Part two of East of Eden

2. I don't think Adam's forgetfulness of his past is truly convincing. I mean one can't just all of a sudden forget all that he came from, and all that he was, no matter how bad it was. He may have forgiven what his brother had done, but to forget him and where he was from just by moving into a new place wasn't very convincing. He was trying to suppress that side of him, the side that perhaps made him unhappy, which is understandable. Not many people like to hang onto the past, but that doesn't mean they simply forget it as Adam mentioned that he did. Yes his obliviousness is a form of repression to wreak havoc. In pretending to forget his past, he fails to see how his life took on that of Cain and Abel's in the Bible. He fails to see how his father favored him over his brother, just like God favored Abel over Cain, and thus is angry at God for just this favoring (E.O.E. 269). Thus if his sons were to grow up to take up a a relationship like what he had with his brother, he wouldn't know it to be able to prevent or stop it.

4. Cathy remains the monster she was mentioned of being from the beginning of the novel, and never once changes, not for anything or anyone in the world. When Samuel first meets her, he has this uneasy feeling about her, as if something isn't right with her. Perhaps being so righteous and they way he is, he was able to sense this right away, as Lee did. Cathy has a way of speaking that makes her cold and very distant, and Samuel felt this when he was speaking to her (E.O.E 173). Additionally, Cathy never really seems to show any emotions of human quality, which makes her appear almost inhuman. Adam of course failed to notice all these because of the love he felt for her, but Charles on the hand knowing she was in a way like him was able to pick up on who she was from the very first time he saw her.