East of Eden and Spiritual Transcendence
While reading through East of Eden, I was struck by the great diversity of characters and the lives they lead; there were the mundane and superficial, the zealous and overbearing, the protectors and predators, all wrapped up somehow under one cover. Steinbeck of course wrote each character carefully and beautifully, but one in particular stood out to me. It’s probably no surprise to anyone reading this that I believe the greatest character in East of Eden is Samuel Hamilton. From his introduction, his presence is that of vitality; he is described as “remarkable well educated and well read” and “connected and related to very great people and very small people”. With a “rich deep voice” and an unequal ability for “soothing hysteria and bringing quiet”, Samuel brought his richness of character and let it saturate the bones of everyone he interacted with. One thing I find so fascinating about his character is his ability to balance such a monumental set of morals with such a low profile of