East of Eden by Steinbeck

When a person goes through life, one of the major factors that affect a person is the family. The family is a life long companion that can not be separated until the person’s death. It can influence a person positively or negatively; but it is possible for a person to overcome its affect. In the book East of Eden by John Steinbeck, there are several characters that overcome the affect of their family.

One of the characters that overcome the affect of his family is Adam Trask. Adam’s father, Cyrus Trask, is a man who advocates the military all his life. Although the injury of his leg from the Civil War discards him from the military, his interest about the military does not stop. He gains knowledge about military through his studies and tells his sons about all the great things he had done in the war. Then, he convinces Adam, who is weaker and defenseless than his brother, Charles, to join the army. Adam joins the army without any resistance. While Adam is in the army, he learns what he really wants and how to make his own choice. When Adam gets out of his army for the first time and sees his father, he was told to go to the academy to enrich his soldiering program; but Adam refuses his father’s proposal and reenlists in the army where he used to be. Adam had been influenced by his father, that he followed his command. But when he knew what he really wanted he refused to be controlled by his father. Moreover, when he gets out of the army for the second time, he refuses to obey his father’s will, which was to stay in the army, and travels around the country to enjoy his life. Adam was affected by his father only to the certain point, that as soon as he got older and wiser, he began to live his life with his own decision.

Other characters that overcome the family’s influence are Caleb and Aron. Caleb and Aron are left motherless and almost fatherless. They