# East of Eden by John Steinbeck - Blinkist

What’s in it for me? Rediscover the lessons from the story of Cain and Abel – with a modern twist.

If you thought your family had issues, just wait until you meet the Trask family – it sets a new high-water mark for dysfunction. It includes a fraudulent war hero, a murderess turned mother turned prostitute, and a brother who beds his sister-in-law on her wedding night.

When East of Eden was released in 1952, it was highly controversial and even banned in many parts of the US. Its brutal honesty and incisive commentary are still making waves today.

East of Eden remains relevant because it speaks to the most fundamental desires and impulses of humans. Everyone wants to be loved, and everyone understands the evil that jealousy can arouse in those deprived of love. By retelling the biblical tale of Cain and Abel through the prism of the American West, it shows you the power of love, jealousy, and the struggle between them that rages on.

By the way, if you’d like to listen to a short plot summary right away, you can also skip to the very last section. 

But now, let’s meet the Trasks.

The desire to be loved and the perils of jealousy

The Trasks live on a modest Connecticut farm during the period of the Civil War. Cyrus Trask is the patriarch of the family and is called to serve in the war. His deeply pious wife, cares for their infant son Adam.

Injured on his first day of combat, Cyrus returns from the war with a wooden leg and a bout of syphilis contracted from a prostitute. He promptly transmits it to his loving wife. Convinced the disease is punishment for her illicit dreams, she then drowns herself. In need of a new wife and mother to his young son, Cyrus marries his neighbor’s daughter, Alice, who eventually gives birth to Charles.

As the boys grow up, Cyrus takes great pride in his military service. He revels in embellishing war stories, and, little by little, his tall tales become complete fabrications. No one seems to question the truth of Cyrus’ accounts, and he’s able to parlay his tall tales into a high-ranking job in the War Department.

One day, Cyrus takes Adam for a walk around the farm and explains to him that he’ll enlist Adam in the army. Adam is reluctant, thinking that Charles is better suited for the role, but Cyrus insists. When Charles discovers this secret conversation, he beats Adam to a pulp in a jealous rage. Despite the beating, Adam is forced into the army, while Charles stays home with Alice to preside over the farm.

While fighting Native Americans in the West, Adam learns from Charles that Alice has died. Adam tells Charles he’ll return to the farm soon. Instead, after leaving the army, Adam becomes a drifter. He gets arrested for vagrancy and is put on a chain gang. Eventually, he escapes, makes his way home, and is reunited with Charles.

Charles tells Adam of their father’s death and that he left them an enormous fortune. The two decide to stay on the farm but soon get on each other’s nerves.

One day, a mysterious badly beaten woman crawls to their doorstep. The brothers take her in. The woman, Cathy Ames, has a checkered past, to say the least.  She burned down her childhood home – with her parents inside – and went to Boston to become the mistress of a brothel keeper. Unaware of this, Adam is kind and nurturing, but Charles is suspicious of Cathy and wants her kicked out when she recovers.

Instead, Adam marries her. On their wedding night, after Adam mistakenly takes Cathy’s sleeping medication, Cathy decides to sleep with her new brother-in-law, Charles. Adam, still ignorant of his new bride’s sins, decides to take his share of his father’s money and move with her to California.

ANALYSIS

One of the central themes of Part One, and throughout East of Eden, is the sibling rivalry between Adam and Charles that parallels the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. In the story, Cain is a farmer, and Abel is a shepherd. God asks each to offer a sacrifice. Cain offers his best crop, while Abel offers his best sheep. For some reason, God favors the gift from Abel. This enrages Cain, who slays his brother in retaliation. In response, God gives Cain a scar and banishes him to the land of Nod, East of Eden.

The Trask boys mirror this story in multiple ways. As children, Adam and Charles each want their father’s love. For Cyrus’s birthday, Charles saves up his money to buy a pocket knife. Adam, on the other hand, gives his father a stray puppy. Cyrus ignores the knife but loves the puppy. Charles reveals this jealousy was the reason he attacked Adam. He thought his father loved his brother more.

Like Cain, Charles develops a scar – in this case, after cutting his forehead doing farmwork. And, when Adam moves to California with Cathy, Charles is forced to stay back East on the farm, like Cain in the land of Nod.

Steinbeck uses this allegory to make a broader point about the fundamental desire all people have to be loved. When a person is deprived of love, it often leads to jealousy and resentment that can turn violent.

Sex as a weakness and a weapon

In Salinas Valley, California, Adam looks for a place to settle down and build his family. To do so, he enlists the help of Samuel Hamilton. Adam settles on a farm in King City, and Samuel agrees to help develop it.

Meanwhile, Cathy is pregnant – and miserable. One day, she nearly bleeds out, and the doctor discovers she’s used a knitting needle to try an at-home abortion. The doctor tells her the unborn baby is unharmed and warns her against trying again.

When Cathy goes into labor, Samuel comes to help with the delivery – twin boys. Cathy insists she doesn’t want the children and viciously bites Samuel’s hand during the birth.

Two weeks later, Cathy informs Adam that she’s leaving. Stunned, Adam protests. Later, Cathy shoots him. Luckily for Adam, their Chinese housekeeper, Lee, comes home and saves his life.

Cathy turns up at a brothel called Faye’s in a nearby town,. She darkens her hair to avoid suspicion, calls herself Kate, and ingratiates herself to the matriarch of the establishment. Soon, Faye comes to love Cathy like a daughter and makes her the beneficiary of her will. Over the next few months, Cathy begins poisoning Faye, all the while avoiding suspicion from the other girls.

Adam, on the other hand, remains in a stupor of despair. More than a year after Cathy has left, he has yet to even name his children, who are being raised by Lee. Samuel is outraged by this oversight. He goes to Adam’s house to name the children, with a Bible in hand for inspiration. They settle on Caleb and Aron.

ANALYSIS

Sex plays a central role in this section. Steinbeck’s cynical view on the subject is best encapsulated when the narrator says “what freedom men and women could have, were they not constantly tricked and trapped and enslaved and tortured by their sexuality!” These tricks, traps, slavery, and torture are on full display.

Nearly all the male characters patronize brothels, even the pious family men. The women of the brothels are characterized as ditzy and diseased. Sex is depicted as a vice that ensnares, rather than liberates, those who indulge it.

Cathy uses sex as a weapon. She leverages men’s sexual impulses to get what she wants. When Faye comes to view Cathy as a daughter, she urges her to give up prostitution. After Cathy gets drunk, she boasts to Faye about how depraved she is, even compared to the other prostitutes. She brags about using whips and drawing blood from her regulars, who can’t resist coming back. She revels in the power she has over them and feels no remorse for leaving her husband and newborn babies behind.

‘Thou mayest’: the glory of free will

A decade passes, and Samuel Hamilton’s health is in decline. His children decide Samuel and his wife will take turns staying with each of them. Samuel reluctantly agrees. Before setting off on his trip, he goes to Adam’s place to say goodbye to Adam and Lee. At dinner, they discuss a conundrum in the story of Cain and Abel.

Lee points to a discrepancy in two translations from the story and says he has spent ten years pondering it. It pertains to what Jehovah said to Cain after he’d gone to Nod. According to the King James version, Jehovah promises Cain that he will conquer sin. But in the American Standard Bible Jehovah orders Cain to conquer sin.

Lee explains that there’s a world of difference between a promise and an order. To bridge the gap, Lee looks to the original Hebrew version, which uses the word Timshel, which translates to “Thou mayest.” In other words, Jehovah tells Cain he may triumph over sin – it’s up to him.

After discussing this revelation, Samuel bids them goodbye, sensing that he won’t see them again. One day, Adam receives a telegram informing him that Samuel has died. Adam goes to nearby Salinas for the funeral. Afterward, he gets drunk and decides to pay Cathy a visit.

Cathy’s now in charge of the brothel, which has become notorious for its depravity. During their conversation, Cathy gets drunk and goes off the rails. She tries to seduce Adam and lashes out when he laughs her off. She calls him a fool and professes her hatred for humankind. She shows Adam pictures full of politicians, businessmen, and preachers in compromising positions, and declares she’ll share them with the world when she’s ready. She then reveals that Charles, not Adam, is the father of the boys. Adam says even if this is true, it would make no difference. After seeing Cathy, Adam feels free, as if he needed to see her once more in order to move on.

Back at the farm in King City, Adam’s boys are growing up. Aron is a gentle, likable child, while Cal has a mean streak in him. One day, they meet a girl from Salinas named Abra, whose parents stopped by the farm. Aron instantly falls in love with her. The two vow to get married one day and pretend that they are husband and wife. After talking to the girl’s parents, Adam decides to move to Salinas so the boys can get a better education and be around other children. Then, Adam learns that Charles has died, and has left $50,000 each to Adam and Cathy.  

ANALYSIS

The dinner table discussion between Samuel, Adam, and Lee is a turning point in the novel. In the specific quote from the Bible, Jehovah says to Cain “sin lieth at the door… and thou mayest rule over him.” This notion of “thou mayest” lies at the heart of East of Eden. Lee argues that this idea empowers each of us to choose whether or not we conquer sin.

Lee reminds us that since Abel had no children, all people are descendants of Cain. We all have the capacity to do great harm. But we also have the power to make our own decisions. This ability is what separates humans from all other animals. With free will comes moral responsibility, a uniquely human gift that we must exercise carefully. It’s easy to focus on the uglier parts of human nature. Lee reminds us, though, that the glories of humankind have all come when ordinary people choose to triumph over their worst impulses.

As the novel progresses, all the characters – especially Adam and Cal – have to grapple with the concept of timshel. Their embrace or rejection of the idea is what decides their fate.

The ongoing struggle between good and evil

By 1915, the boys are in high school, and America is on the verge of joining the Great War. Aron is liked by his peers and is still together with Abra. Cal is largely overlooked.

Adam is now mostly out of his stupor. But a failed venture in the refrigeration business leads to him and his sons becoming a laughing stock in town.

One night, Cal learns from a drunk that his mother is the owner of the infamous Kate’s brothel. He goes to meet her. Cathy is wicked toward Cal, dismissing him as a snotty-nosed kid. Cal soon starts drifting, and one night is arrested during a raid on a gambling ring.

After Adam picks him up from jail, the two have a long talk. He realizes how little he knows about his son, and implores Cal to tell him who he is. Cal sees a different side of his father and feels his love.

Meanwhile, Aron has become a minister’s mentee and tells Abra he plans on remaining celibate. Aron’s new obsession with purity begins to put a strain on their relationship.  Still embarrassed by his father’s business failure, Aron wants to get out of town. He resolves to graduate early and go to Stanford. Although Adam doesn’t know of Aron’s plans, he admires his commitment to education. This makes Adam beam with pride, and Cal senses his father, like everyone else, likes Aron more.

Cal devises a plan to win his father’s love. He decides he’ll earn back the money Adam lost in his failed business venture, and give it to him as a present. He enlists the help of Will Hamilton, the businessman son of Samuel. Together, they invest in beans – a crop William predicts will soon be in high demand due to the war.

By 1918, the war is still raging, and bean prices surge. Suddenly, Cal has $15,000 to give to his father. Aron, on the other hand, is now at Stanford. He’s homesick and wants to drop out.

With Aron home for Thanksgiving, Cal decides to present the money to his father, expecting him to be thrilled. Instead, Adam says he can’t take the money because it would be profiting off the war. Adam suggests that if Cal wants to make him happy, he should act more like Aron.

Cal is devastated. The feeling soon turns to anger – he plots revenge. That night, he decides to take Aron to Kate’s. Upon learning the truth about his mother, Aron runs away and joins the army. Adam is crushed, and his health starts to deteriorate. Cal, for his part, regrets his actions. He blames himself for Aron running away, and he burns the money his father rejected.

Shortly after meeting Aron, Cathy fears the truth about her poisoning Faye will come out. By now, arthritis has left her in excruciating pain. She takes her own life and leaves all of her fortune to Aron.

As the months go by, Abra does her best to stay away from the Trasks. Then, she professes her love for Cal, and the two begin seeing each other more.

In May 1918, the Trasks receive a telegram that Aron has died in the war. Adam, already ailing, suffers a severe stroke.

Cal is distraught. He feels personally responsible for killing his brother. He confesses to his father that he took Aron to see Cathy. Adam is barely cogent, and Lee asks him to forgive Cal. As Adam lies dying, he looks at Cal and utters “Timshel!”

ANALYSIS

The internal struggle between good and evil is a major theme of the latter part of East of Eden. Cal embodies this struggle. He often has impulses to do bad things, even to the people he loves. But he has goodness in him, too.

When he earns the money to give to his father, he wonders whether he’s doing it to help Adam, or simply trying to buy his father’s love. When Adam rejects the money, Cal succumbs to his worst instincts by revealing to Aron the truth about Cathy. He knows this will devastate him, which is his intention. When Aron disappears, Adam asks Cal where he’s gone. Cal responds by asking cynically “Am I supposed to look after him?” This question echoes Cain asking God “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

When Cal learns Aron has joined the army, though, he beats himself up for his decision to reveal the truth about Cathy. He confides in Lee that bad thoughts often plague him. Still, he says again and again that he doesn’t want to be mean or do bad things.

Cal recognizes that he has Cathy’s blood in him, and he wonders whether he’s destined to be evil. Lee does his best to explain to Cal that everyone has good and evil within them. We can choose to be good or bad, and we must take accountability for that choice.

Abra, too, helps Cal understand his struggles. When she professes her love for him, Cal says he’s not good enough for her. Abra responds by saying it’s Cal’s imperfections that make her love him. She doesn’t care that Cal’s mother was a prostitute. She reveals her father is a thief. Clearly, she doesn’t feel defined by the sins of their parents.

When Aron dies, Cal feels like Cain – he’s left to reckon with the responsibility for killing his brother. He feels that he’ll always be haunted by the look in his father’s eyes when he confesses, convinced that his father blames him.

When Adam utters the Hebrew word Timshel – thou mayest – it frees Cal to move on with his life and choose to avoid sin going forward.

Final Summary

Adam and Charles Trask grow up competing for the affection of their father Cyrus, a veteran of the Civil War. As teens, Cyrus begins to favor Adam, wanting him to follow in his footsteps by joining the military. In a jealous rage, Charles nearly kills Adam.

Adam survives and goes off to war. After Cyrus dies, Adam comes home to live on the farm with Charles. Tensions begin to rise, especially after a mysterious badly-beaten woman named Cathy arrives on their doorstep.

Adam nurses her back to health, marries her, and moves with her to California to start a family – but not before Charles sleeps with his brother’s new bride.

In California, Cathy is miserable. Shortly after giving birth to twin boys, she shoots Adam and runs away to become a prostitute. This puts Adam in a stupor for years, as he hides the truth about Cathy from his boys. Eventually, Adam visits Cathy, and this confrontation helps him move on.

As his boys become teens, they begin competing for Adam’s love. Aron is a good-natured, likable son, while Cal is racked by a desire to be mean. When Cal senses that Adam loves Aron more, he devises a plan to win back his father’s love. When his plan backfires, he reveals the truth about his mother to Aron. The consequences alter the family in ways that can’t be undone.