Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘East of Eden’ follows the tumultuous lives of the Trask family over several decades. The story begins with the half-brothers, Adam and Charles, raised on a farm in Connecticut by their father, who is preparing them for the army. While there is a deep-seated love between the brothers, there is also jealousy and anger, particularly from Charles, who feels that their father loves Adam more. While the bond between the brothers remains contentious, there is love nonetheless. Things get tricky with the arrival of Cathy Ames, with whom Adam leaves for California. As the story moves forward, we follow the couple’s arc in the Salinas Valley, and Charles is never seen again. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Charles is Permanently Tied to the Farm by His Father
In their childhood, Adam and Charles are trained by their father, Cyrus, to become good soldiers and enlist in the army, to follow in his footsteps. It becomes clear early on that Adam is not cut out for this, but Charles, with his quickness in arms handling as well as his sharp nature, seems perfectly adept for this role. Both brothers think Charles should be the one sent off to the army, but instead, his father holds him back. Cyrus thinks Adam needs to come out of his shell and become a soldier, even though he has no taste for war or violence. Charles, on the other hand, is tasked with taking over the farm. He resents his father for this, seeing it as yet another sign of the fact that Adam is the more loved child.
To him, being a soldier like Cyrus and following in his footsteps is why, when that chance is taken away from him and given to Adam, he feels even more dejected and unloved. Still, the desire to gain his father’s approval never really goes away, which is why he dedicates himself to the farm and, with his hard work, turns it profitable. Even when Cyrus dies, and Adam returns home with the offer to sell the land and go to California, Charles never thinks about leaving the land behind.
In some ways, he is still holding on to his father’s legacy, even after it was revealed to him that the man wasn’t as great as the world made him out to be. The farm becomes a form of self-imposed exile for Charles, and he doesn’t leave it even when he has the means to do so. When Adam comes home, Charles talks about how he should have been the one to join the army and travel the world, while his brother should have been the one to live on the farm. But even after Cyrus is dead and Charles has all the money in the world, he remains tied up with the farm, refusing to abandon the one thing his father had entrusted him with and fearing his father’s disapproval, even if it’s posthumous.
Charles Dies of an Illness in the Isolation of His Farm
Charles spends his entire life tending to the farm and amassing wealth, but he never marries and has children to pass it on to. When Adam leaves with Cathy, the final thread connecting him to his family is broken, and a sense of true isolation settles over him. Charles tries to fill this emotional chasm with physical labor. But the years also start to take their toll on him as he gets older, with no one around to care for him. It is not revealed what exactly happened to cause it, but he is gripped by a lung ailment. Before leaving, Adam had tried to entice him to California, saying it was warmer there year-round.
Charles rejected the idea, and perhaps, one of those days, the cold caught up with him, becoming so deeply seated in his body that it left only when he died. By this time, there still hasn’t been any contact from Adam, who has spent more than a decade in a pit of despair, when Cathy shoots him and leaves. By the time Adam comes out of his depression and writes to his brother to reconnect, Charles is already gone. His lawyers reply to Adam, informing him that they had been looking for him for the past six months to bequeath his brother’s will on him and Cathy. This means Charles spent the past decade on the farm, never leaving the place and never inviting anyone else in.
Given that he dies a very wealthy man, it becomes clear that he remained frugal his entire life. With no extended family, his brother was his only next of kin. However, since he had formed a surprising bond with Cathy, he also included her in the will. It is also possible that he believes that her children may be his own. By giving her half of his money, he is trying to ensure that his children inherit it from her, in case things don’t work out between her and Adam, which he knows because she told him she was not going to stay with her husband for long. In any case, the nature of his passing hints towards a death that was just as lonely as his life.
Read More: Why Aren’t the Hamiltons in Netflix’s East of Eden?
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