Book Analysis: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Book Analysis
East of Eden
By Jon Steinbeck This unforgettable novel, East of Eden, was incredible for its time and without a doubt is Steinbeck’s most memorable and philosophically poetic classic. Reading a book like this really made me come to the realization that even though this book was set in the late 19th-20th century that the meaning behind the message is more relevant than ever before. I suppose there is more than one message but not one is more or less important than the other. The biggest and most obvious theme that Steinbeck conveyed was the idea that good and evil are constantly at war with one another but are equally attracted to each other at the same time. The second principle was that in order to change the fate of your circumstances and your future generations you must first look inside and change yourself. Be the change you would like to see in the world and perhaps you may view “problems of the world” differently. Last but not least, I really feel that this whole plot and theme echoed the idea of acceptance. That truth is acceptance and compassion for yourself and all living things. The incapability to understand a persons’ differences and choosing to judge based off of biased-beliefs is what dictates “good” and “evil.” In other words judgments and preferences is what holds people back from understanding something in wholeness. Once that happens people may try desperately to change something/someone that is already divinely perfected based off of those “preferences.” Never coming to the realization that by judging someone/something harshly based off of their differences you have now judged yourself and caused more harm to yourself than what it is you are judging.
In all actuality, this book is really all over the place in the sense that it can jump from one scenario focusing on a particular family and their background to the next without warning but recognize the importance later on. I am going to do my best to now summarize the story,
East of Eden
By Jon Steinbeck This unforgettable novel, East of Eden, was incredible for its time and without a doubt is Steinbeck’s most memorable and philosophically poetic classic. Reading a book like this really made me come to the realization that even though this book was set in the late 19th-20th century that the meaning behind the message is more relevant than ever before. I suppose there is more than one message but not one is more or less important than the other. The biggest and most obvious theme that Steinbeck conveyed was the idea that good and evil are constantly at war with one another but are equally attracted to each other at the same time. The second principle was that in order to change the fate of your circumstances and your future generations you must first look inside and change yourself. Be the change you would like to see in the world and perhaps you may view “problems of the world” differently. Last but not least, I really feel that this whole plot and theme echoed the idea of acceptance. That truth is acceptance and compassion for yourself and all living things. The incapability to understand a persons’ differences and choosing to judge based off of biased-beliefs is what dictates “good” and “evil.” In other words judgments and preferences is what holds people back from understanding something in wholeness. Once that happens people may try desperately to change something/someone that is already divinely perfected based off of those “preferences.” Never coming to the realization that by judging someone/something harshly based off of their differences you have now judged yourself and caused more harm to yourself than what it is you are judging.
In all actuality, this book is really all over the place in the sense that it can jump from one scenario focusing on a particular family and their background to the next without warning but recognize the importance later on. I am going to do my best to now summarize the story,