East of Eden
Charles Trask
PAGE 16
"[Adam's] half-brother Charles, only a little over a year younger, grew up with his father's assertiveness. "Charles was a natural athlete, with instinctive timing and coordination and the competitor's will to win over others, which makes for success in the world." Violent, cold-blooded and manipulative, Charles nearly kills Adam out of jealousy. He pines for Adam when Adam is away. He lives a lonely and tortured existence on the farm; unlike Adam, he loves Cyrus. Evil Cathy Ames, rightly or wrongly, regards him as a "soulmate." Unbeknownst to Adam, he sleeps with her and may have fathered Caleb, one of Adam's twin boys. Upon his death, he leaves money for both Adam and Cathy.