East Of Eden Analysis

In chapter 52 of East of Eden, Abra talks to Cal about why she no longer loves Aron. She says that, in childhood, their story like dreams of marriage and a happy future satisfied her. But, as she grew older, she grew to realize that she wanted more than to live in a story. This really spoke to me, as the discussion of reality and fantasy intrigues me. I find Abra’s decision to face reality and want to live in it extremely admirable, as fantasy is so often much more appealing and tempting. Sometimes “...the story (isn’t) enough.” (Steinbeck 575) Truth is harder to face, but more rewarding once you do, and so Abra’s refusal of Aron really speaks to me. Abra realizes that Aron refuses to grow out of his childlike fantasy due to his strong desire for innocence, and she becomes …show more content…
Aron continued through life, always believing that people were fully good or fully bad, and never acknowledging the complexity of the truth. Abra desires more, and she desires complexity. She wants the reality, not the fantasy, while Aron can only handle the fantasy. While Aron is “good,” he can never be happy. The only happiness he finds is in innocent simplicity, and the harsh intricacies of good and bad in the world confuse and scare him. Once he can no longer deny the truth about his mother, he must accept that there is bad in his blood, but finds himself unable to. He then sacrifices himself to war, not wanting to deal with true life. Abra rejects this. She embraces the facts, and allows herself to see that, while there is evil in both herself and Cal, they have the choice to use it or not. She is not perfect, and she does not want to be. I found Abra as a wise character, who has the balance that more people in the book need. She sees both sides in everyone, and judges based on actions, not nature. She wants Cal more than Aron, because Cal also does not see the world as black and white. He sees the good and bad in others. Abra hates that Aron views her as perfect. Even if she directly