... or was it evil? And all novels, all poetry, are built on the never ending contest in ourselves between good and evil." John Steinbeck explores these ideas in his book East of Eden. Written in 1952, the story itself is part fiction and part personal history. It asks if people are born good or evil, or can they choose what kind of ... , show the faults of men and women, but at the same time showed how great the power of the human heart is. He attempts to show some of this in East of Eden, although I don't feel it was the main purpose of the book. The book focuses more on the never ending s...

• Word Count: 1364
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... Row", which was also set in Monterey, became published. In 1948, he moved from New York to Pacific Grove to examine the Californian's files of old newspapers to research, "East of Eden," which was set in the Salinas Valley. That year, he wandered around many of his childhood hangouts in the hills around Salinas and San Juan Garde. In 1949, he met ... of Cortez" was published. The novel is frequently referred to at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In 1952, the book that he worked on while in the Salinas and Pacific Grove, "East of Eden" was published. In 1955, a holiday magazine ran a series b...

• Word Count: 1322
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ) presents a morality tale about characters who supposedly represent middle-class society. Burning Bright (1950) preached universal brotherhood but was largely unsuccessful. Steinbeck devoted several years to his most ambitious project, East of Eden (1952; film, 1955), which paralleled the history of his mother's family and was an allegorical modernization of the biblical story of Adam. Subsequent novels proved anticlimactic--Sweet Thursday (1954 ... ...

• Word Count: 1312
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School