The harshest conditions of the first half of the twentieth century are portrayed with great power and veracity by one of the greatest American authors, John Steinbeck. Through his writings, Steinbeck is able to let the world visualize and comprehend the struggles of the poverty-stricken working man in such a way that the reader becomes part of the working man's struggle to survive on a day-to-day basis. Because the plight of the working class is an ongoing struggle, Steinbeck's works of social realism stand the test of time and prove to be just as influential on the people of today as they were on the people of yesteryear. Through his innovative use of Christianity, reality, and humanity, John Steinbeck proves himself to be an American literary icon who surpasses the test of time.
             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 East 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 tims...