Choice: Thou Mayest

from East of Eden, John Steinbeck, 1952

"After two years we felt that we could approach your sixteen verses of the fourth chapter of Genesis. My old gentlemen felt that these words were very important too—'Thou shalt' and 'Do thou.' And this was the gold from our mining: ''Thou, mayest.' 'Thou mayest rule over sin.'"

"Don't you see?" he cried. "The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—'Thou may-est'—that gives a choice. It might be the most impor tant word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if 'Thou mayest'—it is also true that 'Thou mayest not.' Don't you see?" …

Any writing which has influenced the thinking and the lives of innumerable people is impor tant. Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, 'Do thou,' and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in 'Thou shalt.' Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But 'Thou mayest'! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win." …

It is easy out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, 'I couldn't help it; the way was set.' But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man. A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There's no godliness there. And do you know, those old gentle men who were sliding gently down to death are too interested to die now?"

Adam said, "Do you mean these Chinese men believe the Old Testament?"

Lee said, "These old men believe a true story, and they know a true story when they hear it. They are critics of truth. They know that these sixteen verses are a history of humankind in any age or culture or race. They do not believe a man writes fifteen and three-quarter verses of truth and tells a lie with one verb. Confucius tells men how they should live to have good and successful lives. But this—this is a ladder to climb to the stars." Lee's eyes shone. "You can never lose that. It cuts the feet from under weakness and cowardliness and laziness." …

I feel that a man is a very important thing—maybe more important than a star. This is not theology. I have no bent toward gods. But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed— because 'Thou mayest.'

Commentary: In East of Eden Steinbeck dealt with the great issue of good and evil in the guise of the story of Caine and Abel. (Remember he wrote in the wake of the Holocaust and Hiroshima.) He settles on an ethic of choice, that in every situation a person has the free will to choose good or evil. This freedom to choose is a transcendent ethic, "a ladder to the stars" and the means to a god-likeness. He doesn't neglect the reality that some degrade themselves, however this is a matter of weakness, cowardice, and laziness--not essential aspects of the human condition. This is a heroic ethic, as well as an heroic appraisal of the human soul, always attacked and never destroyed. I find the ethic of choice reflective of 20th existentialism and humanism.

Search yourself: Do you feel a full measure of your existential freedom, to literally choose your destiny in every situation of your life? Can you envision yourself as an everyday hero? Do you actively resist weakness, cowardice, and laziness--all those attributes that threaten that glittering instrument, the human soul you posess?