Adam Trask In John Steinbeck's 'East Of Eden'

Words: 1089
Pages: 5
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Emma Walsemann
IB English HL/1
Ms. Mayr
15 August 2014
East of Eden Summer Reading Assignment
1. Adam Trask is courteous and kind, yet ignorant when it comes to seeing the truth behind people and their true selves. Adam is blind to the obvious love his father has for him over his half brother, Charles. He is not a very motivated character, he wanders alone for a long period of time, does not want to be in the army, yet does not want to come home. He is indecisive. Charles Trask is violent. Although, he is aware that his father's love for his brother is deeper than his love for him, and this upsets him greatly. Charles' attention he craves from his father is his motivation in the beginning for some of his actions, such as nearly beating Adam …show more content…
Lee has a well rounded idea of humanity in general, most likely because of his cultural experiences. His parents were Chinese, he is an American, he's educated in the language of Hebrew, and he has great insight to a variety of religions. Caleb Trask (Cal) is the resentful, twin brother of Aron Trask. In the first half of the book Cal's jealousy is his motivation. But, in the second half unpleasant qualities he inherited from his mother is another motivation. He believes in timshel, the idea that everyone has their own path and not a destiny paved out for them, that we have a choice between good and bad. He fights the evil traits his mother passed onto him but still tends to make some poor choices, not ultimately following the path of timshel and not failing completely either. Aron Trask is good natured like his father, he does not have corrupt intentions like the ones his Cal inherited. He believes in good will. Fear of immoral actions and beliefs lead him onto a path of a religion. Abra Bacon is kind, friendly, and charitable. She falls in love with Aron, but after his choice to follow the path of Christianity, she begins to fall for Cal. She is a lesser example in …show more content…
Images, symbols, and ideas are repeated frequently throughout the book. One example is the correlation to the bible story of Abel and Cain that is represented by Charles and Adam Trask. Charles and Cain continuously fight for love and attention from their fathers while their brothers, Adam and Abel, are seemingly loved more. A nearly identical relationship occurs later on in the story with two more brothers, Aron and Caleb, who are Adam's twin sons. The lives of the Trask brothers further relates to the story of Cain and Abel in a different scenario. In this scenario, Charles gets a large, prominent scar while trying to move boulders on his farm which compares to Cain's mark, or the "mark of Cain". This is a symbol of the parallel stories of Cain and Abel, and the Trask brothers. The theme of inheritance is also repeated frequently throughout the book, and in each generation. Towards the beginning of the book Cyrus Trask dies, leaving a fortune to his two sons, Adam and Charles. Charles dies and Adam has a business failure. Then the fortune is passed on to Aron. He uses the money to put a creative idea to use, by shipping food in refrigerated train cars. Which soon ends in failure and the fortune is gone and the inheritance of evil finally ends. (As well as the example of inheriting evil impulses mentioned in answer
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