Cyrus, Charles, Cathy, and Cal all have distinct traits of evil, much like Cain did, and Alice, Adam, Aron, and Abra all have good and pure intentions just as Abel did. This name similarity is only a miniscule connection when compared to the less obvious but more prominent references. .
The first substantial allusion to the Bible comes within the first few pages of the novel when the characters of Adam and Charles Trask are introduced. Adam and Charles are brothers, Adam being the eldest. Even early on, Steinbeck shows similar qualities that the brothers share with Cain and Abel. Steinbeck describes young Adam as "always an obedient childHe contributed the quiet he wished for by offering no violence, no contention" who takes on the calm and kind-hearted nature that Abel had (Steinbeck 20). He describes Cain, however, as "being of another species, gifted with muscle and bone, speed and alertness" with the "competitor's will to win over others" (21). This physical and mental intensity will just contribute to the hostility he begins to obtain later in the novel. Even though Adam is older, he fears Charles because he is much stronger and intelligent. The relation to biblical story begins to develop more when both brothers offer their father a gift. Even though Charles's gift of a knife was much more expensive, their father still preferred Adam's gift of a cheap puppy. This is a replication of when Cain and Abel both brought offerings to God; Cain brought the fruit that he had farmed, and Abel brought large portions of the flocks that he had herded. Just as it is with Charles and Adam, God favored one gift over the other. God "looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor" (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, Gen. 4.5). This "division by their father's love" was the sole vindication that generated the jealousy and animosity between both sets of brothers and caused them to "develop a bitter rivalry" (Steinbeck in the Schools n.