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East of Eden Lecture: Timshel (Chapters 12-25) (Patreon)

Published:
2024-02-04 20:49:23
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

'The word timshel - 'Thou mayest' - that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. The throws it right back on a man...'

Our journey through Steinbeck's great novel continues. And we're deepening our exploration of symbolism, enduring truths, and human nature.

We're also talking about the psychology of free will, moral agency, soft vs hard determinism, individualism vs collectivism, disillusionment, art as sublimated pain, allegory, observation vs preconception, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Steinbeck’s own life in the story
  • 2:00 great art as sublimated pain
  • 4:00 Steinbeck’s interpolated musings
  • 6:00 on the storyteller as character
  • 8:00 great boundary of the new century
  • 12:00 the need for hope in the future
  • 15:00 observation vs preconception
  • 18:00 disillusionment in relationships
  • 22:00 madonna-mistress complex
  • 27:00 on flat vs round characters
  • 29:00 pedestaling people in our lives
  • 31:00 discovering a writer’s beliefs
  • 33:00 Cathy as Eve or Lilith?
  • 35:00 Cathy’s manipulation of Faye
  • 38:00 only seeing your own creation
  • 40:00 individualism, glory & creativity
  • 43:00 Steinbeck’s aesthetic manifesto
  • 45:00 the Cain & Abel story continues
  • 47:00 on the story’s naming ceremony
  • 50:00 Lee’s analysis of Cain & Abel
  • 52:00 wounds as symbol of rebirth
  • 54:00 the symbol story of mankind
  • 55:00 on soft vs hard determinism
  • 59:00 moral agency & soft determinism
  • 1:02:00 the naming of Cal & Aron
  • 1:04:00 most important word in the world
  • 1:06:00 John Steinbeck’s timshel
  • 1:08:00 how Samuel liberates Adam
  • 1:11:00 your thoughts on the story?

Resources to Explore:

  • Music Appreciation: The word 'Timshel' has inspired countless readers of Steinbeck ever since East of Eden was first published. Mumford and Sons even wrote a song that was directly influenced by the novel. Lyrics like this capture the essence of Steinbeck's message: 'And you have your choices, and these are what make man great.' Give the song a listen here, and let us know if this adds anything to your appreciation of the story. The band actually received the Steinbeck Award and Marcus Mumford gave a speech about the great writer here.
  • The Principles of Psychology: A great way to get deeper into a work, and to expand your wider reading, is to read the books that the characters read. And we see that Samuel Hamilton is a reader of the works of William James. You might find it interesting to follow this rabbit hole and explore the incredibly influential The Principles of Psychology here.
  • Comparison: You might find it interesting to hold Steinbeck up against some of the other great writers we have enjoyed together. How do his interpolated musings on history, culture, and people compared with those of Tolstoy (e.g. in volume three, chapter one of War and Peace)? How does Steinbeck's description of history compare with Dickens' opening to A Tale of Two Cities? How does his close analysis of scripture compare with Melville's in Father Mapple's sermon in Moby Dick? You may have your own personal comparisons come to mind. 
  • Aspects of the Novel: We've spoken about E. M. Forster's theory of literature in regards to flat vs round characters before, but it's well worth returning to this book based on his Cambridge lectures to brush up on the fundamentals of the craft of fiction. 
  • Film Appreciation: As recommended at the outset of our reading, it would be a great idea to reward yourself when you finish East of Eden with a viewing of Elia Kazan's film version. We will discuss the film in our next lecture, so it would be wonderful to know what you make of it. Do you agree or disagree with the decisions made in adapting the story for the big screen? You can watch the film here.

Reading Assignment: 

Our next discussion will take us through to the end of the story, so please read on and continue to note your impressions of the characters and themes as we draw to the conclusion of Steinbeck's great novel.

Questions for You:

1) What do you believe in? What must you fight for? And against?

2) Are all stories ultimately biographical? Should they be?

3) Have you had the experience of painful disillusionment?  

4) Lee says that 'timshel' might be the most important word in the world. What do you think?

And please do share with us your favourite passages and insights from the work so far. If you watch the film adaptation, let us know what you make of it.

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Comments

Pauline Areno

@Benjamin Could you kindly add the East of Eden, John Steinbeck tags to this lecture? I feel that I will be referring back to these lectures over time, and this one didn’t seem to populate.

Maiu

I am so behind with my reading. Vacation did not help and it took a bit of time to get back into reading again after. However, I am really enjoying my slow reading so can not really speed up either and even as a suprise to myself I really do take time and reread paragraphs, take time to wonder about them and choose ones I like to write down. So I have finished chapter 25 last night and taken time to listen the lecture this morning. What a bliss it is to have a weekend without hurries and responsibilities. I find that most of what I write down are from discussions between Samuel and Lee and I almost feel the sorrow of moving onward without Samuel. I can not imagine Adam being any kind of worthy opponent for Lee in future discussions and it makes me want to read again to listen in on Samuel and Lee conversations. Out of other characters I find Kathy/Kate intresting above all others actually. Her influence on others, her ability to work within the constraints of human society is fascianating to me. For example, she could make Adam marry her to save herself, but could not influence Adam to stay where she felt more comfortable. She pretty much lost all visible will to act in the rancho while pregnant and stuck in that position, but had no problem taking back control of her own life after giving birth. And once again everyone fell under her sphere of influence in the Faye's house. Thank you for enlightening lecture. Onward to next chapters, Maiu Questions 1) What do you believe in? What must you fight for? And against? I do not think I actually know what I believe in. I could push some poetic nonsense xD. I guess part of me joining the book club this year is to take time and reflect on myself and find out who I am and what my beliefs are. So right now I am fighting against myself to push myself to try and figure out who I am, what resonates with me, what does not agree with me and where do my beliefs lie. Fighting against my own lazyness to just let it be I guess. I noticed it last year maybe more that I lacked opinions, because I always thought I have not actually spent enough time thinking about anything to form one. And sure time flows and opininons change and we grow. But appearently I have made it to 30 and not taken time to form my own. It reminds me Samuel saying something like - Some say quiet man is a wise man and others that wordless men are men without thoughts(Chapter 13, read it in Estonian). I have been reading slow and that was one saying that I marked to my notebook. I guess it makes me wonder whether the second half resonates with me a bit too much right now. 2) Are all stories ultimately biographical? Should they be? I am not a writer and in some ways I find it mysterious that people can make use of a word and pour it into the text and make something big out of it. I think that the text that really resonates with us, sentences that stick out and remind us of something of ourselves, probably mean that some of it felt real to them as well, whether they saw it in others or in themselves. I think all great stories that have that power to resonate, find that power in the experience of the world in some way. 3) Have you had the experience of painful disillusionment? Adam was disillusioned by his father and by his wife. I can rather directly connect to the being disillusioned by a father as a teenager. Had weirdly enough similar experiences with my own father, his favorotism, his lack of responsibility in the face of the influence of his actions. Maybe because we are sisters, and raised by a single mother, it made sense that we stuck more close to each other rather than looking ways to reconnect to him. 4) Lee says that 'timshel' might be the most important word in the world. What do you think? Fun tangent for me. I am currently putting together puzzles in my home office to be, and I usually listen to lectures here and take notes and look puzzles and currently all my puzzles are from art. Now I love all of them and that is why I got those puzzles around last christmas. But here is the fun fact for me I guess. The art pieces are Café Terrace at Night by Vincent van Gogh (1888), The Great Wave by Hokusai (1831) and The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (1908). My memory in years is always so very bad, but somehow it helps me connect the story in time and place in the wider world and that gave me little happiness today. I can understand that in a little corner of the world on the other side of the world that art might mean nothing to Salinas Valley. But in a way it is 'timshel' that let's anyone choose whether or not they are part of the world outside. Adam's choosing not to connect with people, not even be part of the closer community enough to know the location of his wife that was so very near to him and the boys when everyone else did, is a choice too. If 'timshel' can mean anything to me at all it is that we make the choice whether or not we take any control in our life, whether or not we choose to take part in life at all. I do seem to forget that the world came into play by choosing to fall into sin or resist. Some how I seem to have translated to myself as choosing to live actively making choices or just slipping by however world carries us. Maybe that is just my lack of religion that makes me translate it differently to myself.

Kelly R.

What do you believe in? What must you fight for? And against? For: right to clean air, water and nutrition, shelter and ultimately health. Love and respect to develop secure relationships. Education for all, everywhere. Freedom to pursue worthy and self-selected goals. Against: power or profit for some at the cost of these rights for many. Knowingly abusing human psychology for profit, such as advertising and extending more credit to those who cannot afford it in order to create wants and increase GDP at the cost of personal security and environmental degradation. 2) Are all stories ultimately biographical? Should they be? In the sense that a writer can only ever write about what they already know from life experience, or what they’ve been inspired to learn about - which is arguably still a result of earlier experiences - yes I believe them to be autobiographical in nature even though the story itself may be completely unlike their own life. 3) Have you had the experience of painful disillusionment?   Disillusion for sure, but I don’t think I would rightly consider it painfully so. I think I’ve managed to see situations as they are rather than how I wish they would be, even when it was disappointing to admit. Luckily, I don’t know if anyone successfully pulled the wool over my eyes. :) 4) Lee says that 'timshel' might be the most important word in the world. What do you think? I think it may! But seriously, believing we have a choice in how we respond to our lives does give us some power over our circumstances. No excuses or helpless behaviour. We can be masters of our circumstances with timshel.

Lee Newman

What’s a Conker? I looked it up. They look like buckeyes (from buckeye trees) which we collected in the late ‘60’s as a kid. They came in pods.

Stue M.

I am so behind 😬 but I won’t let it keep me from proceeding forward; I am barely finishing up East of Eden 😩! Oh well, I’m way back here ya’ll but I’m with you all no less haha it appears what’s up next for me is the master & margarita this week which will not take me that long I reckon a few days.

Stue M.

I love the twists in East of Eden omg

Stue M.

Thank you so much! Loved this lecture 👏🏽

NicoleA

I think you could spend a lifetime studying this book. I would fight for our humanness, I want to say now, in the time of our technological advancement, but it's not a new thing. History repeating again, as always. I feel this book club is a huge part of keeping our humanness. Especially when it comes to learning how to think not simply regurgitating what to think. What I would like to contemplate is whether humans have ever learnt any lessons or are we still repeating every single one? I love Samuel and could read about him all day long.

Nick L

Just wanted to let you know that the tags are missing on this lecture. When you click the Steinbeck or East of Eden tag, the other videos appear but not this one. I was only able to find it by going to the master list in the pinned post. Thanks!

Craig Mckissick

When you talk about people’s criticisms of the characters, I’ve always found criticism of art stupid in the first place. Yeah people maybe could put things in a more appealing way but when you criticise art you are criticising someone’s human emotions and experience. So to say the characters are poor representations of people, let’s turn this on it’s head, are we seeing the people we want to see? When you see a poor representation of women, is that because you want Steinbeck to be sexist because your worldview has been conditioned that way? Maybe that was his experience turned into a novel. Is there more implied by these characters between the lines? Because not much thus far has been said or thought by Cathy about why she does the things she does. It’s ironically one of the main themes of the novel that people project what we want to see when criticisms are projections. Why don’t people feel sorry that Steinbeck never saw how beautiful women were through their eyes? It’s the same with every writer and artist, Dostoyevsky often gets the same criticism for his symbolic characters. So I say stop projecting and open your eyes and ears, and be patient, sometimes books set you up to think one thing and then hit you with a sucker punch. So far I love this book, I love how blatant the symbolism is and how sentences really jump out as wisdom, it’s made me slow down and think and that to me is the sign of a masterpiece.