The saying “it’s a cruel world out there” is not far from reality in John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. The plot in the novel carries the reader through the world of two friends, Lennie and George, who have come to work as field hands at a ranch. Lennie, unfortunately, has a mental handicap, which forces George to keep a close eye on him. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, the spouse to the boss’s hot-tempered son, George must put an end his friend’s life, in Lennie’s benefit. Steinbeck exposes the cruelty in the human existence through his use of the rhetorical devices foreshadowing, symbolism, and characterization. To begin, Steinbeck’s foreshadowing throughout the plot to reveal the element of cruelty. On example of foreshadowing is when Crooks, Lennie and Candy are in Crooks’ room and Curley’s wife walks in asking if they have seen Curley. In response, Candy replies, “You gotta husban’. You got no call foolin’ aroun’ with other guys, causin’ trouble” (77). In this instance, Steinbeck foreshadows Curley’s wife eventually causing trouble. This shows the cruelty in human nature because Curley’s wife is not innocently talking to the men, she is purposefully causing a row on the ranch. The next example of foreshadowing in the novel is when Candy’s dog is killed. Carlson says to Candy, “Look Candy. This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-“ (45). Throughout the plot, the reader can see the parallels in the relationships between Candy and his dog and Lennie and George. The dog and Lennie are both nuisances due to their handicaps. The cruelty lies in the fate that awaits characters like Lennie and Candy’s dog; they are killed because they are no... ... middle of paper ... ...me tend no rabbits, if he fin’s out you got killed” (85). After he has killed puppy, Lennie’s childish mind focuses more on himself not being allowed to tend the rabbits rather than on the dead puppy. Like the pup, Lennie is unaware of his strength and how to use it so he often gets into trouble. This situation shows cruelty in human nature because Lennie is clueless of this and there is nothing he, or anyone else can do about it. Symbols in the novel show the cruelty in human nature. Through Steinbeck’s use of rhetorical devises such as foreshadowing, characterization and symbolism, he is able to covey the cruelty in human nature to the reader. The reality Steinbeck creates in his depression era novel exhibits the cruel nature in all of humanity. Although a tough subject, Steinbeck uses rhetorical devises to create lessons the reader can learn from the cruelty.
Foreshadowing plays a large role in indicating that Lennie isn't going to last long in this harsh world. The beginning introduces this world in such a great way, raising your emotions with a happy tone in a wonderful peaceful scene and then sends that scene plummeting over a cliff into a dark unhappy environment. The strong characters in this environment attack the weak and the weak attack the weaker. An example of the strong against the weak is when Carlson compels Candy, "I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now," (p.47) to let him shoot his dog. An example of the weak attacking the weaker is when Crooks teases Lennie, "jus' s'pose he don't come back," (p.72) Lennie is the weakest because of his mental disability and his lack of thinking for himself. He would either run away or be eliminated through death. Candy and his dog mirror the image of George and Lennie. Candy being George and his dog being Lennie. When the dog dies, it foreshadows his death because the dog represented him.
Steinbeck connects Candy with his dog in order to suggest that humans have created a society where the weak cannot survive. Earlier in the book, Candy describes his dog as the “best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 44). However, in lines 9 and 10, Candy reiterates that the other workers shot his dog because “he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else.” As soon as the dog outgrows its usefulness by becoming old and blind, the other tenants team up to ensure its death, suggesting how society joins together to dispose of those who are weak. Steinbeck then connects Ca...
Couldn't swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him.”. in this environment the strong characters attack the weak an example would be when Carlson bullied candy in to killing his dog "I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now," (p.47) and the weak ones attack the weaker, like when crooks picks on Lennie "jus' s'pose he don't come back," (p.72) Lennie is by far the most venerable because of his mental disability, making him easy to manipulate. Candy and his dog reflect George and lennie, George being candy and lennie being the dog, this is because much like the dog lennie depends greatly on George, and just like the dog lennie gets shot in the back of the head with the same gun that was used to kill the
During a time of hardship or of economic difficulties, each person draws back into their personal space and takes no notice of others. Ignorance often leads to misunderstandings. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, two men went go a new farm in search of new opportunities and a chance to fulfill their dream. Of Mice and Men is also a heartbreaking story of how such misunderstandings can lead to unfortunate events. John Steinbeck uses a disapproving voice to criticize the mistreatment of social rejects and show that misunderstanding can lead to adverse outcomes.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
Lennie accidentally killing all of his pets establishes that the theme of this novel is death and loss. These pets consist of mice, dogs, kittens, etc. Lennie loves to feel and pet animals, but he does not know his own strength. He kills them without really noticing what he has done, until George tells him that he did something wrong. After being scolded, Lennie is very remorseful about what he did. Once, after being yelled at Lennie says, “I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead- because they were so little (13).” Lennie’s remorse is probably more for upsetting George than it is for actually killing the animal.
Unlike the epic of Gilgamesh, Steinbeck’s novel takes place during the Great Depression in California, where two migrant workers, Lennie Small and George Milton in search of employment. Both of them had the dream of having their own ranch together with a rabbit hutch. George warns Lennie if he ever gets in trouble, he won’t have rabbits which Lennie wanted so he can pet them. Eventually, when they both found a job, Lennie ends up having a fight with the son of his boss, Curley. Curley used to be a boxer and even with his small height he picks on fights to prove everyone that he is tough even with bigger and stronger men than himself. In another scenario, Curley’s wife who seems flirtatious with other men ends up talking to Lennie. In where, Lennie accidentally ends up killing her by shaking her to the point her neck breaks. Lennie holds her hair and won’t let go leading to her scream. It was not of his intention to harm her but he was shaking her to stop her from yelling (B, p131).This death causing George and Lennie having to leave their job. Sadly, George decides to kill Lennie, quickly and painless. Instead of having a mob with Curley doing
Characters are a big role of the symbolism in this book. One of the characters, Lennie Small symbolizes innocent, mentally impairment, and physical strength. Lennie is a character who has mental disability, is tall, and strong. "Tired and tired [...] but it didn't do no good"(Steinbeck 4). This quote shows that he is not that smart. He keeps trying to remember something that George tells him but it turns out he can never remember it. "Curley's fist was swinging when reached for it [....] Curley sat down on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand"(Steinbeck 63-64). This quote is from where Curley mauled Lennie. So George told Lennie to attack back. So Lennie took one of Curley's fist and started to squeeze it. As an aftermath, Curley's hand was bleeding and broken. This show how strong Lennie is because he was able to broke his fist is less than a minute with one hand. Lennie character really symbolizes everything Steinbeck wanted to.
The novella “Of Mice and Men” is written by John Steinbeck. The book is about two migrant workers George and Lennie who take on a job working on a ranch. George is a small man with sharp features, an opposite to Lennie. George takes care of lennie who has a mental disability. While on the ranch george and lennie encounter curley's wife. Curley's wife is married to the boss's son curley. She is the only woman on the ranch. She knows that her beauty is her power and uses it to flirt with the men on the ranch. All of the characters have their own dreams that they wish to accomplish and decisions that they have made throughout the story. George dreams of being independent and having a farm to call his own where he won't have to worry about lennie's
“Curley slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose” (pg 63). In Of Mice and Men, Curley is at once an unpleasant, nasty character and fighter. Right away in the book his “glance was pugnacious and calculating” (pg 25), judging George and Lennie and making them feel very uncomfortable to the point where they want to leave. Through the character of Curley, Steinbeck, the author, shows readers evilness and the want to be a tough guy. Back then and now, people who get everything they want are cruel and evil when, like a little spoiled kid, they do not get what they want. That wannabe guy will also always try to prove himself to others and will want to show how tough he really is.
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
Steinbeck expresses the theme of loneliness in the character of Candy. Candy is lonely because his is missing half an arm. Candy?s disability separates him from society, an example of Curley being set aside is when everybody else goes to town he is left in the barn with Crooks, Lennie, and Curley?s wife. Candy?s only friendship was with his old, smelly dog. Candy?s dog was a symbol of himself (old, and useless). When Carlson kills Candy?s dog he kills Candy on the inside as well.
Lennie is not so much stereotyped, but rather trapped because of his size. Because Lennie is so big, Curley thinks he has to prove something by beating up Lennie. Lennie gets on Curley’s bad side when he didn’t do anything wrong. Lennie is then forced to fight. " ‘I don’t want no trouble,’ he said plaintively.
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features” and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
Curley’s wife is a complex, main character in John Steinbeck’s novella, “Of Mice and Men”. She is introduced as an insignificant secondary character, but evidently posses the importance of causing the end of the novella. Despite the weight of her role, her value is hindered because of the culture towards women in the 1930s. Steinbeck uses imagery, foreshadowing, and metaphors to show loneliness analyzed through a Feminist Lens.