East of Eden and Truth

     Tonight at lunch I finished re-reading my favorite book of all time, John Steinbeck's East of Eden And I happened to check Linkedin and saw a post by Tiara Yacht's CEO Thomas Slikkers where he spoke about Transparency and the need for a leader to speak the truth, even if it didn't suit their needs and I thought of my last post expounding on both the need to understand and the need to find Truth in this modern world and I wanted to write some about it. (Spoilers for a 70 year old novel)

    One of my favorite characters in East of Eden, Samuel Hamilton, had an interesting Idea of what The Truth is and, to paraphrase his stance, would say something like "The Truth is just as likely to kill a man as it is to liberate him" and this is a major theme in East of Eden.

    Throughout the novel, both the Trask family and the Hamiltons struggle with facing the truth. Whether it be Adam's facing the truth of where his father's money came from or who exactly his wife is to him, or Sam Hamilton's facing the truth of his mortality or even his son Tom's facing the bitter truth that his actions had killed his beloved sister, The Truth in East of Eden is often a harsh one and in many cases leaves the bearer worse off than they were before. So what, exactly, is the benefit to facing The Truth, regardless how grisly it may be? 

    Besides the obvious Romantic idea of simply facing what is hard with a stern expression and coming out the other side with fresh scars, The Truth is liberating. The Truth in general is vitally important to coming to an understanding to one another. It allows everyone to have a common base to construct reality from. If we cant agree on a basic understanding with one another, how do we both understand and empathize with one another? If we as individuals live our lives based on a false truth or lie then we are living in a world that is not ours but is in fact a creation of whoever created the lie (even if at times that person is ourselves).

    In East of Eden more often than not The Truth that needs to be faced is personal and often not pretty. Charles, like Cain, has to face his father's preference of his brother, much like how Caleb would much later in the book. Both characters have the chance to recognize The Truth about themselves and conquer their natures (another major theme in the book). Lee and Adam refer to how Cain was promised by God in Genesis that he "Mayest" conquer his sin- he and every man and woman after him had the capacity to be more than their basest desires. And if Charles and Caleb refused to face themselves? How could they ever surpass themselves?

    And I think that's probably the biggest reason to look for and face The Truth, it gives us agency in our lives. It allows us to live in the real world- regardless of the beauty or lack thereof- and be participants in the world on an equal playing field with everyone else. 

    Mr. Slikkers' post tonight mirrors these sentiments. He calls for leaders (and I would say anyone trying to separate themselves and be their own person) should embrace The Truth of things and be transparent with whoever is following them. To share The Truth with others is to bring them up to the same level as The Truth Teller and lend them the same agency and I think that might be one of the most important things to do in life.