Text Connections

     One significant text connection is text-to-world, in which it became evident that Steinbeck’s primary antagonist, Cathy, shared the same beliefs about mankind as the infamous English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who popularized the idea that humans are intrinsically selfish beings. Cathy, who is not interested in keeping pretenses, does nothing to hide her own self-seeking disposition, although her charming, doll-like physique ultimately provides a façade for her. Upon recalling an anecdote she explains, “When I was a little girl I knew what stupid lying fools they were- my own mother and father pretending goodness”(319).
    Cathy seems to be under the impression that anyone who displays the qualities of an upright individual are merely putting on an act, that it is all a charade. This frustration with what she assumes to be the superficiality of humankind most likely stems from the evil that brews within her; because she herself is incapable of feeling love, Cathy presumes that everyone else is too. She is living proof of Hobbes’ other belief- that humans left to their own devices will ultimately pave a path of destruction. Cathy so detests her parents, whom she is convinced are frauds, that she burns her house down while they are inside and leads the townsfolk to believe that she perished in the fire as well. Due to the fact that she thinks everyone is wicked, Cathy has no reservations whatsoever in playing puppet master while her fellow acquaintances dangle helplessly on the strings.