The Ultimate Triumph of the Human Spirit

Today a former student of mine reached out to me to say hi, thank me for introducing him to Steinbeck, and tell me East of Eden is still one of his favorite books. Although it has been over 16 years since I’ve read and taught the book, that correspondence got me thinking about how relevant it is today as one of the main themes of the book is the conflict between good and evil: Light verses Dark.

The book exemplifies that there is darkness in everyone. EVERYONE. I remember reading this book and feeling the darkness within me. It was jarring to say the least. And yet, the book also elicits great hope because human beings have the freedom to overcome evil by their own choices. And, we can always choose differently.

In our coutnry, we’ve been exposed to some major human displays of evil in the past week. I will remind myself that just like everyone else, I have the potential to get sucked into darkness, and just like everyone else, I can also chose to align with light. Because of this, there will always be HOPE. This dichotomy and the ability to choose light is the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.

So, the ultimate question is: What will you choose?