A Study Of Lee’s Image In East Of Eden From The Perspective Of Orientalism

East of Eden is a representative work of John Steinbeck. Domestic and foreignliterary critics have studied this novel from different perspectives, but the Chineseimage in this work has been overlooked. This thesis, aiming to interpret Lee’s imagein East of Eden from the perspective of Orientalism, believes that Lee undergoes atransformation from an “other” that is deprived of the freedom of speech to a realChinese American with independent identity. Lee’s transformation, which set anexample for the Chinese Americans and even all the immigrants, not only points outa practical way for them, but also reflects Steinbeck’s positive attitude towardmulti-culture blending. It has a profound significance.First, the novel reveals Lee’s awkward identity in the Salinas Valley withmulti-culture collision. He is at the beginning an “other” who loses his freedom ofspeech and a housekeeper that relies on his master’s protection. Secondly, it mainlydeals with Lee’s identity seeking process, as he tries hard to get rid of this awkwardidentity to become a real member of American society, he abandons traditionalChinese culture and life style but totally imitates the Americans, which results in amarginalization both by Chinese and American society. Thirdly, it reveals Lee’scombinations of Chinese and American culture for complimenting to each otherthrough long hours’ of learning and pondering, which not only lead to the formationof his independent identity but exert positive influence on the characters.Last, Steinbeck lives in an America society which is prevalent with Orientalism,but he subverts the established mode of thinking and re-establishes a new image of aChinese immigrant and therefore, Lee’s new image is of a profound culturalsignificance.