'East Of Eden' By John Steinbeck: Character Analysis

In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, the author claims that someone can only deem other people good or evil based on their actions after they have died. People in society blindlessly judge those who are dead based on what they want to remember, not by what important actions were committed. John Steinbeck’s statement is not true, you can also look upon the deeds they committed during their lives and the way they affected the morals of people around them. Examples that could be reviewed based on Steinbeck's opinion would be in his novel East of Eden, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and in the case of Bill Cosby in his dilemma. In East of Eden by John Steinbeck, a few characters convey the characteristics of both good and evil, and they …show more content…
evil that revolves around the witch trials. In the story, characters such as Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth, as well as the witch trials themselves can all be considered good or evil but one cannot exist without the other, however; they can coexist. The witch trials can be defined as good and evil because the people thought they were doing good by killing the witches when in reality, they were doing evil. When it came to the belief of the Puritans, that also contributed to the witch trials by their belief of anything that was not good or that did not follow God was very sinful and evil, which is why those who were not followers of God were looked down upon as witches or warlocks. The character that portrays evil throughout their life are Abigail and Danforth because they played a part of the witch trials themselves. Abigail is very persuasive by pretending there is a little bird there wanting to hurt her and blamed Mary for it. “But God my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary” (Miller 120). Abigail portrays the evil based on her actions while she was alive by purposely accusing others during the trial to take the blame off herself; therefore, she was not trialed herself. Also, a true evil lurks in her as she seeks revenge for her being accused so she framed Mary, she is willing to do anything in her power to take the blame off herself. Judge Danforth also played a role in the outcome of the witch trials by believing people were officially guilty because their names were written on paper. “Give me the list… You misunderstand, sir; I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just” (Miller 134-135). Danforth had names on a list of people who were to be hanged, and he thought he was doing good by keeping those names even though there was reason to believe they were innocent. In reality, he was doing evil because