The Morally Gray Phenomenon

This month, Netflix released a limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. This classic novel retells the biblical story of Cain and Abel and depicts the eternal struggle between good, evil, and free will. The main antagonist is Cathy Ames, whom Steinbeck characterizes as the embodiment of evil itself. Throughout the novel, Cathy manipulates others and ruins lives, from burning down her family home with her parents inside to attempting to murder her unborn children. 

Through Cathy’s trail of bloodshed and destruction, Steinbeck leaves little room for ambiguity: Cathy Ames is evil. And yet, Zoe Kazan, the executive producer of Netflix’s adaptation, decided to create room for interpretation. 

In her cinematic reimagining, Kazan takes a humanist approach to Cathy’s character. Cathy is portrayed as an individual who merely does bad things rather than someone with inherently evil intentions. Kazan gives the antagonist a traumatic backstory in an attempt to communicate that villains are created, not born. In her retelling, Cathy has an abusive father and is a victim of sexual assault.