Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Is it a quintessentially American novel?
Steinbeck has a character refer to Americans as a "breed," and near the end of the book Lee says to a conflicted Cal that "We are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous. If our ancestors had not been that, they would have stayed in their home plots in the other world and starved over the squeezed-out soil." What makes this a quintessentially American book? Why would this book be included in an American Literature course? Can you identify archetypically American qualities or characters?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Steinbeck's novel could be considered a quintessential American novel because of what the characters represnt. Samuel and Liza Hamilton came to America from Ireland to build a family and live a prosperous life. Even though Samuel Hamilton is not a wealthy man he is considered American because he took risks and was an independent citizen. Adam Trask portraits an American by leaving his family farm and by moving to find wealth and happiness. He took risks, had disappointments, but became a great example of what it is to be and American. This book would be included in an American Literature course because it reflects American culture, values, and spirit.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Americans are "breed". In my opinion America is made up of millions of different people with different morals and ideals. I think that the only thing that really ties them together is the fact that they are citizens of the United States of America. I also don't think there are a certain qualities that every American has. If that were the case then would the people lacking these qualities be considered less "American" than the people who had them? That seems rather silly to me and therefor I reject the idea of anything being "quintessentially American". Isn't America supposed to stand for freedom and acceptence? By making statements of what is American and what is not is going against the morals laid the foundations for our country.
ReplyDeleteI think this book is included in an American Lit. course due to the statements it makes of humanity. And I believe that some of its ideas can be applied to people all around the world not just people in America. To me it is this concept that makes a good piece of literature, when the book appeals to a larger group rather than only a small direct group.
I agree with Aleksandra that America is made up of millions of different people with different morals and ideas, but that is what i think makes a person American. The individual is highly important in American culture and the right to be unique is what makes an American an American. Therefore Steinbeck's novel is quintessentially an American novel due to his variety of highly unique characters. For example, Sam Hamilton is one of the most American characters I can think of due to his inventiveness and realization that he can be his own man. Another completely American value that is introduced in East of Eden is the notion of 'Thou Mayest'. Doesn't this give a person the freedom to do what he chooses and therefore become an individual? In a way, Steinbeck is highlighting that America is a breed of individuals all decndent from the same people with the freedom to stray from their ancestors in order to realize themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jada and Aleksandra because it's not only the style of writing and where the book takes place that makes it Armerican, but it is the diversity and ingenuity of the characters that make it a quintessentially American novel. For example, Steinbeck covers every type of person in this book. He has jolly creative people such as Samuel and Tom Hamilton, people who are money and business oriented such as Will Hamilton, down to earth people such as Olive Hamilton, and also relatively bad people like Cathy and Charles. This variety of people is what made America succesful as a country in the first place because all of the different ideas and personalities allowed for a plethera of inventions and creations. It also shows that each individual has his/her part in contributing to the whole country through their ideas and differences which teaches people to not conform to what people think of them but to be their own man/woman.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Americans are a breed. Although the country began as a dis unified network of people, it has grown together over the decades in an idea that pulls people together and makes them kin. To be American is to be striving, looking, always searching for a way to move forward, go further, or break a record. This book is full of people striving for things. Cal strives to outgrow his mother's shadow, Adam strives to send lettuce across the country, Will strives to make a future out of the mismatched dreaming of his family, Aron strives religious purity. They all seek to go beyond where they have been previously, just as the revolutionaries wanted a democratic country and the pioneers wanted to see what was beyond the mountaintops, and the slaves tried to achieve a dream of living in unity with their masters, as equals. It has been the American dream always to get further. However, the American story is often described as a success story, and most characters in East of Eden do not end up being successful, and in this way I believe it is not a "traditional" American story.
ReplyDeleteEast of Eden is quintessentially an American book because of the variety of peoples personalities that occur in the book. In my opinion, America is a place where people can express their individuality and feelings so as Steinbeck created his own visual of why and how American's are the way they are today. It all began with one's ancestor teaching their kids to be a certain way, and it is that person' choice weather or not they would like to take that route of their ancestor or begin their own trail.
ReplyDeleteEach person in the book has a family where the family is alike in many ways, but individually are completely different people who hold very different morals. The Hamilton family for example, all very sweet, genuine people because of the way they were parented, but individually, they all have different interests and views on life.
I feel this book is included in High School American literature because it is based off of real characters that Steinbeck encountered with. It also gives you an idea of good versus evil people and how evil people need the good and the good doesn't need the evil.
This novel qualifys as a quintessental American novel because it deals woth the story of America and the people in it. Like Lee said we are all desendants of the scoundrels and theives but we are also decended form the honorable. Much like the history of American there is goos and bad and all we can do is move forward. Thsi would be included in an American Litarature couse because it is set in America and it also deals with multiple types of American culture and people.
ReplyDeletenah
ReplyDelete