Growing up and change is a very important role in a person’s life. Everyday people do this, some for the better and others for the worse. In the movie East of Eden, Aaron is the son that changes for the worse. He becomes a drunk and leaves for a war he doesn’t believe in.
As for Abra she takes on the role of support for Cal and his father, Adam. She is the glue for the bond that forms between them. But she soon realizes that the better she knows Cal, the more she starts to fall in love with him. Cal shows a remarkable turnaround from being the evil unloved son, to being the one that is there for his father while he is on his deathbed. All three of these characters show a form of change in growing up. We all have the ability to grow up, some just take advantage of this opportunity.
The key is how you decide to grow up. Either for the better, like Cal, or the downside, like Aaron did. Aaron is the only character who shows a reversal, going from the good son with sweet girlfriend to a drunken fool. It might have been for shadowed by the way he showed his love to Abra, it was a false love. He was with her because that is whom he was supposed to be with. It didn’t seem he had deep emotions for her.
Then in the end she leaves him for Cal, who she has, fell in love with. Aaron also lived in a closed world, not open for new ideas. When he was told that his mom was dead, that is what he believed and never questioned it. So when he found out that she was alive and a whore, his whole perfect world came crashing down. Aaron goes out and drinks a lot of alcohol and smashes his head threw a train window. He couldn’t except the truth about his own family.
Aaron’s life is almost tragic; he had everything going for him. Then, in a day’s time, he has lost it all. One of the most significant characters is Abra. Abra starts out as this innocent unaware girlfriend of Aaron and winds up being one of the main ingredients in Cal and Adam’s coming together. She goes from saying that Cal “is the bad son” and that “he scares me” to being the one who falls in love with him.
She believes cal is the bad son but she realizes, as a sign of growing up, that all he really needs is love and that she is attracted to him. Abra is also the one that talks to Adam telling him that he needs to tell Cal that he loves him. She shows a lot of maturity by doing this. The person who shows the most change is Cal goes from bad boy outcast to taking care of his father. Cal tries to buy his father’s love the whole movie but not till the end when his father is dying does he realize that’s not how you get some one to love you.
At the beginning Cal is labeled the bad boy, but not until and with the help of Abra, does he grow out and sees what a real person he can be. Only when he is beside his father’s bed and he finally hears his father say he loves him, does he achieve one of his greatest accomplishments, receiving his father’s love. Cal has now reach a high point on growing up. Growing up is a part of life.
Some do it more than others do though. Throughout the movie all the characters grow up and change. Cal changed for the better and Aaron didn’t, Abra was the one in between trying to help. Like a fork in the road, there is a path for everyone to choose, whether it is good or bad.
