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East of Eden Lecture: Rebirth (Chapters 26-55) (Patreon)

Published:
2024-02-18 21:24:58
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2026-06
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Content

His whispered word seemed to hang in the air: "Timshel!" 

Today our journey through John Steinbeck's great novel comes to a powerful close. But the message at the heart of East of Eden will remain with us forever. 

In our discussion, we are meditating upon good vs evil, conscience, the danger of lies, reframing the Cain and Abel story, war, death, responsibility, sacrifice, change, love, and so much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 the ending of Steinbeck’s great novel
  • 2:00 the death of Samuel Hamilton
  • 4:00 ‘caught in a net of good and evil’
  • 6:00 how to live on after one’s death
  • 8:00 being loved for inspiring others
  • 9:00 vice as attempted shortcut to love
  • 12:00 choosing our painful freedom
  • 14:00 Adam hides the truth of Cathy
  • 17:00 ‘the lie will infect everything’
  • 19:00 on reality vs romantic dreams
  • 22:00 meditating on Lee’s bookstore
  • 24:00 ‘every man has a retirement picture’
  • 26:00 Steinbeck’s novel vs Kazan’s film
  • 31:00 writing to someone who doesn’t exist
  • 33:00 on the news of Charles Trask’s death
  • 35:00 ‘always a leash snapped me back’
  • 37:00 aesthetic criticism as self-reflection
  • 38:00 does Cathy lack a conscience?
  • 41:00 Adam thaws out from his icy sleep
  • 44:00 on the story of Cal & Aron Trask
  • 46:00 does the motivation for action matter?
  • 47:00 how much of Cathy is really in Cal?
  • 49:00 reframing the Cain & Abel story
  • 51:00 Cal’s powerful social intelligence
  • 53:00 the good and evil in all of us
  • 54:00 triumphing over sins never committed
  • 56:00 Cal’s meeting with his mother
  • 58:00 ‘a war is always for somebody else’
  • 1:00:00 how we forget the reality of war
  • 1:02:00 who is responsible for another’s death?
  • 1:04:00 Cal presents the money to his father
  • 1:06:00 whose actions are we responsible for?
  • 1:08:00 how Aron makes Abra into his mother
  • 1:10:00 burning the money as guilty sacrifice
  • 1:11:00 on the tragic character arc of Cathy
  • 1:13:00 taking responsibility as moral agency
  • 1:14:00 wisdom in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations
  • 1:16:00 Lee teaches us how to read great books
  • 1:19:00 my answers to Steinbeck’s questions
  • 1:22:00 the nuances of meaning of timshel
  • 1:23:00 appreciating the ending of East of Eden
  • 1:25:00 our response to Steinbeck’s novel
  • 1:26:00 recommendations for more Steinbeck
  • 1:28:00 preparing for our next masterpiece
  • 1:30:00 your review of East of Eden?

Resources to Explore:

  • Meditations: A deep-reading great practice is to explore the books that your favourite characters read. Steinbeck has sent us to Genesis, the psychological writings of William James, and, in this last section, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is one of the most life-changing works you can work through. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend it.
  • Film Appreciation: If you watched Elia Kazan's film adaptation, let us know what you made of the directorial decisions. Thank you to readers who recommended the 1981 television series, which is a much more faithful adaptation. Readers have also mentioned that Kazan's granddaughter, Zoe Kazan, is currently working on a special series for Netflix, which will seek to focus on Cathy. It will be very exciting to share our impressions when that comes out.
  • Exploring Steinbeck: It's been wonderful to see so many readers, having fallen in love with Steinbeck, are keen to explore more of his works. There are so many great avenues to take next. Here are the works mentioned in our discussion: Travels with Charley, Of Mice and Men, The Long Valley, The Pearl, The Grapes of Wrath.
  • Biography: If you're keen to know even more about the great writer, you might like to explore Jay Parini's biography of the writer. And if you're interested in learning about the man from his correspondence, I highly recommend John Steinbeck: A Life in Letters.
  • Our Next Masterpiece: Congratulations on reading John Steinbeck's masterpiece with so much love. Thank you so much for making this such an incredible experience. Our next lecture will be our 'how to read' for The Master and Margarita and our introduction to Bulgakov's masterpiece. So now would be a great time to secure your copy ready for our next adventure through great literature.

Questions to Consider:

1) What did you make of the novel's ending?

2) What will you remember most from your journey through East of Eden?

3) What area connected with Steinbeck are you now most keen to explore?

4) How would you persuade another to read East of Eden? And what advice would you give to facilitate a meaningful reading experience?

And please do share with us your impressions and favourite passages from the end of East of Eden.

Congratulations on reading East of Eden, everybody!

Files

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Comments

Mike Vieira

Finally finished the book and I finished it bawling like a babe. One of the best books Ive ever read. I live about 140 miles south of Salinas and Im thinking of going there to see the Steinbeck Museum. I also want to see the historic part of town and walk the streets. I know its a lot different now but I think I'll still be able to be close to these characters that Ive now lived with everyday for the last couple of months. I want to explore the surrounding countryside and maybe if im lucky, see the azaleas bloom in May. Now Im going to listen to Ben's closing lecture. Thanks Ben.

CherylS

I joined in February and read Master and Margarita which I loved, never having read magical realism and then I back tracked to East of Eden. I thought I did not like John Steinbeck, after reading this book I have to say it is becoming one of my most favorite books ever. What an amazing novel, it was easy to read and very deep with meaning. I am still pondering it over in my mind.

Alan Press

This was my first Steinbeck read since reading The Pearl in high school. I am now at a time in my life where I can appreciate a complex and nuanced novel like East of Eden and I took so much from it. The lectures are brilliant and really added so much to my enjoyment. The characters and the story will sit with me for a long time. I was especially fascinated with the parallels to Genesis and the references to Meditations and connected with the characters of Lee, Samuel and Cal. So much to digest, no choice but to pick it up again in the not too distant future.

Lisa Shorts

This was my first Steinbeck. One of the things that struck me today as I listened to your comments is that he subtly comments on the concept of mammon, making money passively, when Cal makes the money on futures. This is one of the reasons that this read requires a significant amount of time macerating the content before all the depth can be accessed.

Elliot Kane

It's been a little while, I'm afraid, but I finally finished reading East of Eden eariler this month. As you said Benjamin in this, or the previous lecture on this book, someone's response to a book may tell you more about that person that the book. Well, I think that is the case for me with East of Eden. Going into the book, I had no expectations of what I would find beyond what you had mentioned in the introductory lecture. Early on, my two main impressions were a sense of admiration for Steinbeck's writing and shock at how brutal the novel was. The brutality starts early on, when Charles first beats Adam black and blue, and it never stops. It became too much for me when Cathy abused and murdered Faye and so I put the novel down for many months. Incidently, if it is true that Steinbeck was using the character of Cathy to work through his own feelings about his second wife, then, in my opinion, it shows that Steinbeck had problems of his own if he actually considered her as abhorrent as Cathy is. Fortunately, when I returned to reading the book, I found myself engaged by Samuel and Lee, and in their company I could enjoy the story. For me, the naming scene and the analysis of scripture were, along with the ending, the best parts of the novel. Otherwise, I often found myself frustrated and confused by Adam, Cathy, Cal, and Aron. To me, they don't feel like real people. Maybe it is due to my own limitations of understanding. I am finding it extremely challenging to express myself well on this subject, Steinbeck's characters frustrated me like no other author's have. Perhaps as I grow older, I will understand them better than I do now. Even for Aron, whom I felt the strongest personal connection to, I found his abandonment of Abra truly baffling. I think Cathy is evil and abhorrent and I don't have much more to say about her. Adam is far more interesting to me. I felt great pity for him early on, having to suffer the abuse from his older brother, fighting in the war, and then being abandoned by his wife. After these events, he is a broken man. But his refusal to accept the responsibility of being a father makes me lose my respect for him. Perhaps it is unfair of me to judge like this, an armchair reader so to speak, but if I was in his situation if anything would pull me out of his depressed state, it would be realising that I need to be a father for my sons! Even after Samuel and Lee knock some sense into Adam, it still appears that he doesn't take an active role in his sons' lives. Speaking of Cal and Aron, while I acknowledge that Cal is the more important character and 'psychologically complex character,' from a personal standpoint my sympathy lies with Aron. After the scene with Aron and Abra by the willow tree, I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad would happen to him and/or Abra. Well in this case, I was right, and his death was the most moving part of the novel for me, especially with the way it is delivered by Steinbeck. My eyes were watery for the last half hour while finishing the novel, from a combination of sorrow and anger (like Aron who would cry when he was angry). Thanks for the lectures, Benjamin, and I look forward to joining in when we read Dante!

Kit

After a long break I’ve finally picked this up again and finished it last night - my first time reading Steinbeck. As someone who is very drawn to stories with sibling relationships, this one did not disappoint on that front. I fully enjoyed Steinbeck’s writing, his side stories and philosophical deep dives, particularly in the biblical sense. But… I did not enjoy how he depicted Cathy as a purely one-dimensional, manipulative and evil being. I wanted more nuance from her. I wanted to feel sympathy for her and it was an injustice not to give us even a little taste of humanity in her character. Despite this, the beautiful way he depicted Aron and Cal’s childhood and development into adulthood was just perfect and it feels like pieces of them have stuck with me after reading. Most of all though, I REALLY relate to Lee. He chose a life of service after a rejection from his own people, found meaning and purpose in the pleasing of others of a higher class, he avoided awkwardness through hiding his intellect from strangers. Lee is a classic people pleaser and what a tragedy for him to have never felt real familial or romantic love directly, but only to receive it as a consequence of his service to the Trask family, or to only know it theoretically through his studies. This might be controversial (especially because Lee is my favourite character), but I find it hard to ignore that it feels like Lee was written in just to be a carrier of the story, someone whose lens we readers could see through to understand the Trasks who didn’t seem to explain themselves, and would have otherwise been too complicated to know, unlike the Hamilton who were just broadly authentically satisfying and knowable. I know it was through him that we have the timshel revelation, but it didn’t have to be. Did Sam and Adam need Lee? Was he really necessary for the story, or could we have had a much tighter and deeper story here without him? I’m not saying I think this should have been the case, just feels like he was slightly expendable (other than for his key part in unpicking the Cain and Abel story).

NicoleA

My mind has been blown by this book. I watched the movie and was not disappointed with it. I never expected it to equal the book and I think that helped. I thought it was clever to focus in on a small portion of the book. It would have been impossible to include everything and to attempt to include too much would probably dilute what was told. I could have happily watched a movie solely about Samuel though! I am curious about the new adaptation. It must be very difficult to make shows that need to show history accurately whilst not upsetting people of today.

Daisy

Loved this book! Because it is such a sweeping saga, the characters feel like friends at the end. I love the themes that it tackles and really makes me think about my life and the choices I make. I have two sons and I always try to be fair and treat them equally. However, I am aware that I can sometimes have a bias in favour of the younger one which I consider my baby. Communication is key and I love how Cal is able to express his feelings and his situation to Lee and even Adam. By doing this, Lee is able to support him in his struggles. As usual, the lectures have been excellent and helped me have a deep appreciation for this work. I am hoping to return to Steinbeck in the future with another of his works.