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On Renown Allegory Of East Of Eden By John Steinbeck

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John Steinbeck’s renown allegory East of Eden explores the characteristics of human nature, including the potent principle of free will. Steinbeck’s use of rhetorical strategies throughout the passage enables him to illustrate his message, emphasizing the significance of creativity in the essence of humanity and the threats against it. Steinbeck utilizes various elements of vivid language, rhetorical appeal, and style to elucidate his argument, urging individuals to fight for their free will and to assert their individuality. Steinbeck’s use of metaphor in the first paragraph depicts the extent of the significance of free will through his vivid comparison of individuality to the “glory [that] lights up the mind of a man.” (Steinbeck 1) His …show more content…

His use of the word monstrous indicates that the lack of free will dehumanizes individuals, further asserting the importance of individuality. His statement that “I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts” (Steinbeck 38-39) reiterates how free will distinguishes humans from monsters through Steinbeck’s use of the word beast. Steinbeck’s diction here allows him to emphasize the importance of creativity in humanity and supports his plea to readers to fight for their free will. Consisting of pathos, his use of this rhetorical strategy relies on the readers’ fear of losing their humanity to render his argument effective. His ending remark that “It is a sad suicidal course our species seems to have taken” (Steinbeck 32) and “If the glory can be killed, we are lost” (Steinbeck 39) further utilizes pathos to invoke fear in readers and to persuade individuals to fight to preserve their humanity, manipulating readers’ fear of losing their identity to encourage them to assert their

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In chapter twenty-one, Steinbeck introduces a logical argument, which, through rhetorical strategies such as word choice, tone, foreshadowing, and ethos, he was able to enhance the hostile emotions that were accumulated by the migrants and poor farmers and foreshadow that the oppression of them would be the downfall of the industry. The word choice chapter twenty-one provided, was a very important aspect to the overall meaning Steinbeck was trying to convey. In the opening of the chapter the Okies were traveling in search of jobs. Steinbeck's phrases in these descriptions include, “highways were streams of people” and “they scampered about, looking for work.”

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East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, reflects the complexities in father/son relationships. The connection between a father and his son is vital to their development. The novel explores the impact of these relations is immense. The central allusion of the novel is comparing several characters to Cain and Abel, who were formed through their attempted relationship with their father-like figure, God. They struggled and vied for the attention, love, and respect of God, which subconsciously influenced their actions and thoughts.

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Today in modern America, especially with the rapid rise of social media, the explosion of new fads, online debates, and social norms are constantly evolving. Change is not a new phenomenon though, as John Steinbeck was able to capture the sole reason for this: communication, a universal and timeless tool used to craft the opinions of the people. In the 1950s, the American author set out on a journey to discover the American identity by traveling the country to talk with the diverse American people. The author’s experiences and today’s readers are separated by more than 65 years, yet all can make personal connections with the conclusions Steinbeck draws in his novel because some things never change. In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck conveys that Americans are heavily influenced by communication with each other.

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The spirit of unity emerges as the one unfailing source of strength in Steinbeck’s novel. He tries and accomplishes in conveying it to the reader, through imagery. On multiple accounts,

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In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck’s use of religious symbolism and Biblical allusions highlights and augments his anti-capitalist, pro-communist

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“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). John Steinbeck’s work, East of Eden, is the one he considered to be his greatest, with all novels before leading up to it. Indeed, it grandly recounts the stories of the human race as told by the Bible, including Adam and Eve, but most prominently that of Cain and Abel. It touches upon both Steinbeck’s own family and a fictional family in a depiction of “man 's capacity for both good and evil” (Fontenrose). Joseph Fontenrose, however, criticizes Steinbeck’s message as contradictory and convoluted, with no clear relationship between good and evil.

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Inner turmoil is something that plagues nearly every character in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. The struggle to accept the evil within oneself and the nature of this evil within life itself is very troubling and confusing to many, especially Cal Trask and Lee. Cal struggles over the idea that his evil tendencies are pre determined-his destiny-despite his desire to change. Lee, however, believes that evil is not a predetermined path or an inheritance, but rather something that you can change through self-determination and by embodying the idea of timshel and that with this change, one is cleansed of sin and achieves a greater good that somebody who has never sinned. John Steinbeck develops the idea of predestination and timshel through the

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In Steinbeck’s writing, each character is purposefully written to convey a theme or a truth about

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Love’s Absence and Death’s Presence The outcasts and the unloved grow to either become the protagonist or the antagonist of a story; Unlike in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, rarely is there a Cathy simply filled with pure malevolence. What separates the good and evil characters? “Timshel” or “thou mayest,” as Lee the Chinese house servant puts it which means that the characters have a choice of which path they will take. But what if there is no choice for the character?

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Desmond Tutu, a South - African social activist and retired Anglican priest once said “ Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”. Of Mice and Men is a novel which revolves around the lives of struggling farmers and how they still maintain hope despite their hardships. The symbolic representation of light embodies the hopes and the American Dream, whereas the dark epitomizes the harsh realities and truths of their lives. Steinbeck uses light and dark to foreshadow the upcoming events in the forlorn lives of the migrant workers. He also combines aspects such as the setting and characters with light and dark to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind as to how the world of the migrant workers looks like.

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"East of Eden" talking about all ups and downs, virtues and vices, despair and hope, that in the end most clearly evident in the microcosm of several generations of one family. In the universal (internal) conflict between good and evil, which Steinbeck argues, is “the only story we have”, human beings have a choice and where there is a choice, there is a freedom. As far as the novel is just one educational sermon, so it is a hot call to everything that exists on the earth 's hard to live in tolerance, in understanding. Even, if possible, and in love and always in the name of those who will come after

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What this quote is saying, is that this character does not know his own strength. To end with, conflicts are within ourselves, and this book explained the topic skillfully. Furthermore, in the novel, Steinbeck, used a character to

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That said, once the illusion crumbles, it also destroys him. Likewise, John Steinbeck explores the double-edged sword of deception in his novel East of Eden. Just as in society, many characters throughout the story appear innocent and sinless. Despite this initial virtuosity, Steinbeck’s East of Eden evinces humanity’s contrasting and inherent dependence upon selfish uses of deception without considering the

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