John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Tortilla Flat

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Many great thinkers view unity as an important part of life. Antoine de Saint-Exuprey said: “One man may hit the mark, another blunder, but heed not these distinctions. Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born.” The Beatles sang: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” These men, though they lived a century apart, share the same view on unity. This view is also shared by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck displays a clear understanding of the importance of unity in many of his works. In his novels, Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row, John Steinbeck demonstrates unity through kindness, love, loyalty and trust. He then stresses its importance by depicting it through the families, communities and friendships in those novels. He does this in order to reveal the importance of unity and its effect on his characters. First, John Steinbeck defines unity. Steinbeck tells that kindness and love are an important aspect of unity. In his novel, Cannery Row, the character Mack and his “gang” constantly talk about doing something nice for another character, Doc (Steinbeck). Doc is a beloved and adored member of the community of Cannery Row. Steinbeck writes: Doc would listen to any kind of nonsense and change it for you to a kind of wisdom. His mind had no horizon—and his sympathy had no warp. He could talk to children, telling them very profound things so that they understood. He lived in a world of wonders, of excitement. He was concupiscent as a rabbit and gentle as hell. Everyone who knew him was indebted to him. (Steinbeck 26)Doc was a kind-hearted, well-liked man. All of Cannery Row respected Doc and were grateful to him. Steinbeck tells, “And everyone who thought of him [Doc] thought next,... ... middle of paper ... ...chool Media Center, Bethel Park, PA Web. 24 April. 2014 http://go.galegroup.com Lisca, Peter. “Criticism by Peter Lisca.” DISCovering Author. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Bethel Park High School Media Center, Bethel Park, PA 26 April. 2014 http://go.galegroup.com Ralph Waldo Emerson. Unity Quotes. 2 May 2014 www.ThinkExist.com/quotations Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. New York: Penguin Group, 2002. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Group, 1993. Telgen, Diane. “Critical Essay on Of Mice and Men.” Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 161-63. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Bethel Park High School Media Center, Bethel Park, PA Web. 26 April. 2014 http://go.galegroup.com “With A Little Help From My Friends”. The Beatles. Web. 7 May 2014 www.lyrics.com

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