Inheritance, Ethics and Classic Lit, Part 1: East of Eden
I'm reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden right now, and stumbled across the following passage, in Chapter 7 (page 60 in my Viking Press edition). The passage discusses the aftermath of the death of Cyrus Trask:
The attorneys... were sorry -- offered their condolences. And they were pretty excited too. When they had made Trask's will they thought he might have a few hundred dollars to leave his sons. That is what he looked to be worth. When they inspected his bankbooks they found that he had over ninety three thousand dollars in the bank and ten thousand dollars in good securities. They felt very different about Mr. Trask then.... It was enough to start a dynasty. The lawyers congratulated [Cyrus' sons] Charles and his brother Adam. Under the will, they said, it was to be shared equally.
The only problem with this windfall is that, to Charles at least, it seems like a bit too much of a windfall. Did their father -- who had lied about his stint in the military -- steal the money, or otherwise come by it dishonestly? And, if so, how should the brothers rectify the situation? Those are the questions Charles and Adam try to resolve later in the chapter.
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