East of Eden Lecture: The Salinas Valley (Chapters 1-11) (Patreon)

Today we are discussing the first part of Steinbeck's sweeping saga. We are meeting his characters together, wrangling with some profound themes, and immersing ourselves in the vivid world of East of Eden.

We're discussing symbolism, allegory, myth, psychology, subtext, history, brother vs brother, paternal rejection, family drama, literary influences, biblical echoes, storytelling, Steinbeck's exploration of evil, and much more.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 the beginning of Steinbeck’s saga
• 2:00 appreciating the pace of the novel
• 3:00 fathers, brothers, myth & religion
• 5:00 nostalgia, history & human nature
• 8:00 Salinas as microcosm for the world
• 9:00 John Steinbeck’s creation story
• 11:00 ‘took up worthless land just to own it’
• 13:00 names suggest a forgotten stories
• 15:00 collectivism vs individualism
• 17:00 self-trust, morality & divine belief
• 19:00 the story of the Hamilton family
• 22:00 Steinbeck the working man’s writer
• 24:00 difference between a lie & a story
• 26:00 value of symbolism, parable & allegory
• 27:00 the parable of the mustard seed
• 29:00 the backstory of the Trask family
• 31:00 ‘God comes crashing down…’
• 33:00 Adam, Charles, & Cyrus Trask
• 35:00 on the theme of giving gifts
• 38:00 the parallel with Cain & Abel
• 41:00 Adam & Charles’ gifts to their father
• 43:00 with whom do we most sympathise?
• 44:00 why did God reject Cain’s gift?
• 47:00 rejection vs unconditional love
• 51:00 the mark of Cain & Charles’ scar
• 53:00 hurting another is hurting yourself
• 55:00 Charles’ letter to brother Adam
• 59:00 the death of the brothers’ father
• 1:01:00 subtext in Steinbeck’s novel
• 1:04:00 ‘he loved you more than anything’
• 1:07:00 men on the verge of fighting
• 1:12:00 the introduction of Cathy Ames
• 1:14:00 Steinbeck’s exploration of evil
• 1:15:00 viewing evil as empathy erosion
• 1:19:00 on the psychology of Cathy
• 1:22:00 Steinbeck’s depiction of women
• 1:23:00 can we sympathise with Cathy?
• 1:26:00 the cliffhanger ending part one
• 1:28:00 what are you making of the novel?

Resources to Explore:

• Nobel Prize Speech: John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 'for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.' You can watch the writer delivering his powerful acceptance speech here.
• The Psychology of Evil: Simon Baron-Cohen's digestible Zero Degrees of Empathy makes for a fascinating complement to one's reading of Steinbeck's novel. The work explores the reasons for human cruelty and kindness, and sees good and evil as existing on an empathy spectrum that can be affected by our genes and environments. 
• Essay Pairing: Dipping into the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson is a highly leveraged move for increasing your appreciation of American literature, particularly writers like Steinbeck and Whitman. I've recommended his 'Self-Reliance' many times and would like to add the recommendation of his powerful speech 'The American Scholar', which can be found in The Portable Emerson.
• Film Appreciation: During a turbulent time in the writer's life, and shortly before East of Eden, Steinbeck wrote screenplays for Hollywood. One notable example is the film Viva Zapata! starring Marlon Brando. The director, Elia Kazan, would go on to adapt East of Eden for the big screen. If you give it a viewing, see if you can discern Steinbeck's voice come through.
• Short Story Pairing: If you would like to expand your reading of Steinbeck, I recommend checking out one of his short stories because many are also set in the writer's birthplace of the Salinas Valley. 'The Chrysanthemums' is a great one to start with and can be found in his superb collection The Long Valley.
• Documentary: You can view a really wonderful documentary on the great writer's life here. It's called 'John Steinbeck: An American Writer' and it explores his upbringing, development, relationships, and the controversy that his works kicked up in beautiful depth. 

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will cover up to and including chapter twenty-five of the story, which takes us up to page 327 in the Penguin paperback edition.

Questions for You:

1) What are your impressions of East of Eden thus far?

2) What do you make of Steinbeck's characters?

3) Do you find value in symbolic and allegorical stories?

If this is your first reading of East of Eden, I would love to know how the story is meeting your expectations. If this is a reread for you, what is it like returning to the story? And please do share with us your favourite passage from the first part of the story.

Happy reading, everybody!