Cathy Ames, A Female Antagonist by Holly Lovett

Cathy Ames

The Female Antagonist

By Holly Lovett

The narrative of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden concerns the lives of two families in the farmland of Salinas Valley, California. The generations seem to transition seamlessly into an altered re-enactment of the fall of Adam and Eve and the lethal rivalry of Cain and Able. Cathy Ames is the core female antagonist within East of Eden. She is initially characterised through Steinbeck’s inclusion of her cruel childhood feats and the manipulative steps she takes in her journey into adulthood. When we are introduced to Cathy, the narrator claims that she was born with a lack of goodness in her, and was a natural “monster”. Surrounding her character there is an unwavering tone of wickedness and as a result of her villainous actions, suff ering continues to be injected in the forefront of the narrative, even when she is not present. She has a direct infl uence on the character arcs of many for the protagonists and damages many lives. Cathy is set apart as being atypical from other female characters and this is done through her vicious actions and destructive ambition. Even the narrator comments on her with a tone full of distain. Unlike the determination present in other characters (such as Will Hamilton), Cathy’s ambitions

for wealth drive her to extreme lengths and she commits a variety of malicious crimes in the text. She is a striking character and this allows the novel to be a pacey page-turner, as Steinbeck constructs her to be twisted in such an enthralling way that she tests the boundaries of a typical female character.

Steinbeck creates challenges for Cathy in the novel that tests her humanity repeatedly. It is clear that Cathy is a woman who knows how to engineer the events around her to favour her plans, whilst also exploiting others - something that she appears to gain great enjoyment from. Her lack of remorse is inserted into her character arc early on in the novel, when she kills her parents and immediately moves onto her next vindictive venture. Towards the centre of the novel Cathy begins her manipulation of Adam Trask, an honest and idealistic man who brought a ranch for himself and Cathy to live on. After using Adam’s kindness to regain strength (and after giving birth to twins) she abandons the young family and shoots her husband. She moves away and takes over the control of a brothel. She changes her name to Kate, but her new identity does little to change her evil tendencies. She is frequently characterised as animal-like, particularly shown in the description, “uncontrolled hatred shone in Kate’s eyes. She screamed a long and shrill animal screech”. For me, Cathy Ames is a catalyst for suspense in East of Eden. She can be thought of as a largely unusual, and therefore interesting character. She doesn’t fit into any literary stereotypes for a young female and because of this, the readers are never sure of Cathy’s next move (although we know it is likely to cause ruin).

East of Eden is a novel which has an array of different female characters, this is how Steinbeck explores and examines the meaning of various identities and female expectations. Many female characters are used to represent the theme of love in the novel, but alongside this comes a strengthening to the emphasis of Cathy’s cruel uniqueness. Liza Hamilton is one of the first characters we are introduced to. She is a warm but pious female who has nine children with her respectable husband Samuel. She is depicted to be strong, and someone who conquers her unfortunate state of poverty, not through acquiring wealth, but by producing and raising hardworking, generous and lovable children. Although she is poor, throughout her character arc she is rarely unhappy. Liza’s maternalistic yet pragmatic nature makes her a character who is largely appealing. Liza Hamilton’s care for her children allows for there to be a stark contrast in the attitudes of a mother when it comes to Cathy, who leaves her babies shortly after they are born. Furthermore, these characters are largely different because Cathy appears to have an undying endeavour for control and wealth, something she obtains but is not fulfilled by. Another female character is Abra Bacon. Abra is the love interest of Adam’s son Aron Trask. They bond over a number of years however in the latter half of their relationship, Abra comes to the realisation that Aron loves ‘an idealised’ version of her (which mirrors the situation that previously occurred between Adam and Cathy) and she decides to move on, away from their partnership. It is here that Abra becomes a character who emphasises the different paths women can take. Whereas Cathy decided to maliciously utilize Adam for his ‘foolish’ love, Abra left her situation and took a different path into helping other characters such as Lee (Adam’s servant) and Caleb (Aron’s twin brother). This further heightens Cathy’s callousness as through this parallel with Abra, we can see how spiteful she really is due to her carelessness in wrecking the lives of others.

Steinbeck uses Cathy as a pathway to discuss the complications of sex and gender and the influences these have on a person’s identity. In her progression in the novel, the readers are frequently reminded of Cathy’s femininity and beauty. As a result of this, Steinbeck infers that she is rarely taken seriously by the people that she interacts with, a potential self-reflexive comment on society, but also adding tension due to the readers understanding of Cathy’s motives. Because many underestimate her ease of gaining domination, Cathy commonly uses their naiveness to her advantage and begins her manipulation, she completes this in a way that is sly and allows her to not be detected.

On the whole, Cathy is a character who infuses dilemma and strife into the narrative. She is the embodiment of evil within the plot and although many suffer from her choices, ultimately, the protagonists are left in a wiser position at the denouement. I have found that East of Eden was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and a novel which has a conflicting yet satisfying ending. I am left with many ideas to contemplate.