Pandora's box – a blessing – doing among them? This objection leads some to render "elpis" as the expectation of evil, which would make the myth's tone somewhat optimistic: although mankind is troubled by all the evils in the world, at least we are spared the continual expectation of evil, which would make life unbearable. The optimistic reading of the myth is expressed by M. L. West. "Elpis" takes the more common meaning of expectant hope. And while the jar served as a prison for the evils that escaped, it thereafter serves as a residence for Hope. West explains, "It would be
Cathy Ames noted by John Timmerman, Steinbeck demonstrates the devil allegory through repeated snake-like imagery used to describe Cathy. In one instance in the novel, Samuel Hamilton observes that “when [Cathy] swallowed, her tongue flicked around her lips…the eyes were flat and the mouth with its small up-curve at the corners was carven”, giving a serpentine air to Cathy’s demeanor. Cathy also takes on the Pandora persona from classic Greek mythology. The story goes that Zeus gave Pandora a box and commanded her not to open it. She ultimately disobeys and when she opens the box, she sets loose evil into the