John Steinbecks East of Eden - Biblical Symbols and...

Biblical Symbolism in East of Eden Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck uses many biblical references to illustrate clearly the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil. Much of the plot of East of Eden is centered upon the two sets of brothers representing Cain and Abel. Both pairs are similar to Cain and Abel in the way they go about winning their fathers’ favors. All four give gifts to their fathers, and the fathers dismiss the gifts of Charles and Caleb, the Cain representations (Marks, Jay Lester. p.121). Caleb and Charles Trask are obviously the more malignant brothers. They are also the more loving towards their father. Steinbeck’s purpose in this is to illustrate the need of the Cain character in†¦show more content†¦Cathy-Kate combines many biblical figures as well. She is not only Eve, but she is Cain’s wife and the serpent of Eden as well (Fonterose, Joseph. p.3380). Thus she is the representation of evil too. Cathy is evil to the point where she i s not human. Her presence in the novel is meant to represent evil and all of its cruel intentions. All of her deeds are intended to show how far from the real world Cathy actually is (Howard, Levant. p. 245). Steinbeck compares Cathy to other prostitutes in Salinas Valley, the setting of East of Eden. She is described as the only whore who is incapable of being a good person. She is an inhuman being whose life revolves around cruelty and wrongdoing. She is solely satanic and destroys the innocence of man (Marks, Jay Lester. p. 126-127). John Steinbeck includes more of the tale of Genesis: 4 than is actually told in the bible. The basis of this is a Jewish story involving twin sisters of both Cain and Abel. The two disputed over Abel’s twin whom Abel was to marry. Cain murdered Abel and wed the twin sister of his brother (Fonterose, Joseph. p.3380). The story differs also in that it is Abel who leaves his home instead of Cain. Abel found his Eden, represented by Salinas Valley, but lost it after fathering a second generation very similar to the first, Caleb representing Cain and Aron representing Abel (Fonterose, Joseph. p.3379). The story is changed by Steinbeck to illustrate