East of Eden

1917. Young adult twin brothers Aron and Cal Trask, the only offspring of widowed Salinas, California rancher Adam Trask, are like night and day. Aron, the "good" son, more resembles their righteous-minded father. Cal, however, is a brooding young man who knows he has badness in his heart and probably his blood. Adam admits he has never understood Cal, who in turn truly craves his father's love, which Aron already has. Cal scares Aron's girlfriend Abra, the two who will probably get married after Aron finishes school. Aron and Cal's mother, who is never mentioned and who they don't remember, died shortly after giving birth to them. The interrelationships between Aron, Cal, Adam and Abra have the potential to change: as the United States enters the war; as Adam wants to leave a legacy to the world, namely to figure out a way to ship perishable produce, most specifically lettuce he plans to grow on what has largely been his fallow land, using the new technology of refrigeration, to feed the country, making money not to factor into the equation; with Cal wanting to make money to show his father he is worth something, the war economy which provides some opportunities; and with Cal secretly discovering that Kate, the cold-hearted, ruthless but financially successful madam operating the brothel in Monterey fifteen miles away on the coast, is probably his biological mother, and is not dead as his father has always told them.