East of Eden: A Story of Good and Evil

Through his narrator in East of Eden, John Steinbeck says that there is only "one story in the world", that of good and evil (Steinbeck 412). The original story of good and evil can be traced back to the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, from which Steinbeck picked his title and formed many central characters around. In his novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck explores the constant collision between good and evil and forms a parallel between his story and that of Cain and Abel.

In his criticism of East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Brian Aubrey asserts that though the complexities of good and evil are far too detailed to completely separate from one another, characters from each group are inexorably tied together through their emotions. East of Eden is a novel filled with characters based on Cain and Abel. Charles, Cathy, and Caleb are the evil side of the family and represent Cain, while Adam, Abra, and Aron have as much goodness in them as the others do evil, but then it is odd that Charles and Adam are so closely drawn to each other as brothers, and grow up to fulfill two completely different destinies. The same goes for Cal and Aron, but they are even closer as brothers, though whereas Adam has more sense than Charles, it is Cal who has the intellectual upper hand over Aron. Both Adam and Aron fail to see that their reality is not purely good or evil, but a mix of the two and every mistake they make is due to their flawed perception of the world. Adam fails to see Cathy for her true personality, even when she openly says that she does not and never had loved him. He idealized her far too much to get a glimpse of what her character was actually about, and set too much of himself into creating a false Eden for his family in Salinas Valley. Aron does the same with Abra in that he makes her into a perfect girl, failing to see any flaw in her that may arise. Abra is smart enough to know what Aron is doing and realizes that he is pushing her away with his newfound