وُلد بالغضب، وعاش في البرق. جاء توم إلى الحياة مندفعاً. كان عملاقاً في الفرح والحماس. لم يكتشف العالم وأهله، بل خلقهم. وحين قرأ كتب أبيه، كان هو الأول. عاش في عالمٍ مشرقٍ طازجٍ لم يُفحص بعد، كجنة عدن في اليوم السادس. وانطلق عقله كمُهرٍ في مرعى سعيد، وحين أقام العالم لاحقاً أسوارَه، اندفع نحو السلك، وحين أحاطت به الحظيرة الأخيرة، اندفع عبرها وخرج. وكما كان قادراً على فرحٍ عظيم، كان يحمل حزناً هائلاً.

“He was born in fury and he lived in lightning. Tom came headlong into life. He was a giant in joy and enthusiasms. He didn't discover the world and its people, he created them. When he read his father's books, he was the first. He lived in a world shining and fresh and as uninspected as Eden on the sixth day. His mind plunged like a colt in a happy pasture, and when later the world put up fences, he plunged against the wire, and when the final stockade surrounded him, he plunged right through it and out. And as he was capable of giant joy, so did he harbor huge sorrow.”John Steinbeck — East of Eden (2002)