Characters of East of Eden:
Cyrus Trask is one of the villainous characters of the novel. He is the father of Adam and Charles Trask. He returns from civil war with syphilis which indicates his debauchery. He lies about his American Civil War record to garner himself an important job in Washington D.C. He is corrupt and leaves his sons an inheritance of $100,000. Adam Trask is a good-hearted, honest man, half-brother of Charles. Mrs. Trask was the first wife of Cyrus and the mother of Adam. She commits suicide after knowing about her husband’s debauchery. Alice Trask is the second wife and mother of Charles. She treats Adam as her own son after his biological mother dies. Charles Trask is the son of Cyrus and Alice. Cyrus favors his son Adam's gift of a puppy over Charles' gift of an expensive knife. In a jealous rage, Charles attempts to kill his brother. Cathy Ames (or Kate) is a teenage daughter of a middle-class family who hates her parents. She is nymphet with no conscience whatsoever. After murdering her parents by setting fire to their home, she becomes a prostitute and the mistress of Mr. Edwards. Adam Trask rescues Cathy when Edwards leaves her for dead, but after giving birth to twin sons, Cal and Aron, she shoots Adam when he attempts to stop her from leaving. Edwards leads a double life: he runs a New England prostitution ring but is married to a religious wife who believes that he runs a reputable business. Faye is the brothel owner whom Kate kills to take over her business. Samuel Hamilton is another patriarch who settles in Salinas along with Cyrus. He is an honest Irish immigrant. He is depicted in contrast to Cyrus Trask. He acts as a guide and model for Adam Trask. Liza Hamilton is Samuel Hamilton's wise wife and an excellent mother to the nine Hamilton children. Will Hamilton is one of Samuel and Liza Hamilton's nine children. Will sells the first automobiles in the Salinas Valley and becomes Cal Trask's business partner during the war. Abra Bacon is an ideal girl, daughter of a crooked Salinas politician who fell in love with Aron Trask during her childhood but she later realizes that he is only in love with a glorified image of her. She develops a relationship with Lee, the philosophical Chinese servant of Trasks whom she considers a father figure.
Summary of East of Eden:
The story of the novel is said to be partly inspired by Steinbeck’s own family history. The narrator of the novel is John Steinbeck, one of Samuel Hamilton’s grandsons. The narrator informs how his grandfather Samuel Hamilton and Lizy Hamilton settled on the Salinas Valley's most barren land, where they worked hard to raise their nine children. Samuel Hamilton is a warmhearted inventor and farmer who immigrated with his wife from Ireland in 1870. Because of Samuel’s good work ethic and Liza’s endearing nature, they become popular among the neighbors and they nurture familial friendship with the Trask family. Adam Trask and Charles Trask are two half-brothers who recently shifted from New England to Salinas Valley. Adam is married to Cathy Ames.
Adam and Charles are the son of Cyrus Trask who was a corrupt on-legged man. His wife, Adam’s mother, was a devout woman who committed suicide upon learning that Cyrus had infected her with syphilis. Cyrus remarried Alice who was a timid woman and took care of Adam and her son Charles equally. Cyrus on the other hand always preferred Adam over Charles because Adam was a good-hearted and soft-spoken boy with calm behavior while Charles was a jealous, angry, and difficult child. Adam presented a puppy to Cyrus on his birthday while Charles presented an expensive hunting knife. Cyrus ignored Charle’s gift and preferred the puppy given by Adam. Enraged, Charles savagely beats Adam. After that, Adam decides to enroll in the army and moves away while Cyrus decides to move to Washington D.C. to take a high-level job in the Office of the Secretary of War. He lied about his wartime record to get the job and continues to take bribes for the position. Charles stays at their farm and one day, he meets a farm accident that renders a dark brown permanent scar on his face. He realizes his mistake and longs for his brother Adam’s return.
On his return, Adam comes to know about the death of Cyrus who left a fortune of $100,000 for the two brothers. However, Charles informs him that their father was a corrupt man who lied about his war records and this money could be ill-gotten.
In a neighboring city, Cathy Ames is a young voluptuous nymphet who likes to see people in trouble because of her. She hates her parents and one day, she murders her parents by setting fire to their home. She pretends to be innocent and attracts the interest of Mr. Edwards, a dubious man who hideously runs a brothel. Cathy becomes his mistress. One day, Mr. Edwards attains enough proof that Cathy murdered her parents. He brutally beats Cathy who runs away. Cathy reaches to Adam and Charles’ farm where she falls unconscious. Adam takes care of her and gets interested in her. As she recuperates, Adam marries her and the new couple moves to Salinas Valley to raise their own family while Charles remains in Connecticut.
In Salinas Valley, Adam and Cathy make friends with the Hamilton family and they also employ a Chinese-American man named Lee as a cook and house helper. Adam is impressed by the work ethic of Samuel Hamilton who becomes his mentor and guide. Cathy gets pregnant though she doesn’t wish to be a mother. She tries to abort her child by using a knitting needle but fails.
Cathy gives birth to two sons whom Adam names Aaron and Caleb or Cal. Cathy begins feeling suffocated in the family as she wishes to lead a free libertine life of debauchery. She decides to leave her kids and husband. When Adam tries to stop her, she shoots him with a gun and runs away. She joins the brothel of Faye and sets her eyes on her brothel. She poisons Faye and murders her and then she takes control of her brothel. Unlike Faye, she is a cruel brothel owner who strictly controls her whores and makes them addicted to drugs. She becomes famous by the name Kate who forces her girls in the brothel to get engaged in sadomasochistic sexual practices and blackmails her customers.
Meanwhile, Adam takes care of his two sons Aaron and Cal. As they grow old, Adam notices that Aaron is a calm and composed boy much like him while Cal is a troubled kid who is a bit jealous of Aaron. Aaron and Cal make friends with Abra Bacon, the daughter of a rich, powerful, but corrupt politician of Salinas. Abra is an honest, devout, and ideal person. She falls in love with both Aaron and Cal. Lee, the philosophically motivated servant of Adam continues to help him raise the kids while he also helps the Hamilton family who are raising their own nine kids. Adam discusses the troubles of raising the kids with Lee who mentions the story of Cain and Abel from the Bible and teaches about the concept of Timshel to Adam. Adam is naturally inclined to favor Aaron more who resembles more like his mother Cathy. Cal realizes this and he continues to harbor ill feelings against Aaron. Adam fails to take notice of Cal succumbing to ill habits who as a teenager, begins to gamble, visits brothels, and drinks alcohol. Cal is also jealous of Aaron because he feels Abra loves him more. Aaron too falls in love with Abra who returns his love but soon learns that Aaron proposed to her only because of her glorified image for being the daughter of a rich politician who can help Aaron enter the ministry. She, thus begins to keep her distance from Aaron while she falls in love with Cal. Cal is happy about this change and he thinks of trying to win the love of his father who is suffering from debt because of failure in business.
Samuel Hamilton dies of old age but before his death, he reveals the whereabouts of Cathy to Adam. Adam decides to visit Cathy and learns that she has turned to Kate. Kate ridicules him and shows him the pictures of the customers who visit her brothel which includes people from the government and the church too. Adam returns empty-handed. The two brothers are facing a difficult time due to their father’s financial situation. Everyone makes fun of Adam’s dwindling fortune while the kids are mocked by their peers. After completing their school, Cal begins farming while Aaron decides to attend to become a priest. Like Charles, Cal is a reticent person who fails to gain the support and love of his father and begins wandering around aimlessly during the night. One night, he visits the brothel of Kate where he recognizes his mother whose photos he has seen at home. Kate is uninterested in recognizing him at first but then spitefully tells him that they are just alike.
Adam’s financial troubles continue to grow and Cal feels that he may win the love of his father if he could help him get out of the financial troubles. He meets Wil Hamilton, the successful businessman and son of Samuel Hamilton who is an automobile dealer. Together, they plan to sell beans grown in the Salinas Valley to nations in Europe for a considerable premium. Cal makes a good fortune in a relatively little time and gifts $15, 000 to his father so that he may pay his debts. Adam is astonished at seeing this huge amount. He asks how Cal got hold of it and Cal tells him about his business. Adam reacts violently when he learns that Cal took advantage of farmers during wartime to make money. However, like his father before him, Adam fails to see the love behind his son's gift. This breaks Cal’s heart who gets enraged by his father’s behavior. He goes to Aaron at his college and decides to take him to meet their mother at the brothel. Aaron believes that their mother was a pious lady who died. When he sees his mother as the madam of the most infamous and debauched brothel, he is shocked. He learns the true nature of his mother and in disgust, he runs away to join the Army during World War I. Kate didn’t feel anything when Cal met her alone but when she sees Aaron and observes how her truth psychologically tormented Aaron, she begins to repent and commits suicide.
Aaron gets killed in the war and when Lee informs Adam about Aaron’s death, he suffers a heart attack. Cal suggests Abra Bacon to run away with him but she insists that they must stay at Salinas and things will change in their favor. She persuades Aaron to return to his home to be with his ill father. Charles visits Adam on his deathbed. Lee requests Adam to forgive Charles, his only remaining son. Adam couldn’t speak much. He raises his hand in a gesture suggesting forgiveness and tells ‘Timshel,’ the Hebrew word for "thou mayest". Cal realizes that he is not predestined to live a life of evil, but has the free will to choose goodness and morality, he has the choice to break the cycle and conquer sin.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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