East Of Eden Character Analysis

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Throughout life people are faced with many decisions that will all compile together to show the inner workings and thoughts of person’s true motives. Simple choices like what to wear, all way to the choice to end the life of another. The beauty of choice is varied in such a way that it encompasses the trivial and the significant. John Steinbeck’s book East of Eden revolves around this theme of choice, however it goes by the alternative “Timshel.” This saying can be translated to “Thou Mayest,” and then unpacked as the concept of choice. A character that embodies the concept of Timshel is a woman that goes by the name of Cathy Ames. Cathy goes through many hardships that bring her a very negative view of both the world and people. Her hatred of humanity goes so deep that she resorts to manipulation and deceit to achieve her undetermined goals. Cathy has made choices that have ruined and stained her natural image as a human being on earth. They are so terrible that she has been considered as the living…show more content…
For example when Cathy was talking about how a school teacher of hers at the dinner table, “Yes, he has looked bad. Everybody was talking in school today. And somebody---I don’t remember who – said that Mr. Grew was in some kind of trouble in Boston. I didn’t hear what kind of trouble. We all liked Mr. Grew…That was Cathy’s method…and no one could possibly imagine that Cathy had planted the story” (80). Cathy fabricated a lie to cover up her teacher’s suicide and their scandalous relationship from her family and the town. In this phrase Cathy uses the word “yes” in a very special way. It is placed at the beginning of her sentence as to show that she was not only convincing her family of her lies, but also convincing herself as well. Cathy meticulously uses her words to create a fake reality around her and in the midst pulls others into her web of

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