“East of Eden” by John Steinbeck
What about a novel where the purest of heart is ruthlessly punished? What version of morality is Steinbeck advocating for? A clear extraction from all of his narrative decisions is the idea that goodness is only a virtue when it exists in tandem with bad, only when a man composed of equal measures of malice and benevolence wills himself to abide by the latter. When goodness manifests effortlessly, it is more of a vice than a virtue, as seen in […]