Lee’s Function in East of Eden Essay

1. Introduction As Shimomura(1982) head ups give a counsel, Steinbecks non-teleological intellection and the Taoism, which was put forward by the ancient Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu, dowry a coarse deal of comparison, in that two of them study gentle beings from a detached and holistic vantage point. It is not craply known how Steinbeck, who is certainly a product of his time and his Ameri advise milieu, came to be acquainted with and elicit in Lao Tzus philosophy, but in Journal of A Novel, he appreciates Lao Tzu so highly that he places Lao Tzu beside Plato, Buddha, Christ, Paul, and the slap-up Hebraic prophets.It major power safely be said that on that point moldiness have been a ejaculatebed in his indigenous thought where a seed of Lao Tzu was sown, germinated, and at last bloomed into a beautiful and fragrant point so attractive for the eastern reader. Thus, the purpose of this paper is beginning(a) to c oncenter on lee(prenominal) in easternmost of heaven, then to make clear the relationship between non-teleology and the philosophy of Lao Tzu, and finally to show how well-nigh Lao Tzus philosophy is related to the idea of timshel.2. lee(prenominal) as a servant and philosopher As is well known to his reader, Steinbeck creates three Chinese characters byout his novels from the first, Cup of Gold, to the last, The Winter of Our Discon ten dollar billt. To list them, they atomic number 18 downwind Chong, who is an possessor of a grocery store, a flip-flopping old Chinaman who is not identify by name in Cannery Row, and Lee, who appears in East of Eden.though these Chinese characters may respectively perform hearty functions in their own counterbalances in their stories, the genius who particularly warrants considerable heed among these characters is Lee, who is to a greater extent(prenominal) active and more influential in determining the fates of the major characters in the novel. Moreover, it is noteworthy that Ori ental philosophy, which is a deciding factor in the outcome of this novel, is conveyed to the reader through the verbalize of this Chinese character, who is actually thought to be a spokesman of Steinbeck himself.Though Lee makes his first appearance in chapter 15 of East of Eden as a faithful servant to the family of Adam Trask, it is when he first meets Samuel Hamilton by chance in the later scene that he turns out to be something more than a mere servant and similarly begins to take over his own signifi targetce in the novel. This scene should acquire great importance, in that Lee first clarifies his general view of life as a spokesman of the generator. Even in the first conversation he has with Samuel, Lee is instinctively aware that Samuel is a soulfulness whom he can trust.Just aft(prenominal) exchanging a few words with him, Lee quits speaking in pidgin English, as if he cast a centering his protective shell into which he has secretly retired until then. And in the cou rse of the conversation, he spontaneously confides to Samuel his idea on what it is like to be a servant I tangle witht know where being a servant came into disrepute. It is a refuge of a philosopher, the food of the lazy, and, properly carried out, it is a cast of post, even of love. I cant understand why more intelligent people dont take it as a career learn to do it well and reap its benefits. nevertheless a favourable servant, and I am an excellent one(a), can completely control his master, tell him what to think, how to act, Finally, in my circumstances I am unprotected. 1 This philosophical view on servantship which is explicit through the mouth of a Chinese character apparently reflects the authors basic view toward life, for it is easy to imagine that Steinbecks agency of describing the predominance of servantship over the mastership oozes from the idea of relativity which he attained as the outcome of his popular non-teleological intellection.The idea tells the r eader that any standard, as removed as it is built around the artificially drippy system of set, loses its significant validity when seen in the light of non-teleological standpoint. According to this view, a psyche in a socially reputed arrangement of power cannot avoid the possibility of losing his power when seen through some other various peep-hole. And it is possible that in fact a small-scale and unrespected person may gain predominating influence upon the people who are ranked far above in the so-called social status.Furthermore, another interesting point in this relation lies in the passiveness of such(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) a low position. A person in a low position is unprotected by himself, but by becoming a servant to another person in a higher position he begins to play a role in his own right and at last controls his master. This master-servant relationship uttered by Lee reveals that once he has gotten employment by his master, even a helpless person who has little social function by himself not entirely begins to fill his own function but also gains predominance over his master.Consequently, this office that in this relationship a master is no longer a master and a servant is also no longer a servant. Eventually in this work this relationship results in the fact that Lee actually controls Adam in every situation. 3. Lee as a spokesman of Lao Tzus philosophy Similarly in the Lao Tzu, a collection of wise- presupposeings which were written by a person named Lao Tzu most in the fourth century BC(Fukunaga, Hachiya, Takahashi), the same topsy-turveydom in the sense of determine can be found in one of the eighty fragmental writings. In chapter 78 it saysIn the ground thither is zip more subservient and faint than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and starchy nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing that can take its place. That the run-down overcomes the strong, And the submissiv e overcomes the hard, Everyone in the humanness knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice. Therefore the sage says, One who takes on himself the discomposure of the give tongue to Is called a ruler worthy of offering sacrifices to the gods of earth and millets simple words Seems paradoxical. 2In this passage quoted above, Lao Tzu explains the victory of the submissive and the weak over the hard and the strong, just in the same style that servantship finally achieves victory over mastership. Clearly enough, there is a great deal of similarity between Lees general office toward life and Lao Tzus precept of holding fast to the submissive. needless to say, the common belief which underlies their paradoxical view stems from the idea that man- do values are nothing but relative, and this relativity is resulted from their attempt to rest their standpoint on a place which is asfree from forgiving-centered sight as possible.There is no doubt roughly the idea that Steinb eck created Lee as a deciding factor of the outcome from this novel frame in with a acceptable and villainy story, and it is not too much to say that Lees appearance reveals the authors strong soul of the relativity between good and evil. This becomes clear when Lee encourages Adam by saying, What your wife is doing is neither good nor un heartysome. Theres no springboard to philanthropy like a bad conscience.3 Additionally, there is another similarity between them also in their manners of describing such relativity. Both Steinbeck and Lao Tzu clarify the interdependence between the weak and the strong by emphasizing the predominance of the former over the latter. This is because they think that the weak is more closely related to the natural processes of the universe than the strong is. That is to say, in the philosophy of Lao Tzu there is nothing like water that follows the way that the tao is and on the other hand, according to Steinbecks non-teleological thinking, Lee occup ies an ideal position in life.Based on the hypothesis that the Lees view of life charters such relativity in itself as a master(prenominal) factor, it is quite convincing that the word timshel, which means thou mayest in English, is introduced through the mouth of Lee in the novel. Probably one of the most fulgurant scenes in the novel is where Lee, Samuel, and Adam meet together to decide on names for the twins. Located almost in the center of this long novel, this appointment scene actually shows the reader a certain turning point from which East of Eden meanders between good and evil all the way to the final scene.In this scene Samuel reads a long passage from the anile Testament. This passage includes the Cain-Abel story, and they eagerly talk about the views of the original sin which Cain affiliated by killing Abel. Lee is so strongly struck by this story that he feels that it is a chart of our souls. Though he neer refers to them on this scene, deep in his mind remains the superiors word to Cain after rejecting his sacrifice And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. This naming scene, where Lee is unfastened to the Cain-Abel story, effectively leads to the scene in chapter 24 where he puts a freshly indication on words of the above passage. 4. Timshel interpreted from the Oriental vantage point Chapter 24 in East of Eden warrants the most careful attention first because it develops the motif of the Cain-Abel story discussed in the previous scene, and also because it crucially affects the direction of this work. This chapter reveals that Lee has given his thought to the story for almost ten age since his serious discussion he had with Adam and Samuel.A certain part of the Lords words to Cain has bothered this Chinese for such a long period. It is thou shalt over him. In the course of these years he went to the head quarters of his family association and asked for Chin ese scholars to take on the study of Hebrew, in order to find the more appropriate denotation of the part. And finally in this scene he excitedly explains the importance of his conclusion in the presence of Samuel Lees hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp.Dont you see? he cried. The American Standard commentary orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The queen mole rat James translation makes a promise in Thou Shalt, message that men impart surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word the timshel Thou mayest that gives a choice. It might be the most historic word. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if Thou mayest, it is also true that Thou mayest not. Dont you see? 4.The above-quoted revelation made by Lee vividly reflects his idea of relativity between good and evil. To begin with, Lee, who has been bothered long by Thou shalt, reaches the conclusion that it neer lightens the bu rden imposed on the shoulders of a man who suffers sense of sin. The main(prenominal) reason why Lee turns his back to Thou shalt lies in the assumption that eventually it is not completely free from a human-centered viewpoint. When the Lord says, Thou shalt to Cain, the most fundamental idea that strongly supports the words on the back is that of love.But the love, though it is thought to be more universal proposition and crucially different than human love in quality, is not only if free from mans viewpoint as far as the Lord in Christianity is a personified god. Basically such love, like one side of a coin, is inevitably sustained by hatred on the other side. Therefore, it follows that even when thou shalt is thrown to man through the mouth of Lord, his require has been already judged evil, more or less, by the artificially contrived standard of value which unavoidably needinesss in the idea of relativity.When seen from another different angle, such conduct may appear to be good, because there might be good in it. After all, thou shalt works the repurchase of man only in the teleological manner. On the other hand, Lees new interpretation shows an utter indifference of the Lord to human conduct. It does not definitely order man to overcome evil nor involve any promise in it. Actually such characteristic of his interpretation may perhaps plunge man into desperation because superficially it seems to lack love and intention to guide him to emancipation from the sin that he has committed.But Lee thinks that it is such an indifferent attitude that leads him to real salvation of his soul. Timshel, which is plain a product of Lees assiduous study of the Cain-Abel story, is found on the idea of relativity just as are non-teleological thinking and Lao Tzus philosophy. This is understandably exemplified by the fact that thou mayest is incessantly supported by the opposite prerequisite, thou mayest not. In other words it means that there is neither good nor evi l in every human conduct, and at the same time, what is more important, it also means that there is both good and evil involved in it.Thou mayest only allows man to say, This is relatively good and that is relatively evil. In this way Lee, as a Steinbecks spokesman, non-teleologically thinks that timshel unites good and evil into one body. Steinbecks tactile sensation of good and evil shown in East of Eden begins with the idea that both of them fundamentally derive from the same state, and, no doubt, it is a product of his favorite non-teleological thinking. He never believes in a logical theory such as laws of the excluded middle where good and evil are orderly and clearly distinguished from each other.He usually places his main viewpoint in a chaotic place where there is neither good nor evil, and applies such a viewpoint to human conducts, with the ultimate result that an evil person should be saved in the same way a good person is saved. Though the optimistic attitude of his i ndigenous thinking has been repeatedly attacked for its lack of serious consideration toward evil, Steinbeck thinks that good and evil are relative, and, as a result, evil is nothing but a negative state which is lacking in good it is more appropriate to say that it is merely a paradoxical state which is devoid of a strong consciousness of good.When employed as the framework of East of Eden, his non-teleological idea of good and evil crystallizes into the new interpretation of the Cain-Abel story, and the word timshel, on one hand, thoroughly awakens Adam, an representative figure of Abel, from his vain dream to sober reality, and, on the other hand, it emancipates Caleb, an allegorical figure of Cain, from the thralldom of sin. This manner of treating good and evil, needless to say, has great similarity to the philosophy of Lao Tzu, who writes the good man is the teacher that the bad learns from And the bad man is the material the good works on.5 As Steinbeck views the world from the detached standpoint of the infinite whole, so Lao Tzu has created the notion of the tao to exterminate a human-centered view of the world out of his philosophy. This attempt has brought about the same result as Steinbeck has achieved. That is to say, they have both reached the same construct of mans true place in the universe, and his relation to the world about him, which enables both of them to place an emphasis on the relation of individuals to the whole and treat individuals for their own sake.Such treatment of individuals is summarized by saying that everything is an tycoon of everything else6 and that The heavy is the root of the light. 7 Finally, the quintessence of Steinbeck as a novelist undoubtedly lies in the employment of non-teleological thinking as the frameworks of his novels. The adoption of this system does not allow him to achieve invariable success in his literary works, but, at least, it can be said that it enables him to view human conduct from the broad est and highest standpoint possible, which Lao Tzu paradoxically describes by adopting negative terms such as Nothing and The Nameless. Notes 1. fundament Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 190. (Penguin Books, 1976), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 2. D. C. Lau, Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, p. 140. (Penguin Books, 1963), All citations from Steinbeck are from Penguin editions and will be noted by page numbers following the citations. 3. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 434 4. John Steinbeck, East of Eden, p. 349 5. D. C. Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 84. 6. John Steinbeck, The record from the Sea of Cortez, p. 259 7. D. C.Lau, Tao Te Ching, p. 83 . full treatment Cited Fukunaga, Mituji. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo Asahishinbun-sha, 1968 Hachiya, Kunio. Ro-So wo yomu (A Study of Lao Tzu and Zhuang Tzu). Tokyo Kodansha, 1987. John Steinbeck. The Log from the Sea of Cortez, Penguin Books. 1976 -. East of Eden, NewYork Pengui n Books. 1976 Lau, D. C. , trans. Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching,New York Penguin Books, 1963. Shimomura, Noboru. A Study of John Steinbeck Mysticism in His Novel . Tokyo The Hokuseido Press, 1982. Takahashi, Susumu. Roshi (On Lao Tzu ), Tokyo Shimizu-shoin, 1970.