East of Eden Essay: Power of Money and Greed

In the novel, “East of Eden”, John Steinbeck uses the controlling power of money to overcome greedy, curious, and desperate characters. Knowing money is necessary in life, most people will desire it, but in East of Eden it affects the lives of some of the main characters. Some in the book have an aspiration for money, while others find it come into their lives out of nowhere. The perception of wealth changes in characters. While some may find that money is the only wealth in life, others may see past this greedy obsession. Either good or bad, these interactions with money change their lives and the lives of others around them. Steinbeck uses wealth as a catalyst for the decisions that his characters make- whether they have money or whether they do not. Not having much wealth in their lives, Adam and Charles were overwhelmed by the sudden large amount of money they received from their father’s inheritance. “Spose we found out he’s a thief. Then it would come out how he never was at Gettysburg or anyplace else. Then everybody would know he was a liar too, and his whole life was a goddam lie. Then even if sometimes he did tell the truth, nobody would believe it was the truth” (Ch.7, sect. 3) . This sudden appearance of money makes Charles question his father’s life. With no way to find out the truth Charles has no way to convince Adam of his father’s dishonesties. “I believe they are wrong. I believe in my father” (Ch.7, sect. 3) . Adam, always being the favorite child, defended his father while the least favorite son went against him. Possibly being a way of dealing with his childhood problems, Charles wanted something wrong with his father. With there being no way to prove anything, the brothers are at a standstill- questioning even themselves. This surplus of money in the Trask’s lives put a huge questionable future ahead of both of them. “I’m going away. You can buy me out if you want. You can have the farm. You always wanted it. You can stay here and rot”. The money put the option of moving to California on the table, and Adam used it as a way to get away from Charles and farm. If never receiving the large wealth, Adam may have been forced to stay on the farm his whole life. The beast inside Cathy had been unleashed upon arriving in California. Also, Adams money had made her time of acting good easier on her. Charles had always seen right through Cathy and if staying on the farm, he could have stopped her from emotionally destroying Adam. “Charles began to rave. ‘She’s no damn good, I tell you. She’s a whore.’” (Ch. 11, sect. 6). With the large wealth, Adam had the easy decision of going to California where his perfect plan had been shattered by his own blindness. After recovering from his depression, Adam had a new implication on him. Money had once again popped into his life. The inheritance from his brother gave Adam another chance to talk to Cathy. Cathy was too untrusting of anyone to accept that Adam was giving her half of his money with no strings attached. “You’re playing a close game with fifty thousand dollars, and you’re not going to get away with it. I don’t know what the trick is, but I’m going to find out” (Ch. 31, sect.1). Her belief of no-one being purely good, makes Adam feel in control in their conversation. Receiving this money lets Adam make his decisions to confront Kate again, and it helps him further conquer his fear of her. Once Adam had lost a huge portion of his money, Cal was determined to get it back for him. “Suppose you should get this money and give it to your father- would it cross your mind that you were trying to buy his love?”(Ch. 41, sect. 3) The thought of money give Cal the idea of buying his father’s love. When knowing he can get this money, he attempts to take a shortcut to being the favorite son. With the idea of being inherently bad, Cal does not consider the option of being good to get his father’s attention. He had also not considered the option that his father could reject him. “No, I won’t want it ever. I would have been so happy if you could have given me- well, what your brother has- pride in the things he’s doing….If you want to give me a present- give me a good life”(Ch. 49, sect. 3). This shows the wealth has a different meaning to people. To Cal he thought it was just money, but Adam showed a much greater meaning of wealth. He wanted to be proud of Cal because of the person he was, not because of some money he could make. After realizing he can be good Cal can see his father point. Cal’s mission for money ended up backfiring in his face, but he came across an important lesson while doing it. Many characters in “East of Eden” make decisions based on an influence of money in their lives. Some learn from mistakes with money, some do not know what to do with money, and some are just greedy with money. Adam had lots of money come in to his life and he did not know how to handle all his money. Cal was desperate for money, but found out that is the only part of wealth. Charles had his view of his father changed once he inherited the money. No matter the interactions, the thought of money always has an effect on a character.