John Steinbeck East of Eden Setting Salinas Valley Poetic nostalgic I remember that the Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation ID: 213343
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "East of Eden" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
East of Eden
John SteinbeckSlide2
East of Eden
Setting
Salinas Valley
Poetic, nostalgic
“
I remember that the
Gabilan
Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation…
”
“The
Santa
Lucias
stood up against the sky…they were dark and brooding- unfriendly and dangerous.
I
always found in myself a dread of the west and a love of the east
”
(3)
Biblical allegory
Salinas as the Garden of Eden
Use of imagery to relay theme of past and nostalgia
Juxtaposition of good and evil
Mythical and archetypical motifs
Parallels characters and theme
Structuralism Slide3
East of Eden
Setting presents archetypes
Salinas is located between
Good vs. evil
Light
vs.dark
Birth
vs.
death
Parallel characters and themes of novel Slide4
East of Eden
Archetype
“From both sides of the valley little stream slipped out of the hill canyons and fell into the bed of the Salinas River. In the winter of wet years the streams ran full-freshest, and they swelled the river until sometimes it raged and boiled…” (3)
Cycle of life
Re-birth Slide5
Narrator
Steinbeck
“
I always found in myself a dread of the West and a love of the East
”
(3)
3rd person omniscient
Reveal personal thoughts of some characters
Slips into 1st person- reveals opinions and thoughts of Steinbeck
Connects personal experience with
fiction
Tone
Nostalgic Slide6
Hamiltons
Hamiltons
Symbol of happy, well-balanced family
Samuel
Symbol of the past
Archetype
Wise older man
Ingenious, philosophical, spirit of the former
age
“Besides, they loved to hear Samuel talk of the world and its thinking, of the poetry and philosophy that were going on outside the Salinas Valley.” (10)
Inventor, dreamer, generous
“
no gift for business
”
“
the
Hamiltons
stayed poor
”
Slide7
Trasks
Contrast to Hamilton
’
s working class status
“
These usually bought land, but good land, but good land, and built their houses of planed lumber and had carpets and colored-glass diamond panes in their windows. There were numbers of these families and they got the good land of the valley and cleared the yellow mustard away and planted wheat. Such a man was Adam Trask.
”
(13)
Father Cyrus
“
something of a devil
”
Archetype
“
shadow figure
”
Foil to Samuel
Driven by a need to be important Slide8
Trasks
Alice Trask
Quiet and obedient
Misplaced love for Charles
“’For a long time he has given me little presents, pretty things you wouldn’t think he’s even notice” (33).
Dramatic irony Slide9
Adam & Charles Trask
Allusion to Adam and Eve
“
When a child first catches adults out- when it first walks into his grave little head that adults do not have divine intelligence, that their judgments are not always wise, their thinking true, their sentences just- his world falls into panic desolation. The gods are fallen and all safety gone…Adam found his father out
”
(19-20)
Archetypical motif
Initiation
Adam must overcome obstacles Slide10
Adam &Charles Trask
Adam
’
s half-brother
Served as protector
“
Adam was glad of Charles the way a woman is glad of a fat diamond, and he depended on his on his brother in the way that same woman depends on the diamond
’
s glitter and the self-security tied up in its worth; but love, affection, empathy were beyond conception
”
(21).
Grows to contempt between the brothers
Product of paternal rejection
Result in anger, crime and guilt
Symbol of evil
Character archetype Slide11
Adam & Charles Trask
Theme of childhood rejection and its effects
Adam takes after mother
Sensitive and obedient
Charles after father
Angry and cruel
Strong sense of competition
“’
You
’
re [Adam] trying to take him away!
”
(29)
Adam doesn
’
t love his father
Charles seeks love from his father Slide12
Adam and Charles Trask
Biblical allusion
“’
You think I
didn
’
t see?…You brought his a mongrel pup you picked up in the woods…That dog sleeps in his room. He plays with while he
’
s reading
”
(30)
Adam fears father and brother
“And all the this time Adam looked at his brother as the condemned look hopelessly and puzzled at the executioner” (30).
Fear and confusion of
Charles's
actions
Reader identifies with Adam Slide13
Adam & Charles Trask
“…and Adam could see the hatchet in his right hand” (31).
Going to kill his own brother
Indicates inherent evil within Charles