In his introspective novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck uses ties to the Book of Genesis to question the extent to which individuals can control their connection to good and evil. Cal, one of the story’s main characters, is destined from birth to encompass the evil in his family and in his hometown, but as his individualism grows stronger he learns to embrace the good within himself. Cal is constantly juxtaposed to the forces of good in his life, and in this way the reader sees that his eventual connection to good is born of his connection to the world around him.
Adam, Cal’s father, is heavyset in his opinions throughout East of Eden. From the moment Cal was born, Adam identified him as “the dark one” of two Trask sons, and without any reasoning except for a feeling, all of the role models in Cals life immediately accepted this idea. This bias is likely what caused Cal to find the evil within himself as he grew older, and Adam carved Cal into the person he was expected to be instead of who he should have been independently. Cal saw that the world wanted him to be evil, and so for his entire childhood that was the part of himself that he embraced the most. This idea is put on display in one conversation between Adam and his mentor Samuel:
“Yes, you will. And I will warn you now that not their blood but your suspicion might build evil in them. They will be what you expect of them… I think when a man finds good or bad in his children he is seeing only what he planted in them after they cleared the womb."
"You can’t make a race horse of a pig."
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make a very fast pig.”
However, as Cal grows older, his identity begins to change alongside of his worldview, and the differences between Cal and his brother Aron illustrate that change. Aron is one of the book’s most fundamentally good characters, but he also exhibits an unhealthy denial of the truth that drives his life. The boys’ mother ran a whorehouse in their town, and Cal while seeks out this truth Aron avoids and ignores it. Aron appears to display more morality in this dark time, but the good that fuels his personality is fabricated and unstable. Meanwhile, Cal makes more reckless decisions than Aron, but the experience that he gains from such decisions lead him to a more profound understanding of good than Aron could ever perceive, and this is the good that he embraces in his later years. Eventually, as Aron is forced to accept the truth, his foundation of good crumbles beneath him and evil overwhelms him to his death. Cal, on the other hand, finds that the evil in his life only makes the good more beautiful, and thrives with this nuanced perception of his world.
Cal is exposed to different environments and learns more about his family and his past, his self identity changes shape many times. Almost never is he sure of what is right and wrong, but always he searches for the truth that allows him to live a full life. Steinbeck creates dichotomies within and around Cal that emphasize this flexibility, and with East of Eden ultimately shows that any fate can be counteracted by leading an engaged and honest life.
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