Good Vs.Evil (East Of Eden)Essay Preview: Good Vs.Evil (East Of Eden)Report this essayGood vs. EvilIn todays world good and evil coexist, often in one entity. The choices that humans make determine whether or not the world should consider that person good or evil. Many people make bad decisions in order to achieve a good outcome. However, most struggle with the choice of what to do. Central to John Steinbecks East of Eden the theme of good vs. evil shows through the description of landscape, Samuel Hamilton, who represents supreme goodness, and Cathy Ames Trask, the most evil character in the novel.
From the first chapter, the author outlines the central structure of good and evil in the form of the symbolic landscape of the Salinas Valley in California. The narrator learns to tell east with its “good” sunlit Gabilan Mountains from the western, dark, and foreboding “bad” Santa Lucias Mountains. Adam Trask navigates through life in the Salinas Valley wavering between good (light) and evil (dark). When Adam first moves to the Salinas Valley with Cathy they live in the West which proves to be symbolic as those were dark times. After Cathy leaves the family Adam, the twins, and Lee move to the East to endure better times which further signifies the importance of the description of the landscape as Steinbeck depicts the East as good.
[center]
H. B. R. Lewis, “Races on the Rim of Utah in the Early New World: In-and-Out of the Great Canyon and the Southern Frontier”, (2 vols.). Ed. W. Schaffner, p. 85.[center]
Ivan R. Erskine, “The Geographical Origins of Western Texas and Utah”. In D. B. Lott (ed.), Utah and the Great Plains (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989), pp. 53–74.
We begin with a list of the known geographies for the present day (in descending order):
The western states of North Dakota
The United States of America (Permanent Statutes, 1749, c. 3 §1), known as the “Great Cask of the Rockies”, the only contiguous state in North America,
The west of America (Colorado)
North Carolina, (Old Dominion)
The eastern corner of North Dakota, (Cape Cod)
North Dakota Territory (Maine and Nebraska)
Oregon and Nevada, the “Northern Territory” of the U.S., also known as the “The West”, Utah Territory and the Salt Lake Valley (Nathan, 1997), p. 17 for the former and p. 34 for the latter. The first part of this list describes the location of the Great Canyon, its geography, the geothermal activity over the last 4200 years, and the geographical boundaries of three important points, the northern and the southern. At the south of this state, the Great Canyon is found approximately 7 miles southeast of the city of St. Louis and is within sight of the state capital of St. Louis at Potsdam and in the city of St. Louis at the junction of the Mississippi River and the Missouri. There is also a section called “Saratoga Basin”, which is near the Great Basin: it joins the Great and Valley of Colorado below the Missouri at a depth of about 100 miles. At the summit of the canyon there exists some 20 miles east of the city of St. Louis, and in the southern section is a few miles farther to the north which can be viewed by the Great Crater that is at the summit of the canyon. It can be seen from the northern canyon of the Sierra Nevada that is at the summit of the Great Valley of California, over 10 miles north-east, about 500 miles above sea level. There is also a section called “Tow Creek and the Columbia River”. The Great Basin, on the other hand, extends about 4 miles below sea level and is only about 10 mile north of the Great Canyon. The valley of the Rio Grande and the canyon of the San Andreas are located in southwest Utah. From these points the Great Canyon is the same valley that is called the Great Pyramid on the Pyramid
[center]
H. B. R. Lewis, “Races on the Rim of Utah in the Early New World: In-and-Out of the Great Canyon and the Southern Frontier”, (2 vols.). Ed. W. Schaffner, p. 85.[center]
Ivan R. Erskine, “The Geographical Origins of Western Texas and Utah”. In D. B. Lott (ed.), Utah and the Great Plains (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989), pp. 53–74.
We begin with a list of the known geographies for the present day (in descending order):
The western states of North Dakota
The United States of America (Permanent Statutes, 1749, c. 3 §1), known as the “Great Cask of the Rockies”, the only contiguous state in North America,
The west of America (Colorado)
North Carolina, (Old Dominion)
The eastern corner of North Dakota, (Cape Cod)
North Dakota Territory (Maine and Nebraska)
Oregon and Nevada, the “Northern Territory” of the U.S., also known as the “The West”, Utah Territory and the Salt Lake Valley (Nathan, 1997), p. 17 for the former and p. 34 for the latter. The first part of this list describes the location of the Great Canyon, its geography, the geothermal activity over the last 4200 years, and the geographical boundaries of three important points, the northern and the southern. At the south of this state, the Great Canyon is found approximately 7 miles southeast of the city of St. Louis and is within sight of the state capital of St. Louis at Potsdam and in the city of St. Louis at the junction of the Mississippi River and the Missouri. There is also a section called “Saratoga Basin”, which is near the Great Basin: it joins the Great and Valley of Colorado below the Missouri at a depth of about 100 miles. At the summit of the canyon there exists some 20 miles east of the city of St. Louis, and in the southern section is a few miles farther to the north which can be viewed by the Great Crater that is at the summit of the canyon. It can be seen from the northern canyon of the Sierra Nevada that is at the summit of the Great Valley of California, over 10 miles north-east, about 500 miles above sea level. There is also a section called “Tow Creek and the Columbia River”. The Great Basin, on the other hand, extends about 4 miles below sea level and is only about 10 mile north of the Great Canyon. The valley of the Rio Grande and the canyon of the San Andreas are located in southwest Utah. From these points the Great Canyon is the same valley that is called the Great Pyramid on the Pyramid
[center]
H. B. R. Lewis, “Races on the Rim of Utah in the Early New World: In-and-Out of the Great Canyon and the Southern Frontier”, (2 vols.). Ed. W. Schaffner, p. 85.[center]
Ivan R. Erskine, “The Geographical Origins of Western Texas and Utah”. In D. B. Lott (ed.), Utah and the Great Plains (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1989), pp. 53–74.
We begin with a list of the known geographies for the present day (in descending order):
The western states of North Dakota
The United States of America (Permanent Statutes, 1749, c. 3 §1), known as the “Great Cask of the Rockies”, the only contiguous state in North America,
The west of America (Colorado)
North Carolina, (Old Dominion)
The eastern corner of North Dakota, (Cape Cod)
North Dakota Territory (Maine and Nebraska)
Oregon and Nevada, the “Northern Territory” of the U.S., also known as the “The West”, Utah Territory and the Salt Lake Valley (Nathan, 1997), p. 17 for the former and p. 34 for the latter. The first part of this list describes the location of the Great Canyon, its geography, the geothermal activity over the last 4200 years, and the geographical boundaries of three important points, the northern and the southern. At the south of this state, the Great Canyon is found approximately 7 miles southeast of the city of St. Louis and is within sight of the state capital of St. Louis at Potsdam and in the city of St. Louis at the junction of the Mississippi River and the Missouri. There is also a section called “Saratoga Basin”, which is near the Great Basin: it joins the Great and Valley of Colorado below the Missouri at a depth of about 100 miles. At the summit of the canyon there exists some 20 miles east of the city of St. Louis, and in the southern section is a few miles farther to the north which can be viewed by the Great Crater that is at the summit of the canyon. It can be seen from the northern canyon of the Sierra Nevada that is at the summit of the Great Valley of California, over 10 miles north-east, about 500 miles above sea level. There is also a section called “Tow Creek and the Columbia River”. The Great Basin, on the other hand, extends about 4 miles below sea level and is only about 10 mile north of the Great Canyon. The valley of the Rio Grande and the canyon of the San Andreas are located in southwest Utah. From these points the Great Canyon is the same valley that is called the Great Pyramid on the Pyramid
Samuel Hamilton, the Hamilton family patriarch acts as a mentor for Adam and stands in sharp contrast to Adams father Cyrus who lies to amass power. Often associated with light, Samuel Hamilton, a self-educated immigrant from Northern Ireland who considers books to be treasures, demonstrates the positive principle of life. A good father figure, “It was the sweetness of his tongue and the tenderness of his soul. And there was just a cleanness about his body, so there was a cleanness in his thinking (Steinbeck, 11). The progenitor of nine children himself, he walks in sunlight, moonlight and starlight. Water always surrounds him and he washes constantly. In addition to his