“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty” (Maya Angelou). Often to achieve great literature, another inspirational work must be warped and altered so that it may evolve into another piece to be cherished for years to come. In order to achieve the East of Eden, John Steinbeck transformed the Biblical accounts of Adam and Eve and their sons, Cain and Abel, into a modern telling of the good and evil found in most people. Steinbeck reincarnates the family of Adam and Eve through multiple characters, demonstrating that both their failures and triumphs are in almost all people, but their destiny is controlled by their own individual decisions. Steinbeck illustrates Adam