East of Eden: Of Love and Hate

There is always a good and a bad to every situation, even when it comes to love and hate. In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, these themes are clearly expressed through the characters whose destinies seem to be somehow intertwined. In the household of the Hamiltons, there seems to be much love between the children and their parents and with one other. Both Liza and Samuel, although different in some ways always find a way to work out their problems as a true family would. They might not be well off, but are quite happy with what they have and who they have. With Liza's righteous and moralistic ways, she is able to raise her family in her faith, and to always do that which is right. The parents, with all their nine kids always have enough love going around so that no one is neglected and in turn takes it out on another sibling. 

The Trasks however is a whole different story.  While Cyrus the head of the household, seems to love his older son Adam from his previous wife, who murdered herself, that love doesn't seem to have reached Charles the younger son from Cyrus' marriage to Alice, and Charles always sensed this. It got to a point when he almost murdered his older brother, who was quite weaker than himself all because he felt neglected and unloved (E.O.E 31). The relationship in this family is also quite ironic. While Cyrus loves Adam, after his death Adam reveals that he never really loved his father, but rather feared, sometimes admired and hated him (E.OE 64). The son who  loved his father however never seemed to have this affection reciprocated which negatively affected him. The brothers did grow up to have a kind of love-hate relationship, which may not have been there had circumstances been different. Then there is Cathy Ames and her family. Cathy had a loving family, parents who loved her and were willing to do anything to make her happy, however, it always appeared that she held no affection in her heart for them, but that of only hate and spite. The monster in her always seemed to rear it's ugly head in her life and she seemed to let it every time.  I could go on about the characters and how each theme was reflected in their lives, however the bottom line is the feelings were there, one more evident than the other in some characters, and the bad one always seemed to end up hurting another character in some way.

East of Eden: Part One

9.
Adam's good nature and inability to see through Cathy is a weakness because he is always going to be oblivious of the fact that she is truly evil, and thus will not believe anything that others tell him in warning about her. She could take a life, and although it may be the truth, he would not deem the information credible as "his Cathy" is the definition of all that is good and pure. Adam is good at heart, and generous, but in some instances isn't very admirable. He is able to take into his home a complete stranger, who ends up turning his whole world upside down,  not heeding the warning of his younger brother (E.O.E 111), all in the name of a love-at-first sight emotion. Although he was doing the right thing by helping out an injured person, he should have called in the authorities to investigate a brutally beaten woman in front of his home. Then again, it is only instinct to sometimes act immediately in the case of an emergency, but this is one he could have waited a while for.

East of Eden: Part One

Cathy Ames
Cathy Ames isn't doomed by nature to be who she is, as she does have a choice, and chooses to be the devious, manipulative being that she is. Cathy does so in the name of power and money, and thus does all she can to associate herself with men with the kind of power and money she seeks; men like Mr. Edwards, the whore-master and Adam Trask. She goes so far as neglecting the love of her parents and degrading herself to the standards of a prostitute, which is how she comes into contact with Mr. Edwards (E.O.E 92). As the story goes on, Cathy's character changes, although she doesn't drift too far from her lying, manipulative ways. In chapter eight where she is described as a monster, she acts in a way a little normal girl of her age isn't likely to act. She is able to get two boys into trouble for something she consented to, and then lies and acts in a traumatized manner to get people of her case (E.O.E 76-77). Additionally she murders her own parents in a fire she set with the pathetic excuse that she was protecting them (E.O.E 86-87); again not something one sees everyday. In chapter twelve, she is mature, and not in the mental state of the word, but the physical as she uses what she has to get all that she wants, some of which come at an expense of near death to her. Steinbeck asks the reader to asses Cathy to see the ways in which she goes about to achieve what she wants, and the ways in which she is able to maneuver her way out of every problem she faces; almost as if she knows certain things will happen, therefore plans ahead for them.