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
Joe Valery continues to collect gossip about Kate, and realizes she is likely a very dangerous woman. In the meantime the girls of the brothel notice a change come over Kate. She seems nervous and ill. When she feels panic start to overcome her, she fingers the vial around her neck.
As Kate’s secret becomes known to Joe, her weakness manifests physically. Illness is taking her; she cannot endure. As John said in an earlier chapter, “evil must always respawn.”
Themes
