The Concept of Theodicy in Steinbeck’s East of Eden

Abstract

For years, research on Steinbeck’s East of Eden focussed on the concept of timshel when considering the theme of ‘good and evil’ in the novel. This resulted in the fact that these articles mainly focussed on the biblical meaning of the novel and do not take the cultural context of the novel into consideration. This study approaches East of Eden from a cultural point of view; Steinbeck wrote the novel in a period of religious turmoil since people started questioning the goodness of God just after the Second World War. Theories which defend the goodness of God, even though there is evil present in the world, are called ‘theodicy theories.’ This research offers a new insight by examining the presence of such a theory in East of Eden. The study will show that there is a theodicy theory explained in the novel, which can be seen by analysing some of the major characters.