MovieChat Forums > East of Eden (1955) Discussion > Cathy representation

Cathy representation

posted 14 years ago by LadyN1
6 replies | jump to latest

A lot of people/researchers argue that Cathy is meant to symbolic of the devil. Yet even reading the books I'm not sure I believe this. Yes she is not a nice person, she's promiscious, selfish and very manipulative but she does do some good such as giving Cal the money and also she kills herself after Cal brings Aaron to her . Surely there was some emotion or something humane in her that compelled her to do something so tragic and drastic after simply encountering her son for the first time in years. Maybe guilt? I think its fair to say she has a conscious she's just viewed as a`monster` because is very independant and restless- almost masculine in some respects- and most women of that period of time were not expected to behave that way.

But what do you all think is Cathy purely evil like the devil or do you think she could represent something else -maybe the growing independance of woman or something.
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[–] tuffysmom 14 years ago

I don't know that I'd say "purely evil" but I think in today's terms we'd call her a sociopath.

[–] titanicsurvivor93 14 years ago

Funny, I had this discussion in class a few days ago with my teacher and another stusent who thought Cathy was the devil. I personally like to see the good in people and I think she was misunderstood. If you read the book, you would know Cathy was sexually abused at 10 and had a hard time fitting in with her peers because she was "mature", and brutually beaten by her father. Men were attracted to her beauty so she saw them as superficial and disposable and played with their hearts, driving a man to suicide, That, was technically not her fault. I think Steinbeck tries to be biased when portraying Cathy especially because at the time period it was written, the fact she left her kids would have automatically made her a monster.

I wake up from dreams and go "Wow, put this down on paper."

[–] leo_g86 14 years ago

"Funny, I had this discussion in class a few days ago with my teacher and another stusent who thought Cathy was the devil. I personally like to see the good in people and I think she was misunderstood. If you read the book, you would know Cathy was sexually abused at 10 and had a hard time fitting in with her peers because she was "mature", and brutually beaten by her father. Men were attracted to her beauty so she saw them as superficial and disposable and played with their hearts, driving a man to suicide, That, was technically not her fault. I think Steinbeck tries to be biased when portraying Cathy especially because at the time period it was written, the fact she left her kids would have automatically made her a monster. "

That is not really my perception of the book, Steinbeck was really saying Cathy was born without a special something, conscience or a soul just like some people are born without an arm or a leg. Cathy's father was not portrayed as brutal at all, but really was quite soft for his time and felt bad when he beat her, she was always in control of his father and mother because they were very soft just like Adam. Cyrus was truly a brutal father, still Adam and Charles didnt become psychopaths. Cathy was probably the one who tempted the boys to experiment with her sexually.

Some people seem to not belive in the unhuman, soulless and something which is evil without needing any explaining. Kind of odd because in psychology "psychopath" is a very real term about people who simply cant feel empathy to other people. It is ofcourse difficult to accept that some people are born evil and nothing can be done to cure them, but I have personaly seen a child who I could see had this strange look in his eyes already at 2 years old, I knew he was a psychopath at 4 and now at 13 he has caused unbearable grief for his parents having raped his little sister (only 5 years old) and tortured the family cat (cut the ears and tail of the poor thing with a scissor).

[–] Harold_Robbins 14 years ago

I think 'monster' is the word Steinbeck actually uses in the novel to describe Cathy/Kate - she is, as someone else pointed out, a sociopath, without morals, scruples or conscience - this is only hinted at in the film with her scornful comments about her clientele. I think Jo Van Fleet implied this brilliantly - she essentially got her Oscar for one scene. They should not, however, have portrayed Kate with white hair, as she was hardly an old woman by this point.

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

[–] EliKahn 14 years ago

The entire book is about good and evil and the characters represent both sides.
Cathy is the strongest representation of evil and Adam (Cal' father) is the strongest representation of good.
Cal is their offspring and he rides on the edge of both.

Cathy was described in the book as someone 'born with a malformed soul' and a 'monster'.

The movie whitewashes Cathy. In the book she kills her parents, the madam she took the brothel from and then later herself - though, she doesn't kill herself because of Cal bringing Aaron to her, she kills herself because she is being blackmailed.

[–] 14 years ago

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