John Steinbeck East Of Eden Analysis

When one writes a piece of literature with the ability of choosing what to write, one is unable to prevent putting their own self into it. Depending on how well the person knows he or herself, with experiences that are unique or even relatable will determine how well their piece will impact the world. One does not want to read textbooks that are all factual, unless forced too, they want to read stories within a event. The interest goes deeper than just the surface, we may not realize it, but we crave for information. We tend to want to know more than we need or should, but that curiosity drives us to places we wouldn’t expect to find ourselves. Whether the place is good or bad, we are to deal with it the best we can. John Steinbeck capitalizes
on these emotions in his novels by using characterization, foreshadowing, and diction strongly throughout.
As of most authors, John Steinbeck took his personal experiences from his life to create the very realistic and detailed pieces of work that are referenced everywhere. As he lived his life, his books progressed in theme of each new event we categorize in the history books. Some books were given a more comedic tone while others were more serious; but he was able to distinct his writing by being able to relate with the events and then take it one step farther. That extra step was within his characters; he was able to give his characters a past, present, and future without boring us with every single detail. Each character had a story, whether short or long, their lives were important. Steinbeck would go as far back on the family tree as he thought fit. He understood that every part of one’s life, especially the people and their own experiences, influences that person's personality and actions. It explains one's thoughts and separates the being he was born as and the being he is currently. With each generation and the multitude of people in the world we are unable to understand each other's stories and all those invisible strings that attach us to everyone else. By only using 10% of our brain, we are unable to take in those infinite possibilities and link them to our everyday actions, but we can do our best by starting with a family and then another. East of Eden describes two families that were connected in such a way that they themselves were unable to understand.
Steinbeck was able to develop his characters in such a way that for them to simply be there affected all characters around them. They all started apart, clueless of how life would turn out, other than simply the target they had in mind. At the beginning, it all depended on the parents; kids either loved them or repelled them like two opposing magnets. Between the three generations within each family, the second is what we see most of; their whole life span is put out into the open for us to judge. We criticize their choices in childhood all the way to the end and blame them for what happens to their kids. Steinbeck’s Cannery Row develops characters, but not so far back, not so far forward, simply what was happening in the present. In it’s comedic stature we were able to relax; there wasn’t enough worry to create too much stress other than a single issue. By being in a small town, the number of characters didn’t affect the plot too much by using pages on describing every character. In this book, Steinbeck takes a different approach, he gets right into the plot, developing and introducing characters as the story
progresses. Steinbeck often uses foreshadowing in his characters when introduced to create a sort of relief rather than dragging us along in seeing their outcome in life. It’s either that or we take the side route and find out their whole history before continuing with the plot.. This type of writing is informational and gives us a good understanding of the characters without having to ask or wonder. We are able to move past the simple questions and ask the more in depth life questions. The characters are of utmost importance no matter what happens in the plot the characters are given the time and space needed. Each are important in their own way or else they wouldn’t be needed in the books. East of Eden shows the complexity of life and the importance of communication, while Cannery Row shows the faults in life and how that people around you truly do know you better than you know yourself. Each have there strong characters who represent a good amount of people we have in the world. For we are the people who are written about and we know deep down we all make the same mistakes.