East of Eden Part One Continued

Is Cathy doomed by nature to be who she is, or does she have a choice? Cathy is introduced as a monster in Chapter 8; in Chapter 12 she's described slightly differently. Steinbeck seems to be assessing her character as he writes the book. Why might Steinbeck be asking the reader to assess Cathy carefully? How might Cathy Ames be an Eve-like figure? Or is she like Lilith  a demon created from filth, who according to some Jewish myths, was Adam's first wife? What role does human sexuality play in the lives of the character? How is Adam's good nature and inability to see through Cathy a weakness? If Adam is an " A" character and therefore "good", is he also an admirable character? Do you, as a reader, like all that he does?

                    Cathy has a choice to be who she is just as every person does in life She makes her own decisions and even thinks them through before she makes them. She is seen as completely cold-hearted in the beginning of the novel and that trend continues as the novel goes on. The reader should look at Cathy closely to try and see where her evil branches from and see how she can easily manipulate her way into people's lives. Cathy is not an Eve like figure because she was tricked into eating the apple by Satan, Cathy was not tricked into being evil and causing destruction. She made her own conscious decisions. She would be seen more as Lilith because they both fight to be in control. Lilith ends up fleeing from Adam when they cannot agree on anything. At the beginning of the relationship Cathy does not want to go to California but Adam does so they do, and she later leaves Adam after bearing his children when she can not kill them herself. Lilith is also known for infecting children and harming them. They both after leaving their spouses go on to seduce and have sexual relations with various men. They use their sexuality to get what they want in life and use their good looks to deceive people and get their way. Adam is unable to see through Cathy's surface beauty and see her evil, and that is his weakness. He is blinded by her beauty and his need to take care of someone just the way he did during his service in the  military. It becomes his weakness because he allows Cathy to use him and sets himself up for failure. His goodness is to be admired however he nativity and ignorance are not. It makes the reader pity Adam and desire for him to realize Cathy's true nature. I do not like all that he does. I feel as though he rushed into the marriage and does not truly know the real Cathy and that he should have gotten to know her before he made the decision to marry her based on pure infatuatin and lonliness.