| Since the publication of Steinbeck's East of Eden in the year of 1952, critics from abroad have discussed the novel ferociously; meanwhile, nearly no critic in our country studies East of Eden. Due to such situation, the author does a primary study on East of Eden, so as to provide to the literary critics of Steinbeck some useful background information on the novel for their further reading as well as study. East of Eden is a parable. The name of the novel– East of Eden– is taken from the Holy Bible, which means a place of devil as well as a place of promises. Steinbeck takes the Genesis myths as the archetypes of the novel, explores the relations between humanity and man's free will and foresees optimistically man's final salvation. Therefore by analyzing and interpreting the myths and archetypes in East of Eden, the thesis will focus on discussing the inharmonious phenomena of modern American society as reflected in the novel and try to reveal the limitations in Steinbeck's thoughts by analyzing his solutions to those social problems. |
