East of Eden

Steinbeck draws on the Book of Genesis when structuring the novel’s plot, and the Bible serves as a motif of The Essential Conflict of Being Human: Balancing Good and Evil. The Bible provides moral instruction and denounces wrongdoings like fratricide. In particular, the author takes inspiration from the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel from the Book of Genesis. Even the novel’s title derives from the Bible. “East of Eden” is where Cain eventually settles after he’s punished for murdering his brother Abel. This title signals how the characters search for acceptance and peace, just as Cain is doomed to wander the earth. 

Steinbeck uses Biblical motifs to emphasize the role of the Trask family’s generational trauma in the characters’ inner struggle between good and evil. As in the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, a father’s favoritism leads to jealousy and betrayal between two brothers. This first occurs when Cyrus’s preference for Adam leads Charles to try to kill Adam. In the next generation, Adam’s favoritism leads Cal to inflict psychological violence on his brother. He reveals their mother’s occupation to Aron, which troubles Aron so greatly that he enlists in the army, leading to his death in World War I. By showing how this destructive pattern repeats through the generations, Steinbeck reinforces his argument that the struggle between good and evil is inherent to human nature.