Essay About John Steinbeck And Cathy Ames

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
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In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Catherine Ames is one
of the main characters. She is introduced to the reader as a monster
and as time goes on, she possesses both monster like and animal
qualities. As Catherine she gets older and wiser, she gets more evil
and displays her monster and animal like characteristics. She knows she
is powerful and indestructible. She has manipulated and tricked many
people her life causing them to go to the extreme death.
Catherine “Cathy” shows her evilness and her monster like behavior
in many scenes throughout the book. Steinbeck illustrates Cathy as
being a monster on pages 95 and 96. “I believe there are monsters born
in the world… It is my belief that Cathy Ames was born with the
tendencies, or lack of them, which drove and forced her all of her
life,” said Steinbeck. Cathy used this to her advantage by making
people uneasy, but not so uneasy that they would not run away from her.
Cathy was born with an innocent look that fooled many; she had golden
blond hair, hazel eyes, a thin and delicate nose, and a small chin to
make her face look heart shaped. Acoording to the town Cathy lived,
Cathy had a scent of sweetness, but that is just what Cathy wanted the
town to see and think when Cathy planned her kill. On page 114-115,
“The fire broke out… the Ames house went up like a rocket… Enough
remained of Mr. and Mrs. Ames to make sure there were two bodies.”
Cathy had set the house on fire and broke into the safe to steal the
family’s money. As the investigators scoped the place, they noticed
that the bolts stuck out and there were no keys left in the locks. They
knew it was not an accident. Cathy’s body was never found, but the town
assumed that she died. “If it had not been for Cathy’s murder, the fire
and robbery might have been a coincidence.” Steinbeck, again, portrays
the reader that Cathy is a monster on page 242, “When I said Cathy was a
monster it seemed to me that it was so.” Steinbeck is reassuring the
reader that Cathy is a monster and with the evidence before and after
this statement. For example, Cathy later changes her name to Kate and
runs a whorehouse. While she runs the house, she takes pictures of all
the important male individuals in the town to later send to their
spouses and families. Cathy plans to send the pictures whether they
caused trouble or not.
As Cathy’s character evolves, Steinbeck changes his description
from a monster to an animal.