A Comment On Steinbeck's Reflection Of Orientalism In East Of Eden

John Steinbeck (1902—1968) is one of the greatest writers in American literature. Although he has won the Nobel Prize, critics still praise him for his early works written in the 1930s rather than his later ones. During the past several years, scholars have been studying these later works with more attention. However, no matter the content, range or amount of the researches cannot be compared with those of his former ones.East of Eden (1952) is one of the representative novels of John Steinbeck. To the author, the novel is of great significance. Steinbeck once said,"There is nothing beyond this book—nothing follows it. It must contain all in the world I know and it must have everything in it of which I am capable."①Most of the critics discuss the novel from prototype point of view, while some critics focus on the theme of good and evil, the feminism, the metafiction structure, and the writing techniques.In East of Eden, John Steinbeck creates a Chinese American character named Lee who plays an important role in the development of the story. At the time when Orientalism prevailed and Chinese were prejudiced, Steinbeck portrayed the character in an objective and active way and pointed out for Lee the way to survive, which was of great realistic significance. This thesis aims at revealing Steinbeck's innovative thought on cultural blending and its contribution to American literature by discussing his reflection on Orientalism.This thesis consists of three parts—introduction, the main body, and conclusion.The introduction part is mainly concerned with the cause and aim of selecting this topic, the researching methods of the thesis, and the present studies on Steinbeck and his works both home and abroad. This part presents the theme of the novel by analysing the theory of Orientalism, and moreover, it reveals the uniqueness of this study on East of Eden by discussing Steinbeck's special understanding on the Eastern culture expressed in this novel.The main body of this thesis is made up of three chapters.ChapterⅠfocuses on Orientalism and its influence on American literature. The meanings of Orientalism are given by Edward Said in his controversial 1978 book Orientalism which is a classics on post-colonialism criticism. In this masterpiece, Said defines Orientalism as the combination of the following three factors—the mental state in which the East is inferior to the West, the intentional twisting on Eastern academic and literary works by the Western world, and Europe and America's colonial activities toward the Orient. This chapter contains the origin and the development of Orientalism in Western countries, especially Orientalism toward Chinese in American society. Meanwhile, several examples of stereotypical Chinese images in American novels are given, which theoretically helps to study Steinbeck's reflection on Orientalism in the later chapters.ChapterⅡanalyses the relationship between John Steinbeck and Orientalism by studying his living experience and philosophies, and tells the way of his critique and reconsidering of Orientalism. First of all, the thesis points out Steinbeck's special living background in California and its influence on the forming of his writing style. The second part of this chapter gives a general comment on Steinbeck's literary thoughts, emphasizing his realism and humanism illustrated in his novels especially in East of Eden. Thirdly, the social causes of his critical reflection on Orientalism are introduced, and his uniqueness and insight into the true life are presented here. The last part of the chapter reveals the viewpoints and range of Steinbeck's realization of Orientalism as well as its the social effect.ChapterⅢ, by analyzing how Lee, the main Chinese character of the novel, seeks his identity in American society at the beginning of the 20th century, discusses Steinbeck's reflection of Orientalism. The first part comments on Lee's awkward identity in California as a descendant of Chinese immigrants under the influence of Orientalism, analyses the common existence and cause of Chinese as"Other", and points out the objective writing feature of John Steinbeck. The second part discusses Lee's long progress to be accepted by the dominant society during which Lee gains the power of speech, and furthermore, it is Lee who educates others to pursue free will by hybridizing the western and Chinese philosophies. Here, Steinbeck's positive worldview can be found. The third part, by displaying the relationships between Lee and some other main characters of the novel, analyzes the final role he plays in American society, and tells the differences between Lee and the Orientalist stereotypical Chinese images, which shows the special understanding of Chinese culture by Steinbeck. Finally, the thesis points out that Steinbeck's creation of this Chinese character in East of Eden offers a path for Chinese Americans as well as immigrants from other races to fulfill their free will. It is of great realistic importance on multi-cultural blending in the whole American society.The conclusion first retells the theme of East of Eden and John Steinbeck's literary achievements, and points out that in the artistic creation of Lee, Steinbeck breaks the pervasive and negative influence of Orientalism in American society and by his reflection of Orientalism he portrays Lee as a man of integrity, a philosopher with kindness and most importantly a Chinese American who is open to various cultures without favoring any one. This progress also provides a way for those people who have a mixed cultural background to seek identity and communicate well with people of different races—to blend the Western and Eastern cultures effectively, which is of advanced and constructive importance.