Maturity Lies East of Eden

What does John Steinbeck have to say about maturity? 

John Steinbeck in East of Eden reveals through his characters that maturity requires an admission of the truth, no matter how ugly. East of Eden tells the story of humanity’s ancient battle with good and evil through the generations of a family, whose members continually grapple with the nuance of themselves and of the world around them. These complexities are made possible by the never-ending clash between good and evil that confronts each character; who must choose how he responds to it. Steinbeck ultimately illustrates that in order to grow, a person must address the truth that both good and evil exist within the world and within people, else they will live in an eternal chosen ignorance.

In order to fully present this idea of truth working in partnership with growth, Steinbeck presents a character who grows in age but not in wisdom, due to his aversion to reality. Aron Trask seems mature in his commitment to the church and college, yet lives his entire life in denial of the truth that his mother is a prostitute, and his father a liar. Aron "couldn't stand to know about his mother because that's not how he wanted the story to go" (Steinbeck, 576), and his inability to grapple with this reality leads him to deny later ones. The girl who Aron loved- Abra- feels unseen by Aron, who "made someone up, and it's like he put my skin on her" (493). She explains further, saying that Aron's projected girl is "nothing but pure- never a bad thing" and "I'm not like that" (493). For a long time, Abra struggles against the false image that Aron has created of her, until Abra's mentor pinpoints that "nobody is (solely pure)" (493). When Abra's mentor clarifies that truth about humanity, that no one is only one side, Abra is able to identify that even as an adult, "Aron never grew up" (575). She clarifies that "when we were children we lived in a story that we made up" until one grows up, and "the story wasn't enough... because the story wasn't true anymore" (575). Real maturity requires an admission of the truth. The truth that people are more complex than just good or just evil, and that the world is that way too.

Aron "wouldn't have any other story" (576), and because of this choice, he saw only a part of reality.

"It's worse, but it's much better too", to discover that the world is different than one always perceived. It takes real guts to grow from being a child, for maturity is an uncomfortable process. Yet it is that great battle between good and evil that spurs freedom. If people were only black or white- if the world was only black or white- then all would be enslaved to their innate makeup. There would be no risk, and no responsibility to "carry a man's greatness if he wanted to take advantage of it" (520).