Theme Of Violence In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

Can violence ever be rationalized? This proposition is in East of Eden, written by John Steinbeck, but also presents itself in life. The biblical telling of Cain and Abel is portrayed when the older brother, Charles aggressively assaults Adam. Once this occurs, one could instantly think that through the rest of the novel that Charles is shown to be evil and Adam is shown to be good. In this way Steinbeck’s story relates that all evil needs to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Also Steinbeck writes about this type of connection for two generations in the Trask family. If the children make the same mistakes as the parents there is no room for improvement, which just goes to show why this “evil” must be conquered for society and family history to improve.
In the process of convincing Adam to become a member of the army, for the benefits of turning him into a man, his father is stunned with the rebuttal from Adam “Why don’t you ask my brother?...He’ll be …show more content…
Maturing, Charles was always energetic and athletically built. Charles, being the braver brother rather than the older brother, he protected Adam from the school boys, “Charles fought any boy who challenged or slurred him” (20). Cal also shadowed Adam from the furry of their father. When they were younger, Charles was beat by Adam in a game of pee wee and that made Charles extremely mad. Charles was conceited about his empowering strength, seeing as how it was the only thing that he had that Adam did not have. Charles never asked to be the keeper of his brother, but tenaciously cared for his brother. Charles was never showered with glory or praise from his father, which is what he longed for all the days of his life; Life as Charles knew it, shattered before his eyes. Charles did what was an instinct to him, even though it was