It looks like we’re going to be eating a lot of beans in the near future. Beans always make me think of the movie, East of Eden, starring James Dean. I’m sad to say I’ve never read the novel. Probably should get on that.
Anyway, from what I remember of the movie, it was a Cain and Abel story. A successful farmer in California has two sons, one good and one not so good. When World War I finally hits America, the not so good son plants beans, and makes a ton of money selling them to the government.
But when he shows his dad what he’s done, his father essentially disowns him, because he’s supporting this violent war that his father doesn’t agree with. It breaks his heart, and he gets drunk and enlists and goes off to die in the war.
I don’t know how closely the movie follows the novel. I’m guessing that the novel reflected the American isolationism at the time, while the movie, which was made in the fifties, explored the tragedy of the black sheep. But it feels weird. Like, you should know that your dad isn’t going to like this; what did you think was going to happen?
Anyway, when I think about eating beans, I end up thinking about a drunk James Dean on a train going to war.