I published the first part of this essay just over four months ago. I intended to write its final part shortly after, but life or -- perhaps more aptly now -- God had other plans.

My original ending involved analysing characters who didn't yield to evil with a view to outlining how I, inspired by their goodness, might be in the world like them. I wanted to see if it would better my life. Now it feels more fitting to publish the sketch of that ending so I can spend more time painting a fuller picture of what I have actually done: follow Jesus. So, let's go...

I wanted to argue that Steinbeck presents a Goldilocks trio of good characters -- Samuel, Lee, and Liza -- whom readers can sample to decide what flavour of good-living might help them.

1. Samuel Hamilton. Sam has a genuine, Christ-like, self-sacrificing love for others -- delivering Adam's boys, pulling Adam out of his lowest ebb, and seeing Lee for who he is -- yet he seems skeptical of Christianity, especially its dogmatic aspects. The faith he has protects him in everyday life; the faith he lacks permits him a richer earthly existence (think sneaky swigs of whisky at Christmas) but leaves him spiritually vulnerable. When the worst storms come, as with Dessie's death, his roots aren't deep enough to keep him planted. He wilts and dies.
2. Lee. Lee's goodness echoes Samuel's, but given his complex personal history, it's astounding that it does. As a Chinese immigrant, he lacks Samuel's distinctly Western, Christian moral inheritance; furthermore, he was raised by a body of evil -- the men that raped and murdered his mother. Samuel and Lee's juxtaposition helps deepen our understanding of timshel. Though Samuel, like everyone, has moral freedom, he rarely seems to have to choose; he veers naturally toward the good. Could it be that he is generationally blessed? Lee's goodness, by contrast, appears rooted in deliberate personal choice: he has cultivated himself through consistent spiritual practice, and his pursuit of knowledge and wisdom -- Stoic, Confucian or Christian -- imbues him with a still, small voice that speaks louder than any evil proclivity.
3. Liza Hamilton. Of the three, Liza is perhaps the most one-dimensional. She's a straightforward, God-fearing Christian who lives life by the book. To most, her earthly existence will seem the poorest, yet, to her, that's irrelevant -- her mind's oriented towards the afterlife. She doesn't attempt to understand Scripture so much as obey it. This unquestioning faith shields her from calamity; unlike Samuel, she withstood Dessie's untimely death. Moreover, she believes she's loved by her almighty Father in heaven, and so, unlike Cal, she never has to battle the pain of parental rejection -- the pain that begets his evil.

For me, I didn't know who to style myself on. I only knew I needed to try faith because the characters in East of Eden who have it are the characters I most admire. I rarely encounter people of faith in my daily life, so getting to know them in the story gave me an insight I lacked.

So, here we are -- four months after publishing the first part of this essay, which I planned to end by stating my intention to try faith. Now I have actually tried it, and I'm still trying it. My journey hasn't been as cut-and-dry as I thought it might be when I started in November, but I'm grateful for that, and I'm looking forward to documenting the key things I've learned since.

I'll close this afterword and, hence, the essay by saying: so far, faith has made my life better, and I'm thankful that East of Eden helped me find it. It's funny -- I thought simply being around Tam, Christ-like as she is, would lead me to faith, but it didn't; instead a book she'd recommended, which I read post-breakup, did. The truism goes like this: God works in mysterious ways. He sure does.