1. Warming up with a close examination of Steinbeck's allusion to Cain and Abel
- What's an allusion?
- What direct parallels does Steinbeck draw between the Biblical story of Cain and Abel and his own story? Try to get specific here; find lines to support your thinking.
- What does he change, and why might those changes be important?
3. Wrapping up with kudos, epiphanies, and lingering questions
HW:
1. For Wednesday: Bring East of Eden to class for reading time.
2. For Friday: Read Chapters 8-12 and prepare your next Socratic ticket.
3. By the end of the month: Finish the A.P. Central multiple choice questions on characterization we started in class today.
4. For next Tuesday, Oct 1: Decide which sonnet to perform your metacognitive timed writing on. Be sure to bring the actual sonnet to class that day.
Thanks to Sierra for scribing! Because the notes are lengthy, I'm posting this as two comments. Here's the first half:
ReplyDeleteChange in vulnerability and emotion in Charles, and lack of emotion developing in Adam. Why is Steinbeck flipping these characters’ qualities?
Adam is initially softer and more gentle, Charles is the opposite. Charles is given more of a voice and a backstory as the story goes on.
Powerful motif- love and its corruption. Cyrus loves Adam, Adam doesn’t love him back. Charles loves Cyrus, but it isn’t reciprocated. Message about the importance and power of love and lack thereof. Sometimes you hurt the ones you love the most.
Charles is trying to be loved by Cyrus but it isn’t happening so that is where most of his problems grow from
Charles is unpredictable and monstrous. Cyrus hates that because he loves power and order and Charles seem to be against what he believes in.
Charles is honest and follows his course with what he wants to do. Cyrus and Adam and not doing the same
In their family, everyone ignores the needs of others. Cannot express feelings properly. In chapter 7, Adam insists his beliefs are confirmed and his father is actually a fraud. Adam doesn’t agree with his brother but says he simply couldn’t lie because it is his father.
Both boys didn’t have much of a great role model. In one of the paragraphs, Adam says he has faith in his father even though he doesn’t love him. It seems illogical.
Would make more sense if Adam had persecuted Cyrus for lying. But sometimes, it is easier to look at someone as just a person, and believe in no faults, a military man would not lie.
Cyrus has admiration for Adam not Charles, like the saying “if you love someone, let them go, and if they come back it is meant to be”, relates to him wanting Adam to go off to war and sending him away in the hopes to learn from the values in the military and maybe realize Adam loves Cyrus?
Fall from grace is interesting to trace. Page 19?, it says people don’t fall nicely, its rough and broken and takes a while to fix. Cyrus’s fall is almost a comparison to the fall of the Garden of Eden. Reintroducing Sam’s kids, in the west (so maybe Eden?). Geography with the west and east is comparing Eden to the east of Eden and the “fall from grace”.
Significant shift in Adam’s feelings towards Charles, he is no longer afraid of him. A religious parallel to the death of fear.
Cyrus is like an idol. Adam idolized him and doesn’t want to see the worst in him like most people do with the ones they love. He was constantly receiving validation from Cyrus so it helped him turn a blind eye. Since Charles wasn’t receiving that it was easier for him to see the worst.
Page 51- Adam defies Charles. Very significant because it took Adam a lot in the military to change his perspective on Charles.
And here's the second half:
ReplyDeleteAdam becomes a more defiant character when he defies the officers, and we can see how he developed from a timid and weak character to a defiant and calculated one. He no longer fears Charles and we might see that he becomes stronger than Charles ever was?
Cain and Abel parallel. Adam seems to be constantly escaping his fate, but Abel died right away. As time goes on, we might even start seeing a change in the roles that Adam and Charles represent. Suddenly, maybe Adam starts acting like Cain as he leaves his brother and stops caring. Roles completely flip to make Adam the wanderer instead of the one who is killed. Cain and Abel are represented as evil and good, but in the East of Eden, they are more than that and it makes them more human to be not completely one or the other.
From the mother’s perspective, Adam might even play the part of Cain more. Perspective is very important. Alice favors Charles over Adam so in her eyes, Charles cannot do wrong and he is the better son.
Religion is very close to the way Adam thinks about Cyrus. In religion, people have so much faith and beliefs in God, they can’t see that he can do bad. Maybe Steinbeck is making a comment about blind faith and not being able to question the doings of Cyrus/God.
Liza is the character that doesn’t accept any interpretation of the Bible but hers. She is portrayed in almost a funny light where we are able to laugh at that fact. On the other hand, Sam is more critical of the Bible and is constantly asking questions. Steinbeck is not trying to push us towards one way or another of thinking about the Bible but is supporting the idea of analyzing and asking questions.
Lack of contentment with their lives allows for the flip in roles. They are both deterred from the purpose they thought they had and it changes their characters. Charles is no longer satisfied with his life and is regretful. Is it weird to think that Charles looks back on his childhood as a happy time because that is not the way it was.