East of Eden
Part IV
“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only
one, that has frightened and inspired us, so that we
live in a Pearl White serial of continuing thought and
wonder. Humans are caught- in their lives, their
thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their
avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and
generosity too- in a net of good and evil. I think this is
the only story we have and that it occurs on all levels
of feeling and intelligence. Virtue and vice were warp
and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be
the fabric of our last, and despite any changes we may
impose on field and river and mountain, on economy
and manners. There is no other story. A man, after
he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will
have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good
or was it evil? Have I done well- or ill?”(413)
Structuralists
• Basic structure of human consciousness
• Steinbeck states that life can basically be
classified as good or evil despite the
variables of history and social consciousness
or status of the individual, economic, race,
ethnicity etc.
• We all struggle with evil and have free will to
oppose it
Cal and Aron
• “Aron drew love from every side…He was
unchanging once a course was set. He had
few facets and very little versatility…Change
of direction confused Aron, but that was the
only thing that confused him. He set his path
and followed it and he did not see nor was he
interested in anything besides his path” (422).
– Aron almost selfish in decisions
• Church, Abra
• Ironically Cal wants to love others and tries to change his
path to do so
Aron and Abra
• Serves as a mother and protector of
Aron
– “Aron began to cry and could not stop”
(424).
• Catharsis for Aron
• She realizes coexistence of good and evil
Cal and Aron
• Aron struggles with information about mother
– “’ If my father is a liar, Lee is a liar too.’ He was
lost. He had no one to ask. Cal was a liar, but
Lee’s conviction had made Cal a clever liar. Aron
felt that something had to die- his mother or his
world” (429).
– Cannot see the morally complexity in his father
lying to spare them pain
• Cal wants to seek her out
– Has the emotional capacity to deal with the pain
Good vs. Evil
• Lee’s characterization of Kate
– “She is a mystery. It seems to me that she is not
like other people. There is something she lacks.
Kindness maybe, or conscience. You can only
understand people if you feel them in yourself.
And I can’t feel her. I don’t know what she
wanted or what she was after. She was full of
hatred, but why or toward what I don’t know”
(448).
• Cal can see the frustration and pain she caused in his
father now
• Brings forth respect and pity for his dad
• Adam exemplifies what Kate lacks
Good vs. Evil
• “I know- because I’ve got her in me.”
• “Of course you may have that in you.
Everybody has. But you’ve got the other
too…You wouldn’t even be wondering if you
didn’t have it. Don’t you dare take the lazy
way. It’s too easy to excuse yourself
because of your ancestry” (449).
– Reminds Cal of his free will
– His evil is not inherent thus Kate cannot choose
for him
Cal and Aron
• Cal struggles with purity and sin
– “One moment he was dedicated and pure
and devoted; the next he wallowed in filth;
and the next he groveled in shame and
emerged rededicated” (450)
• Aron confines himself in religion and the
purity of mind and body
• Builds a wall around himself to hide
from reality
Cal and Aron
• “ Cal watched his brother triumph over sins
he had never committed. He thought
sardonically of telling him about his mother, to
see how he would handle it, but he withdrew
the thought quickly. He didn’t think Aron
could handle it at all” (451).
– Cal wants to be moral and makes moral choices
• He does not see this in himself
• Does not want to hurt the good and trusting Aron
Cal and Adam
• “Cal wanted to throw his arms about his
father, to hug him and to be hugged by
him. He wanted some wild
demonstration of sympathy and love”
(454)
– Cal realizes Adam’s interest in him
– Turning point
Cal and Adam
• “I’m the same as my father was. He
didn’t allow me to be a person, and I
haven’t seen my sons as people” (455).
– Admits his failures
– Cal sees him as human
– Adam sees Cal for who he is, separate
from Aron
Cal and Aron
• “’I have hated him…An I’ve hurt him
too. But I don’t hate him now. I won’t
ever hate him again…not even my
mother” (458)
– Cal realizes he is not like Kate
– His darkness is lifted with the trust instilled
by Adam
– He can choose goodness and it is within
him
Cal and Kate
• “’No, I haven’t. I’m my own. I don’t have
to be you…If I’m mean, it’s my own mean”
(466).
– Sees a fearful and degenerate woman who lived
her life manipulating others
– He realizes he is his own person and not a
product of her evil nature
– Cal has a conscience and knows how to love
Kate
• Confrontation of past leads to fear and
anxiety
• Confines herself inside
• Paranoid of Ethel
• Evil character degenerating
• Good characters flourishing
• Good does triumph over evil