Steinbeck's use of Christian symbolism is seen in most of his major works. Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck makes references to the story of Cain and Abel as well as the word timshel. According to Fontenrose, the primary focus of East of Eden is to "make aware the problem of evil" by portraying the main characters (Adam, Charles, Aron, Caleb, Abra, and Cathy) as present-day Cain and Abels (3379). The story of Cain and Abel is correlated in E

ast of Eden by denoting the "good" character, or the "Abel," with an "A," and the "evil" character, or the "Cain," with a "C" (Strecker 1894). Within the novel, every generation of characters has its own Cain and Abel, who produce a conflict of good versus evil (Gray 56). For example, Cathy, who represents Cain, coldly kills her parents and abandons her children for her own selfish reasons while her counterpart, Adam, who represents Abel, is selfless and loving to his parents and children. Through Lee, Adam's Chinese servant, Steinbeck portrays his interpretation of the Hebrew word timshel; Steinbeck believes that timshel means "thou mayest rule over sin" and not "thou shalt rule over sin" (Gray 57). Lee "understood that the story [of timshel and Cain and Abel] meant...that man can...conquer evil"(Strecker 1893). No matter how truthful and philosophical Lee's understanding may be, the issue of whether or not man can overcome evil in East of Eden is left unresolved, unlike the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible. Steinbeck's usage of Christian symbolism did not stop at the novel East of Eden.

Steinbeck focuses on using reality in his novels by placing realistic characters in realistic situations. His work exemplifies social realism, which is "the type of literature that concerns itself with the direct...intervention in the problematic social conditions in society" (Attell 253). In both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, the realistic problems of the nation during the 1930s are expressed by using two different scenarios to express the grievances of thousands of families. It is that one family that represents an entire race of people that enables Steinbeck's novels to touch so many of his readers. Both of these novels are portrayals of the harsh conditions in which migrant workers in California survived (Attell 254-55). For example, in The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck describes the discrimination the Joad family faces because they are "Oakies." This is seen when the Joad family pulls up to a service station and are questioned as to whether or not they will be able to pay for a tank of gasoline. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, who are also migrant workers, become social outcasts because the oppression that they face has become so harsh that they express their anger through the use of violence (Attell 254). The discrimination that the migrant workers face in Steinbeck's novels is real; the anger that the migrant workers feel in Steinbeck's novels is real. The feelings of oppression that the characters in The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men is seen by their diction; the characters speak in a language that is raw, rude, and rugged (Gray 67-8). It is the realness of not only the settings in which the stories take place, but also the realness of the unrefined language that makes the characters in Steinbeck's novels so tangible.

Because Steinbeck's novels deal with recurring issues, they are still studied today. His portrayal of the common ma

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