Steinbeck calls Cathy a beast, saying, “... there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies… And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a a twisted gene or malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul…” (Ch. 8). Furthermore, the lines “And you are the mother, the mother of your baby child, the one to whom you gave life” is a reference to Cathy. In the novel, she gives birth to Cal and Aron but later betrays and abandons the twins and their father, Adam. Cathy is the original sin in “East of Eden”, and the sons have a difficult time understanding the concept of “timshel” because of her. “Timshel”, the song, is the summary of the themes in “East of
Steinbeck calls Cathy a beast, saying, “... there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies… And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a a twisted gene or malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul…” (Ch. 8). Furthermore, the lines “And you are the mother, the mother of your baby child, the one to whom you gave life” is a reference to Cathy. In the novel, she gives birth to Cal and Aron but later betrays and abandons the twins and their father, Adam. Cathy is the original sin in “East of Eden”, and the sons have a difficult time understanding the concept of “timshel” because of her. “Timshel”, the song, is the summary of the themes in “East of