Countless people have different viewpoints on what the word “evil” means; Dictionary.com interprets evil as “morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked”. In the book East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Cathy Ames (Kate Trask/Albey) and Caleb (Cal) Trask are both regarded as characters of “evil” nature. The narrator explicitly states that the reason Cathy is evil is due to the fact that people that are evil are just not “born whole”. This means that she was born with the only ability to be bad and she lacked the ability to understand what being good even is. In this story Cal believes that because of the evil in his blood passed down from his mother, Cathy, it must be his destiny to be someone that is evil regardless of his completely good “father” Adam. This is also shown in that Cal is meant to be the second Cain symbol in the story with his brother Aron and their father representing Abel. The effect of Cathy and her evil nature is that ever since Cal found out the truth about his mother and the evil, impure life that she lives, he believes that he has no choice but to be evil as well.
When Cathy was introduced in Chapter 8 of the story, the readers were informed beforehand that she was meant to be an utterly malevolent character being described as a “physical monster” with a “malformed soul” (72). This is …show more content…
Cathy has little to no choice but to be evil because she is born as a “half” that can only feel and comprehend evil. Cal is similarly evil because he was unfortunately born with Cathy’s tainted genes in him despite the fact that he actually has the choice to be righteous unlike his mother. Even though he struggles and actually tries exceedingly hard to be good, he still ends up falling back into his destiny many times over throughout the novel. This eventually proves that evil is as described by Steinbeck as something that Cal, and other evil beings, are created
When Cathy was introduced in Chapter 8 of the story, the readers were informed beforehand that she was meant to be an utterly malevolent character being described as a “physical monster” with a “malformed soul” (72). This is …show more content…
Cathy has little to no choice but to be evil because she is born as a “half” that can only feel and comprehend evil. Cal is similarly evil because he was unfortunately born with Cathy’s tainted genes in him despite the fact that he actually has the choice to be righteous unlike his mother. Even though he struggles and actually tries exceedingly hard to be good, he still ends up falling back into his destiny many times over throughout the novel. This eventually proves that evil is as described by Steinbeck as something that Cal, and other evil beings, are created