von Niederhausern Family

I am on a quest to get other people’s feedback about the book “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck. I finished it Friday night and I am still not over it. I don’t know why it affected me like it did. Am I alone in this? I guess it is because Steinbeck’s writing is so vivid, and the story-line was so sad, and a couple of times I wanted to stop reading it, but I couldn’t. I was sucked in and I had to know what happened to the characters in the end. It was such a powerful story to me because it is the ageless story of Cain and Able, all about human nature and our ability to choose between good and evil. One of my favorite parts is when Lee explains the Hebrew word ‘timshel’, which means ‘thou mayest choose’. Lee says: “That is the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws is right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Now, there are many in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest!’ Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win…It is out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, ‘I couldn’t help it; the way was set.’ But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man.”He goes on to say about Genesis 4:1-16, “These sixteen versus are a history of humankind in any age or culture or race…I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed–because ‘Thou mayest.’”So if anyone has even read this far (sorry for the long rambling!) read the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:1-16 and give me your feedback on verse seven. In the King James version it reads “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Replace ‘thou shalt’ with the correct Hebrew translation of timshel which is ‘thou mayest’. This implies that Cain still has the choice whether to choose good or evil in the story. We always have our agency, our ability to choose. That is so beautiful to me.