East of Eden is the saga of two families living in the Salinas Valley in California and Connecticut in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The novel symbolizes the Biblical story of creation and the subsequent human travails inflicted after the commission of original sin. The novel is rife with metaphors and allegories related to the story of Cain and Abel, and good vs. evil as the characters struggle with the human condition in an imperfect world.

Steinbeck includes his own family beginning with his maternal grandparents, Samuel and Liza Hamilton, who are introduced first in the novel. The young couple had settled in the Salinas Valley having emigrated from Ireland. The Hamiltons eventually have nine children raised on little money but much love, and Samuel is well-loved in the region for his good humor and willingness to help his neighbors.

A young man named Adam...