Chapter 31

East of Eden

Mountaineers · 10th–12th

Copywork

Some men can’t see the color green, but they may never know they can’t. I think you are only a part of a human. I can’t do anything about that. But I wonder whether you ever feel that something invisible is all around you. It would be horrible if you knew it was there and couldn’t see it or feel it. That would be horrible.

On the wall hung a huge tinted photograph of Samuel, which had captured a cold and aloof dignity, a scrubbed and dressed remoteness, which did not belong to him living. There was no twinkle in the picture of him, nor any of his inspective joyousness. The picture hung in a heavy gold frame, and to the consternation of all children its eyes followed a child about the room.

Read the first passage aloud. Adam says “horrible” twice at the end. Should the second one sound louder or quieter than the first?

For the educator The two passages are two portraits of a person shown from one side: Adam’s picture of Kate, spoken to her face, and the family’s picture of Samuel, hung on Liza’s wall. They are worth copying side by side. The first is speech, and every word in it is plain. It opens with a balanced sentence that turns on but and ends by repeating its own verb: men who “can’t see” and who “may never know they can’t.” The second and third sentences are short and blunt, a verdict and a shrug. The fourth turns on But and moves from a color to “something invisible,” which is a larger claim than the first. The fifth is a long conditional, “if you knew it was there and couldn’t see it or feel it,” and the sixth repeats its last word as a sentence of its own. The second passage is the narrator writing at full stretch. Its first sentence puts the verb before the subject, “On the wall hung,” and then sets two pairs side by side, “a cold and aloof dignity, a scrubbed and dressed remoteness,” before the turn, “which did not belong to him living.” The second is built on a negative, “no twinkle” and “nor any,” so that it names Samuel by what the picture lacks. The third lets a heavy word, consternation (a vocabulary word, as is inspective), land on a small comic fact, the eyes that follow the young about the room. For the talk prompt, some will make the second “horrible” louder, as Adam presses his point; some will make it quieter, as if he is saying it to himself; some will say it is not said to Kate at all. Leave it open. The discussion begins in Lee’s garden, before Adam sets out.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back, from Adam in Lee’s garden to Will at the Chop House, who “didn’t want to talk any more.” Then name the one sentence that matters most to you, and say what Steinbeck is doing with it.

1. Adam decides to take the letter to Kate himself. Lee tells him, “You can be unhonest in many ways, but not in that way.” What way does Lee mean?Moral reasoning

2. Kate threatens, bargains and sneers. Then Adam sees on her face that she is afraid of him. What is Kate afraid of?Inference

3. Kate’s first words to Adam are “What do you want now?” At the door, when she calls him “Mr. Mouse,” he turns back to tell her what she doesn’t understand. What does he want now?Character

4. Kate peers at Adam from under a “green transparent eyeshade.” Later, Adam tells her that some men can’t see the color green. What does the eyeshade add to what he says?Author's choice

5. Kate once showed Adam pictures of men in their ugliness. In Liza’s room hangs a huge picture of Samuel with dignity but “no twinkle.” Which picture tells the bigger lie?Theme

6. The parrot says “Button up” twice, each time soon after Liza mentions Tom. Who in that room is the parrot talking to?Tone

7. At the Chop House, Will cuts the fat off his steak and pushes it aside. After he covers up about Dessie, he eats a piece of that fat. Why would he eat what he pushed away?Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when one person told another, face to face, what they thought was wrong with them. What gives anyone the right to say that?

Vocabulary

consternation The picture hung in a heavy gold frame, and to the consternation of all children its eyes followed a child about the room.

inspective There was no twinkle in the picture of him, nor any of his inspective joyousness.

shrillness She tried to prevent the shrillness that crept into her voice.

Critical thinking

1. Liza snaps her mouth shut when her eyes fill, and Will covers up and stops talking. In Kate’s room, Adam feels a “complete lack of emotion” and says, “I feel safe.” How different is his calm from theirs?

Thesis

Objection

Revision

2. Adam tells Kate she sees only the ugly side of people and that “there’s a part of you missing.” Is he seeing her clearly at last, or is he now the one who sees only one side?

Thesis

Objection

Revision