. Samuel Hamilton later reveals Cathy's whereabouts to Adam, hoping that the truth will not kill him but set him free. Adam later visits Cathy during a trip, and Cathy (now Kate) reveals to him that his brother Charles is possibly the biological father of his two boys.

Adam's sons, named Caleb (Cal) and Aaron (Aron) — echoing Cain and Abel in the Bible — grow up oblivious of their mother's situation, with Cal pursuing a career in business with Will Hamilton, one of Samuel's sons, and Aron going to college to become an Episcopalian priest. Aron goes on to become very popular among the townspeople, while Cal goes on to become a recluse. At a very early age, Aron meets a popular girl named Abra from a well-to-do family, and the two fall in love. Cal finds out about his mother from a drunken acquaintance of his father, and goes to meet her; Kate learns of her two children, and recognizes Cal's similarity to herself in mindset and similarity to Charles in appearance.

Adam becomes inspired by Samuel Hamilton's inventiveness and begins to come up with ideas on how to transport produce across the country using iceboxes on trains. The plan fails, causing Adam and his family, now living in Salinas, to lose most of their wealth. To give a gift to his father — admittedly to buy his father's love — Cal works with Will Hamilton 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.

Aron returns from Stanford for Thanksgiving. At dinner, Cal gives his father the money, but Adam refuses to accept the money and tells him to give it back to the poor farmers he exploited. Adam adds

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.[3:]

and concludes with

If you want to give me a present — give me a good life. That would be something I could value.

In a fit of jealousy, Cal takes his brother to see their mother, knowing it will be a shock to Aron (who is still under the belief that she had died and was buried on the East Coast). 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. Cal, 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 Cal his blessing in the form of the word Timshel! (a Hebrew word said in the novel to mean 'thou mayest'), alluding to the point that Cal may have the ability to conquer his evil nature.

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, Cal and Aron).

That's some of what Wikipedia has to say. If you found that interesting I suggest going to the sight and reading the rest of it.

Despite the story's darkness, I really liked it. I thought it was thought provoking and enlightening. I realize that Steinbeck's view of the Cain and Able story isn't exactly LDS doctrine, but I don't think that detracts from the story at all. In fact, I don't even think that's the point of the story. I think the point of the story is this: all men have a little bit of evil in them (aka the "natural man") and they have a choice about whether or not they overcome that evil.

I'm a big fan of Steinbeck and his writing style and I wasn't disappointed by this book. He uses words beautifully, especially when describing the Salinas Valley in the first couple of chapters. This book is supposed to be his "greatest work", and it was very good, but I still find myself liking Grapes of Wrath better. Just a personal opinion though.

I like the way he portrayed the characters in this book. I especially like Lee and Samuel Hamilton. I'm not a fan of Cathy/Kate, but I don't think anyone really is supposed to be since she represents Satan in this story.

Because it's dark, and because of the nature of Cathy's occupation, I won't recommend that everyone read this book. I'm pretty sure it won the Nobel prize though. Anyways I will say that I liked it a lot, and it gave me a lot to think about.