"Remember my name is Adam. So far I've had no Eden."

Part 3 of an 8-part series on East of Eden.
Today's newsletter covers Chapters 15-19.

One of Steinbeck's literary strengths is certainly characterization and the dialogue he creates between characters. (He also has a knack for the narrative arc of each chapter with endings that compel you to keep reading.) If you are reading this novel with others, I encourage you to take some time to discuss the company of individuals we have encountered so far.

I want to begin these reflections by noting two conversations that take place in this section of the book. Both involve Samuel. Remember, Samuel is a biblical name; he served as a prophet in Israel.

Lee, Adam's servant, and Samuel

Lee is introduced as if he has always been a part of the story. No lengthy description. Just a phrase, "his pigtailed Chinese cook." When did he arrive?

Lee is a part of Adam's Eden – and Eden needs water to grow crops. So, Adam sends Lee to ask Samuel to visit so that the two can talk about digging some wells. But Lee and Samuel striek up a remarkable conversation on the way to Adam's house. Samuel's observations and questions stem from curiosity. So, Lee reveals that he code-switches. He speaks broken English on purpose: "It's more than a convenience...It's even more than self-protection. Mostly we have to use it to be understood at all" (SCE, 161). In reality, Lee was born in California and is educated. He can speak fluent English.

Samuel eventually gets around to asking Lee why he is content to be a servant. Lee replies, "I don't know where being a servant came into disrepute. It is the refuge of a philosopher, the food of the lazy, and, properly carried out, it is a position of power, even of love....A good servant has absolute security, not because of his master's kindness, but because of habit and indolence" (SCE, 163). What are we to make of this defense of his life? Lee is so competent and wise. Is he defending his dignity? We don't want to ignore the racial dynamics at play and this particular institution of domestic work by Chinese men. After all, Lee has dreams of another life, of owning a bookstore.

As the book progresses, it is Samuel and Lee who become the deepest theologians and most astute intepreters of the Bible.

Samuel Hamilton and Adam Trask

Immediately after the conversation between Lee and Samuel, we have one between Samuel and Adam. Adam wants to create a garden, an Eden, for himself and Cathy, who is called Eve explicitly by Samuel. Adam concerns himself with goodness: Cathy's goodness and making the a garden just as good. He owes this to Cathy because she has been such a light to him. She made his life so much better!

"You don't know this Eve. She'll celebrate my choice. I don't think anyone can know her goodness." (SCE, 167)

Samuel thinks that the obligation of a friend is to warn Adam about his naive and obsessive impressions: "It's my duty to take this thing of yours and kick it in the face, then raise it up and spread slime on it thick enough to blot out its dangerous light." (SCE, 169) Samuel hasn't met Cathy yet, but it knows already that Adam's dreams are unrealistic and unworkable.

In both these conversations, and in his first contact with Cathy, Samuel is intuitive and a voice of wisdom.

"She shot him."

Cathy gives birth to twins. And bites dear Samuel in the process!

Then, she decides it is time to leave, but Adam does not believe her.

"She shot him. The heavy slug struck him in the shoulder and flattened and tore out a piece of his shoulderblade. The flash and roar smothered him, and he staggered back and fell to the floor. She moved slowly toward him, cautiously, as she might toward a wounded animal. He stared up into her eyes, which inspected him impersonally. She tossed the pistol on the floor beside him and walked out of the house.

He heard her steps on the porch, on the crisp dry oak leaves on the path, and then he could hear her no more. And the monotonous sound that had been there all along was the cry of the twins, wanting their dinner. He had forgotten to feed them." (SCE, 200)

I remember the first time I read that scene (at the end of a chapter!) I had two thoughts: I have to stop reading to catch my breath, and I have to see what comes next!

The Church and the Whorehouse

Steinbeck has an unusual ecclesiology –

"The church and the whorehouse arrived in the Far West simultaneously. And each would have been horrified to think it was a different facet of the same thing. But surely they were both intended to accomplish the same thing: the singing, the devotion, the poetry of the churches took a man out of his bleakness for a time, and so did the brothels." (SCE, 215)

Religion and sex function to distract or temporarily transcend the misery of this world.

Reading the paragraphs surrounding the quote above, we get the sense that, for Steinbeck, religion is a mixed bag. The churches give us music and nudge "the dozing conscience." They brought social engagement. But they also provided cover for folks like Reverend Billing. And they fought over doctrine.

All of this introduction to church life and the brothel leads us to meet one of its priests, Faye. And to Kate, who is formerly Cathy, as a newly ordained member of the whorehouse. They even share tea – or is it communion? – but the walnut stuck in Faye's teeth makes the communion quite painful.

Reading Schedule

Week of June 22-28: read chapters 20-24
Week of June 29-July 5: read chapters 25-30
Week of July 6-12: read chapters 31-39
Week of July 13-19: read chapters 40-48
Week of July 20-26: read chapters 49-55

A Benediction (Or Miscellaneous Thoughts)

Ask a friend to catch up and join the Summer Book Club! If you know someone who might want to read East of Eden with us, forward this email to them.