I think fate is telling me to contemplate on the Cain and Abel story but much more so on the brother Cain. In East of Eden, God tells Cain “thou mayest” (or more completely perhaps, though mayest conquer evil) with strong emphasis on free will; not being defined by your past; and every new decision becoming an opportunity to do good or to become good. Cain is all of us. Abel died because he was meant to die. Steinbeck expands on the immanent destructibility of Abel through the character Aron, a man searching outwardly for self-worth, perhaps a product of being showered with love and adoration based on assumptions about his character.
Cain appears again in The Sparrow through Emilio, a Jesuit priest who was one of the contingent of priests and lay people to explore a newly discovered planet inhabited by a species capable of producing music that was, to human ears, heavenly. But this alien species was far from virtuous and were very much capable of the same atrocities the human race is capable of. Like Abel, Emilio started his journey to a distant planet as god’s shepherd. After the devastating end, Emilio questions the worthiness of this god by asking his fellow priest, “Was Cain’s sacrifice truly unworthy since it was from the heart?” The shepherd died and the Cain spirit rose in Emilio. He was torn between believing this god never existed or that god exists but is a farce. Either way, he is destined to feel guilt for the deaths of his friends whom he considered his flock or shame for depriving himself of love and family because of a god who existed but was irrelevant.
I personally needed this coincidence (or sign) to look at myself as a flawed human and be okay with that because every new day is an opportunity to become a better person. The past does not define me. My every decision can either bring me peace or anguish. I follow peace but when I stray, I know the path only goes forward.
Did you ever experience a shared theme in books you read one after the other that you took as a sign to contemplate on it?
PS: I just finished “And there were none” by Agatha Christie (second time reading it) and Cain was mentioned again! Although only very briefly, but it was right at the end on the letter in the bottle, when Hargreaves confessed that the mark on his forehead was meant to symbolise Cain’s mark. WTF???
by Slayer1963