Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in East of Eden, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Good, Evil, and the Human Soul
Time
Family, Love, and Loneliness
Religion, Myth, and the Power of Stories
Identity
Money, Wealth, and the Value of Work
Summary
Analysis
Adam is appointed to a spot on the army draft board. The responsibility weighs heavy on him, as he feels he is personally sending boys off to war to be killed. Meanwhile, Adam looks forward to Thanksgiving when Aron will come home. For his part, Aron has grown increasingly disillusioned with his schooling and has become immensely homesick. He dreams of a world where he and Abra can run off together, and live far away from ugliness.
Aron’s dream to run away is ominous foreshadowing. He believes he can run away from ugliness because he does not realize that ugliness is integral to being human—there is no escaping it, and attempting to escape it will result in disaster.
Themes
