Music
Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Californication” is strongly associated with the story, Grapes of Wrath; it speaks of false media and the glorification of California as the “land of opportunity”. In East of Eden “Californication” highlights the effect of patriarchy on Adam and Cathy’s relationship. Adam’s basic relationship with Cathy can be seen in the lines “marry me girl, be my fairy to the world” (20). Adam sees Cathy as an object that will dutifully follow his whims. The state of gender roles in the time period of East of Eden are inherently different now, but some still follow Adam’s logic of “you’re my wife, of course you have to go.” To him Cathy is just a “newborn unicorn” and not her own person; he even ignores what she says. In patriarchal America, men commonly saw women as possessions to care for rather than individuals with their own opinions. Cathy would “pay [her] surgeon very well to break the spell of aging” (47-48). Her loss of beauty is a mark of her deterioration of control over herself and others. The power gifted to women through beauty reflects the patriarchy of the time, which undervalued women’s agency and talent. Cathy is affected by that cultural norm more than she would like to admit. Adam, blinded by the patriarchal attitude, fails because of his inability to recognize Cathy as a person. Cathy and Adams’ story ends in California.
Hallelujah by the Justin Timberlake
“Hallelujah” reflects the destruction of people due to love. Adam is blinded by false love when Cathy leaves; she “broke [his] throne and cut [his] hair” (17-18). Adam loses his direction and drive as a result of his broken heart. However, this only occurs because Adam fails to see Cathy as her own person, an ideal that the patriarchy of the time imposed on the population. Later, Adam realizes that he has “been here before… and walked this floor” (22-23). He favors Aron just as his father favored him. However, he recognizes this and attempts to be a better father, a better guiding figure than his father. The remainder of the song explicates the difficulty of finding love, platonic or otherwise. For example, Charles died alone, knowing his father didn’t love him, and Cathy lost her mind and committed suicide. Sam Hamilton is hinted to have had and lost someone before his present wife. Aron couldn’t deal with reality, and spurned the love that everyone expressed towards him and instead joined the war. Cal dealt with his demons and his inability to love himself, and loved Abra. East of Eden deals with deep and painful emotions, those that are unrequited being the most painful.
Girls by Marina and the Diamonds
“Girls” is Cathy’s theme song. There is no arguing; it completely sarcastically rejects the idea of normal gender roles of the time, patriarchy. It holds no shame over using sex to get what one wants. Cathy is not an ornament for objectification, and throughout East of Eden she constantly cunning, ambitious, and unapologetic about “fight[ing] dirty.” Cathy is part of the new generation of strong woman. “Girls”, like Cathy, reflects the rejection and decline of patriarchy in America. (Cathy is an awful person, but that is for unrelated reasons.)
Little Pistol by Mother Mother
“Little Pistols” is hauntingly sad and has words that make one look deeply into the lyrics. This song describes the characters’ doubts, fears, and transformations. These transformations include the increase of independence in women as patriarchy declines. In East of Eden Cathy cannot see the good in anyone, hence Jesus being a liar. However, Cathy fears that some part of her may be missing, something that everyone else has, and it haunts her, changing her from controlled to hysterical. This fear signifies her separation and independence from men signaling the decline of patriarchy. Adam never wanted to go to war, but he packed his pistol on his pistol belt. It changed him and forced him to be brave. Cal fears he could lose his mind and be evil. Cal has to constantly choose over and over to do the right thing, and that is a terrible burden on him. In Grapes of Wrath, Ma is scared the family is breaking apart and becomes “a pistol”. She starts making the family decisions, forcing Pa to step down as patriarch. All of these character’s fears forced them to change and grow. This song highlights the tragedies and triumphs of the characters.
Highway to Hell by AC/DC
“Highway to Hell” is an ironically sad representation of the journey under taken in Grapes of Wrath. The man in the song, like the eldest male in the novel, makes the decision to travel to a new location. The song takes the right of the patriarch to make decisions a step further; the singer, like Pa, insists “[n]obody’s gonna slow me down”. The characters in the novel face numerous hardships during their “one-way ride” to California. They receive no reprieve of their hardships even after they arrive in “the promised land” which turns out to be more like “Hell”.
By: Madeleine