I think East of Eden by John Steinbeck was the best book I’ve ever read for school, and definitely one of my new favorites. Steinbeck seems to have a way of drawing his reader in, especially with his use of imagery. My favorite passage was when describing Salinas Valley in full bloom on page four, because it gave the feeling of really being there and gave the ability to escape from real life to sit under one of those “live oaks” and watch his world go by. I thought Steinbeck still obtained a unique story, even though basing it off the story of Adam and Eve and their sons. It gave it a creative new twist, and although readers could predict what would happen, you can’t help but become so in love with the characters that you hope it will turn out differently. Cathy, however unlovable she is, however, was my favorite character. She seemed to epitomize all evil characteristics of a woman, and got her way so seemingly easy. Although I would hate how she could just use sweet men like Adam to get what she wanted, it proved that she would always go after what she wanted rather than being hesitant and waiting for the world to do everything for her. She definitely had one of the stronger personalities in the novel, and I think that by leaving Adam, as awful as it was, helped him to improve and better himself, since he seemed to be the kind of character who would never make decisions, whether it was choosing to float in the middle as a hobo when trying to decide to go back home or reenlist in the army or deciding whether he should buy the Sanchez land before getting everyone’s opinion. This novel has become one of my favorites, and I cannot wait to read more of John Steinbeck’s work.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Blog#4: Text Connections
From the title alone, one can tell that East of Eden is filled with connections to other references. From Biblical connections to world connections, John Steinbeck’s novel has a large variety of subjects that can find references to almost anywhere. As once can generally tell, East of Eden refers to the Biblical story about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. When God finds that Adam and Eve had disobeyed him by eating the apples, they we forced away from the garden into a world where they were constantly faced with the constant battle between good and evil and situations they never faced within the garden. Salinas Valley represents where Adam and Eve went to live, and the two mountain ranges, the Gabilan Mountains and the Santa Lucias Mountains, represent the ever- present dilemma of good versus evil. The Gabilian Mountains “were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation, so that you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother,” while the Santa Lucias “were dark and brooding- unfriendly and dangerous,” (Steinbeck 3). The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain create another text- to- text reference, since they also retell the story of Adam and Eve through a different style. East of Eden also contains a worldly message that many can relate to, since everyone faces dilemmas where they must choose find what is right and what is wrong. Do we allow cloning or not? Should women have the right to decide to abortion? New and old situations like these constantly question our ways of life, and East of Eden’s characters struggle to find the answers to their problems.
Blog #3: Syntax
· Anger: Quote from “’What did you do on his birthday?’” to “’And where’s the knife?’” (Steinbeck 29).
· Lists: Quote from “She was very badly hurt,” to “His patient was asleep before he left the room,” (Steinbeck 111).
· Easy conversation: Quote from “’Well, you know how it is,’” to “’Always showing her ankles,’”(Steinbeck 104).
John Steinbeck’s use of syntax in his novel East of Eden helped his characters portray their emotions, show how characters feel around others, and aids in creating simple lists. When Charles Trask confronts his brother, Adam, the short, clipped words and sentences portray his short- tempered and angry attitude. Those clipped sentences show how quickly Charles was spitting out his words and how he couldn’t think of well- developed thoughts through his anger. Steinbeck’s syntax showed another side of Charles around his brother when he was having a casual conversation with him about a local girl. These sentences were short as well, but by the use of word choices paired with the sentence structure, the reader can sense that Charles feels comfortable around his brother and doesn’t feel the need to use long, winding sentences to try and impress him. Syntax isn’t always as personal to the characters, however. It can also come in the form of a list, as used when Steinbeck describes Cathy’s many injuries. By using sentence structures where facts are clearly stated without any use of “flowery language,” this helps the reader to get a clear, and surprisingly descriptive understanding of Cathy’s injuries. By Steinbeck’s clever use of syntax, he was able to portray many different aspects of characters and details in the story.
Blog #2: Diction
· Vernacular: “’I bling litta table,’ he said, bowed slightly, and shuffled away,” (Steinbeck 159)
· Background: “Yellow hair” “young buck” “hoity toity” (Steinbeck 104)
· Imagery: “The whole valley floor, and the foothills too, would be carpeted with lupins and poppies… And mixed with there were splashes of California poppies. These too are of a burning color- not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies,” (Steinbeck 4)
An author’s use of diction can be useful in many ways. It can be used to describe where someone came from, his or her level of education, or even to make an image more vivid to a reader. John Steinbeck uses diction in exactly these ways in his novel East of Eden. Steinbeck uses diction to help create a stronger character by writing the words the way the character would say it. One of the characters, Adam Trask’s Chinese servant, Lee, said that he would, “’bling litta table,’” or “bring a little table” for Adam’s wife. By writing the words exactly as they sounded, this use of diction vibrantly colors Lee’s race and way of life. Similar to this, diction can also show someone’s educational background. When Charles Trask is talking to his brother, Adam, he uses words such as “yellow hair,” rather than blonde, “hoity toity,” when saying a girl is arrogant, and “young buck,” when describing young men. This shows his lack of a strong education by using made up words or unsophisticated language rather than words that would really describe what he intended to say in a more proper way. Diction can also be used when painting a scene. By using words such as “carpeted” and “golden cream,” in the passage on page 104, the reader is given a sense of luxury and comfort, which can help the author make the reader feel what they want them to feel.
Blog #1: Rhetorical Strategies
· Imagery: “The spring flowers in a wet year were unbelievable. The whole valley floor, and the foothills too, would be carpeted with lupins and poppies. Once a woman told me that colored flowers would seem more bright if you added a few white flowers to give the colors definition. Every blue petal of blue lupin is edged with white, so that a field of lupins is more blue than you can imagine. And mixed with there were splashes of California poppies. These too are of a burning color- not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies,” (Steinbeck 4)
· Symbolism: Charles Trask’s scar
· The Narrator: Olive Hamilton’s son.
Rather than making an ordinary- seeming novel, John Steinbeck beautifully colors his allegorical novel East of Eden with the use of rhetorical strategies such as imagery, symbolism, and the use of a unique narrator. When describing one of the main settings of the novel, Salinas Valley, Steinbeck uses imagery, which paints the scene and can make the reader really see the flowers blooming and creating a gorgeous scene for the novel (see quote above). Steinbeck’s imagery not only helps the reader to envision beautiful scenes such as describing the valley in full bloom, but can also use it to describe horrible events, such as the stream running through Salinas Valley in the winter when, “the river tore at the edges of the farm lands and washed full acres down; it toppled barns and houses into itself, to go floating and bobbing away,” (Steinbeck 3-4). His choice of words such as “tore” and “toppled” create imagery by depicting the river as a destructive creature and help the reader to vividly experience the horror of the raging river. John Steinbeck’s symbolism also has a strong effect on the novel by relating to a story most readers know all too well. One of the characters, Charles Trask, obtains a scar while trying to move a boulder. The scar is unusual, for rather than becoming lighter like most scars, it becomes darker than the rest of his skin. It symbolizes the biblical “mark of Cain,” which is even more greatly emphasized when he states, “I got plenty other scars. It just seems like I was marked,” (Steinbeck 46). This refers to when in the biblical story of Adam and Eve when God punishes Cain for killing his brother, Abel, with a mark that will not let anyone kill him, hence, the “mark of Cain”. To narrate the story, Steinbeck chooses a unique narrator. Although not omniscient, the third person narrator tells the story without much reaction of opinion as to what occurs. The narrator is revealed to be one of the character’s grandsons, although he isn’t present in the story himself. The only time he seems to show himself is at the beginning of man chapters where he will set the scene, or tell a memory of his mother. From the use of these rhetorical strategies, John Steinbeck produces a beautifully crafted novel.