East Of Eden Essay Research Paper As

East Of Eden Essay, Research Paper

As in life where some people are chosen to be hated and looked down upon for their intolerable acts in society and also those who are embraced and looked to as the pinnacle of how to live, it is in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden. As the dominant and hated figure, there is Cathy Ames for her hellish and always fascinating forms of anti-social acts. On the lighter and more appealing side, there is the Chinese servant Lee; the admirable character who’s wisdom helps keep the sanity and morality of those around him. Indeed, these characters are completely different, but their presence and actions helps shape the novel into the ultimate battle of good versus evil. From the moment of her introduction, Cathy is believed to be one of the “monsters born in the world to human parents.” An archetype of evil, she is not one of the physically misshapen monsters, but rather one with a malformed soul. The main quality of such a monster involves its dealings of deception to mislead all those around it and to further its own sadistic pleasures.The deception of Cathy Ames is portrayed early on in her childhood. “Cathy had from the first a face of innocence.” This was just the first of her many beguiling tricks that would soon haunt the other characters of the novel. Her appearance troubled many people as a child, but they were unable to move away from here. She distributed a disturbance that others tried aimlessly to find the cause to. As a child, her early learning of lies developed. She was not as innocent as an ordinary daydream liar, her lies were used to profit and she never forgot them. These qualities of deception were quickly learned and perfected by young Cathy and laid the groundwork for a future career of probing others with these traits in order to gain fortune and satisfaction for herself. Such as when she was in her mid-teens and had shown an interest in learning the family business of tannery from her father. Her deception had led him to trust her with all his finances. Along with this new interest in her father’s business, she had laid claim that she was interested in becoming a teacher, which pleased her mother very much. These little attributes that Cathy laid were the perfect for her later getaway when she faked her own death while she killed her parents by torching their house. After such a promising beginning of deception, it is no surprise that Cathy carried it through her adulthood. From the start of her relationship with Mr. Edwards, she was constantly tricking him and toying with his feelings. Her tactics of stringing him along worked as he “rented a sweet little brick house for her and then gave it to her. He bought her every imaginable luxury, overdecorated the house, kept it overwarm. The carpeting was too deep and the walls were crowded with heavy framed pictures.” The constant torment that Cathy caused Mr. Edwards was the first time he had experienced this kind of abuse. She gave him an impression of restlessness, as though she might take flight at any moment. When she knew he was going to visit her, she made it a point to be out and to come in glowing as from some incredible experience. She complained a good deal about the difficulties of avoiding the lecherous looks and touches of men in the street who could not keep away from her. Several times she ran frightened into the house, having barely escaped a man who had followed her. When she would return in the late afternoon and find him waiting for her she would explain, ‘Why, I was shopping. I have to go shopping, you know.’ And she made it sound like a lie.Cathy’s methods were to always keep Mr. Edwards off balance and they worked, until the monster within was let out by a few glasses of champagne. The only weak point to Cathy’s vindictiveness was alcohol. Once she had a glass she let all her true feelings and ideas come out. The insults she let fly at Mr. Edwards were too much and he had to counter the attack and so, he beat her which sent her forth to her next game of deception with the newcomers who would save her from the effects of the ashamed Mr. Edwards. As soon as Cathy’s jaw and the rest of her wounds were close to being healed, she started up her deceit with the Trask brothers. The one thing she didn’t expect was to have no effect on Charles. He didn’t trust her and had no reason to. He knew something about her. The two of them had something in common; the devil flows in their blood. Charles knew well enough to just leave her alone and to get her out of his house as soon as possible. He gave her subtle threats to get her out soon by “When you had all that dope you talked a lot, like in your sleep And if you just go about your business as soon as you can, I won’t tell. But if you don’t, you’ll know alright, and so will the sheriff.” These words threatened Cathy because they put her at a loss of control with Charles. She needed to find someone who would trust her enough so she could use them.Adam had enough trust in her that she was able to control him with ease. With Cathy around, “Adam couldn’t remember ever having been so happy. It didn’t bother him that he did not know her name. She had said to call her Cathy, and that was enough for him.” Adam was too trusting and made the perfect victim for Cathy. She played his emotions as a sweet girl who was trying to protect her father and he feel for it beautifully. Cathy made him turn against Charles and as soon as she was well,