From your reading of Chapter 14-about Olive Hamilton, Steinbeck's mother- do you think it is wildly intrusice and inappropriate, as some cirtics have claimed? Or, is the chapter consistent with other interjections throughout the book and with Steinbeck's ambition to write a novel for his son in an unrestricted style?
The chapter about Olive Hamilton is not inappropriate as some critics have said it is. It is a section in there where he tells a story he remembers as a child. The whole chapter reveals how much Steinbeck admires and loves his mother as there are no negative comments made about her. "Olive was brave"(pg. 151). He wants to show how good of a mother and woman she is. The chapter is dedicated to praising her. One must rember that the novel is being written for his children and not for everyone else.If the chapter writtern Olive is deemed innapropriate then the chapters about the rest of the family are also.Thedives into the inner workinggs of the family and reveals each person's characteritics and flaws. It is just another chapter where the reader can compare, Olive, and affectionate wholesome mother, to Cathy, a money hiungry and selfish person, and see how Cahty is evil and Olive is good.
Part Two concludes with an evocation of BiblicalStoriesof Aaron who did not make it to the Promise Land, and Caleb and Joshua who did. Is ther a Moses figure in the book thus far whose vision leads the characters out of their spiritual wilderness?
It is clear that Samuel is a Moses figure. He assists Adam in finding his way out of his own wilderness of sorrow. He also rears all of his children in the right direction. Lee even comfortable enough around him to speak properly; he realizes that Samuel is different upon meeitng him and is an honest man. He even reads the Cain and Abel story becauuse he is good and bringe goodness out in those around him. He is able to show that God protected Cain and did not allow him not to be killed and protected him. God gave him a chance to be good.
Both Mr. Edwards, the whoremaster in Part One, and Faye, the brothel madam, fall in love with Cathy. The narrator says that Cathy "was a mistress of technique which is the basis of a good wrestling-that of letting your opponetnt do the heavy work toward his own defeat,, or of guiding his strength toward his weakness." How is this so, with respect to Mr. Edwards and Faye? How does Cathy play them? Does she play Adam the same way?
Cathy allows Mr. Edwards to fall in love with her. She makes him spend countless of amounts of money on her, and wears him physically and mentally down by keeping him wondering about her whereabout during the day. "His nerves went"(pg. 94) and he had weight loss and was stressed "it nearly kille him"(pg. 94). Here it is shown that because of Cathy never being straightforward or honest to Mr. Edwards he became stressed out and was unable to keep up with her. She is lettin him do "the heavy work towards his own deafeat". With Faye Cathy portrayed an innocent persona in which she took to Faye and made her believe that she could be the daugher Faye always dreamed of. "Faye, the essence of motherness, began to think of Kate as her daughter"(pg. 223). Faye desires to recreate the family that she lost in her troubled past and she is eager to take Cathy in as her own. However, she does not realize her mistake and it leads to her death. Cathy used Faye's weakness, wanting a daughter, and used it against her and easily manipulated and decieved her.
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