The Role Of Rejection In John Steinbeck's East Of Eden

Rejection is one of the worst things a person can feel because it can cause impulsive, corrupt actions to be made. In the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Cain is jealous that God favors Abel’s offerings more than his own, so he takes this envy out on Abel through murder. (New International Version, Genesis. 4.16). Before Cain kills Abel, God tells Cain, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (New International Version, Genesis. 4.7). “You must rule over it” is a phrase converted from the Hebrew word “timshel”. However, timshel directly translates to “thou mayest”, meaning that although Cain has the choice to overcome his sin of jealousy, he lets it fuel his action of killing. In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, the idea of timshel is revealed by Charles and Adam’s, and Cal and Aron’s relationships. …show more content…
Charles’ impetuous decision to attempt murder on Adam resulted from his longing for their father’s love, which is displayed when Steinbeck describes, “Charles raised the match and peered around, and Adam could see the hatchet in his right hand.” (Steinbeck 31). Charles desires the love from Cyrus that is shown to Adam. When someone feels unvalued by another, they tend to become covetous and lash out as an outcome, as both Charles and Cain did. Timshel gives Charles and Cain the choice whether to act on the sin or to try and conquer it. They have the unrestricted will to do what is right, but they ultimately decide to perpetrate wicked deeds because of the jealousy of their