East Of Eden Cain and Abel allusion

Character Comparison Cal Trask (Aron’s brother) = Cain of his generation Aron Trask = Abel of his generation Adam Trask (Cyrus’ brother) = Abel of his generation Charles Trask = Cain of his generation

Cain and Abel story Adam and Eve were banished to Eden after Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve gave birth to two sons, Cain and Abel. They grew up and Cain farmed, while Abel shepherded. One day, God came down to them and told them to sacrifice a lamb to show their appreciation and pray for their sins. Abel sacrificed his best lamb, while Cain sacrificed wheat. Abel’s lamb burnt up at the alter, while Cain’s wheat didn’t. Cain knew that God favored Abel over him. He was jealous of Abel, and brought that anger into killing Abel, his only brother. Eventually, God realized that Abel was missing and asked Cain what had happened to him. Cain confessed and finally realized what he actually did, and mourned for the remaining of his life.

Parallel between East of Eden Cain is seen as the evil doing brother, while Abel is seen as the hardworking brother. In the first generation (Adam and Charles), Charles becomes jealous of Adam after their father prefers Adam’s thoughtless gift over Charles’ thoughtful gift. However, Charles does not become jealous enough to kill Adam. In the second generation (Aron and Cal), Cal becomes jealous of Aron after he tries his best to be a forward, aggressive son, and he is still pushed down to be the lesser of the two. Cal becomes jealous, attempts to murder Aron, but fails to do so. Aron ultimately enlisted in the army, which made Cal indirectly murder Aron when he did finally die.

Significance of Allusion Steinbeck writes: “As I went into the story [of East and Eden] more deeply I began to realize that without this story [of Cain and Abel] −or rather a sense of it− psychiatrists would have nothing to do. In other words this one story is the basis of all human neurosis− and if you take the fall along with it, you have the total of the psychic troubles that can happen to a human” (Oprah’s Book Club). Steinbeck wanted to show that “we are all descendants of Cain− [while] Abel had none− and [we] possess free will in the struggle between good and evil within us” (Oprah’s Book Club)

Works Cited DLTK. "The Story of Cain and Abel." Bible Activities. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. <http://www.dltk-bible.com/genesis/chapter4 cv1.htm>. Oprah's Book Club. "East of Eden: Retelling the Story of Cain and Abel - Oprah.com."Oprah.com. Oprah, 18 June 2003. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/East-of-Eden-Retelling- the-Story-of-Cain-and-Abel>.