hopeless optimism strikes again

I'm currently reading East of Eden by Steinbeck. He writes a good story. He does what I like best in a novel: character development. The characters are deep, full, and very well developed.

I had just finished Section 1 of the book, and was wrestling with the deeply entrenched evil in Cathy and Charles. I was thinking about why I get so frustrated with such characters in a story. The reason is that I constantly long for redemption at every turn. This tendency becomes very apparent when I read a good story or watch a good movie, because of the focus on a small number of characters, and that most stories are a microcosm of real life magnified into the veiw of the reader/viewer.

My life is completely focused on the idea of redemption. I refuse to believe in fate, unforgiveness, or incorrigibility. I cling to hope at all times, that all men, all women, all children can be redeemed, remade, reborn.