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

vitamin E of paradise A Biblical Allegory In East of enlightenment (1952) John Steinbeck creates a powerful novel using biblical allegories. 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 raw times, East of Eden retells the famous story of the downfall of Adam and Eve, and the desirous rivalry between Cain and Able. Steinbeck also creates many other char portrayalers throug his novel, that capture a biblical sense and help portray an image of the vast disorderliness of life. One character that resembles a biblical character is Cathy Ames. Throughout the entireness of the novel, her character portrays that of a monstrous almost inhuman creature. ... just as there are physical monsters, can there non be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or unshapely egg can produce malformed soul? To a criminal, satinpod is foolish. You m ust 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 laterality nearly everyone. Her inborn talent enabled her to repress normal emotions of love and frankincense 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 unborn sons. Before arriving in their destination of King City, Cathy deviously attempts to abort the lives deep down her. He Dr. Tilson looked around the room. He stepped to the bureau and picked up a knit 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 severe to decipher the expressions of their love. Sometime later Adam becomes deathly ill. While on his death bed Lee pleads with Adam to forgive Caleb and bless him. Dont snap him with your rejection. Give him your blessing ... Thats all a man has over the beasts. drop by the wayside 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(a) meaning to an old chapter. Works CitedSteinbeck, John. East of Eden. Penguin Books USA Inc. (1992).