Cathy Ames: The Anti-Mother
One of Steinbeck’s most extraordinary characters of East of Eden, and in his literary career, is known as Cathy Ames. Her preternaturalness in fact is spoken in itself, she is not like other females, let alone not like humankind. Steinbeck in fact creates this impression of Cathy not only through her extreme sense of maliciousness, yet he explores her paradoxical nature through her lack of morality, which ultimately empowers her instead. However, this very lacking, ironically abides as the qualities in which truly empower other females in the novel, such as maternity and harmony in a relationship with a male companion, found in Steinbeck’s comparison to Liza, Abra and minor characters such as Faye.
Cathy although …show more content…
“I knew them. I could make them do whatever I wanted. I could always make people do whatever I wanted. When I was half grown, I made a man kill himself…and all he wanted was to go to bed with me.. I love to show them up. I love to rub their noses in their nastiness” (323). This very power reflected in Cathy’s words indeed pertains to her prominent involvement in brothels. Although the unspoken acceptability among the brothels is constructed through Steinbeck’s contrast between the hypocrisy within the churches, and the reserved mannerism of the brothels, the sense of authority of the whorehouse inherently coincides with the empowerment of the madam in the fictional setting of King City. Although Cathy is empowered in “rubbing her clients’ noses in their own nastiness”, influential madams such as Faye are used as contrasting modules in Steinbeck’s evaluation of female empowerment, specifically within the whorehouse. Ideally, Steinbeck’s depiction of “The Madam” centers upon the combination of “the brains of a businessman, the toughness of a prize fighter, the warmth of a companion and the humor of a tragedian” (219). Steinbeck in this instant, through his introduction of Faye, creates his distinction between the maternal archetype and the whore, even though both are associated with …show more content…
Yet despite her lack of maternal qualities within the comparison of empowerment within her brothel and that of Faye’s, her rejection of motherhood seems to affect her physically throughout her pregnancy and even as an adolescent. Steinbeck involves frequent imagery of the female body throughout his novel, where direct comparisons are drawn from one female to the next. In fact, the abnormality of her physical female power is especially emphasized through her pregnancy as: “Her breasts did not grow and her nipples did not darken. There was no quickening of the milk glands, no physical planning to feed the newborn,” (185) As a young adult: “Cathy always had a child’s figure…her breasts never developed very much. Before puberty the nipples turned inward. Her mother had to manipulate them out when they became painful in Cathy’s tenth year. Her body was a boy’s body…” (75) Whereas Abra’s female development at the same age, greatly differed: “Abra had grown to be a beautiful girl. Her breasts were rising with the leaven of her years, and her face had the calm and warmth of beauty. She had gone beyond prettiness. She was strong sure and feminine,” (438) His comparison of
One of Steinbeck’s most extraordinary characters of East of Eden, and in his literary career, is known as Cathy Ames. Her preternaturalness in fact is spoken in itself, she is not like other females, let alone not like humankind. Steinbeck in fact creates this impression of Cathy not only through her extreme sense of maliciousness, yet he explores her paradoxical nature through her lack of morality, which ultimately empowers her instead. However, this very lacking, ironically abides as the qualities in which truly empower other females in the novel, such as maternity and harmony in a relationship with a male companion, found in Steinbeck’s comparison to Liza, Abra and minor characters such as Faye.
Cathy although …show more content…
“I knew them. I could make them do whatever I wanted. I could always make people do whatever I wanted. When I was half grown, I made a man kill himself…and all he wanted was to go to bed with me.. I love to show them up. I love to rub their noses in their nastiness” (323). This very power reflected in Cathy’s words indeed pertains to her prominent involvement in brothels. Although the unspoken acceptability among the brothels is constructed through Steinbeck’s contrast between the hypocrisy within the churches, and the reserved mannerism of the brothels, the sense of authority of the whorehouse inherently coincides with the empowerment of the madam in the fictional setting of King City. Although Cathy is empowered in “rubbing her clients’ noses in their own nastiness”, influential madams such as Faye are used as contrasting modules in Steinbeck’s evaluation of female empowerment, specifically within the whorehouse. Ideally, Steinbeck’s depiction of “The Madam” centers upon the combination of “the brains of a businessman, the toughness of a prize fighter, the warmth of a companion and the humor of a tragedian” (219). Steinbeck in this instant, through his introduction of Faye, creates his distinction between the maternal archetype and the whore, even though both are associated with …show more content…
Yet despite her lack of maternal qualities within the comparison of empowerment within her brothel and that of Faye’s, her rejection of motherhood seems to affect her physically throughout her pregnancy and even as an adolescent. Steinbeck involves frequent imagery of the female body throughout his novel, where direct comparisons are drawn from one female to the next. In fact, the abnormality of her physical female power is especially emphasized through her pregnancy as: “Her breasts did not grow and her nipples did not darken. There was no quickening of the milk glands, no physical planning to feed the newborn,” (185) As a young adult: “Cathy always had a child’s figure…her breasts never developed very much. Before puberty the nipples turned inward. Her mother had to manipulate them out when they became painful in Cathy’s tenth year. Her body was a boy’s body…” (75) Whereas Abra’s female development at the same age, greatly differed: “Abra had grown to be a beautiful girl. Her breasts were rising with the leaven of her years, and her face had the calm and warmth of beauty. She had gone beyond prettiness. She was strong sure and feminine,” (438) His comparison of