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Symbolism of mice and men
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Humans are creatures of this planet that act in complex ways. A writer’s job is often defined as a way to reveal the complexity of the characteristics of people and to illustrate them. John Steinbeck the author, Of Mice and Men, exemplifies a multitude of characters that have an overall lonely existence. Although most are unhappy, Lennie Small is a warm-hearted, sympathetic man. Lennie has the unfortunate aptitude of carrying out massive destruction in others life’s, even though, it was never intended.
Lennie Short, who is one of the main characters in the novella Of Mice and Men, has defining characteristics that exposes the true meaning of the book. The complexity of the Lennie’s nature is so thought provoking that the story, Of Mice and Men, is often considered one the greatest short works of fiction of all time. Predominantly, Lennie is a kindhearted, simple-minded soul who unfortunately is mentally disabled. Lennie also has a very distinctive external feature, his size. Being a massive individual, Lennie is magnificently strong and never intentionally causes harm to other beings. In contrast to his size Lennie has a love for all things soft mice, puppies, Curley’s wife and most of all rabbits. It is for this reason that readers find the book remarkable. In a secluded setting at the beginning of the story, Lennie tells George “But I wouldn't eat none, George. I'd leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn't touch none of it.” (page) This quote expresses the author, Johns Steinbeck’s point of view of Lennie, by starting the book off showing multiple acts of benevolence towards Lennie’s partner George. Even though Lennie is a beast of a human, and is capable of severe destruction, he is an empathe...
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...hing,” (100). He covered her body with hay and then disappeared from the barn with a puppy in his hand. Lennie never intended to kill or even hurt Curley’s wife but because of his strength and mental incompetence of realizing his actions, the death of Curley’s death was inevitable.
Overall this was a positive but depressing reading experience for me. My reaction to the aspect of the novel was somewhat disgusted, about the derogatory writing the author portrayed on the mentally disabled, women and African American’s during that time period. I learned mostly about prospective in this novel how the eye opening it is. I hope a 21st century student takes away from this book the concept of prospective, empathy and characterization, while all tying those thoughts back into Carlson’s words, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” (Last Page)
Lennie is depicted in a very childlike manner throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Accordingly, he acts in a manner that is persistent with a child in that his motivations precisely lead to his actions. He does not act in a pure sense of dishonesty, reflective of the purity that is peculiar to someone who is like a kid at heart.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small, who travel together due to the fact that Lennie suffered a childlike mental illness and someone needed to take care of him. Lennie only listens to his friend George, no matter what George may say. This novel shows characteristics of their true friendship and George's compassion towards his companion. George shows acts of love and kindness out of sympathy for Lennie, yet he also seems to show an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental impairment.
“Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em. ” This quote was taken from the famous story, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. It is directed to one of the main characters, Lennie Small, and although seemingly inconsequential can describe him and his actions almost perfectly. Through this quote, the author expresses Lennie's inability to know his own strength, the reason he accidentally kills the mice. He consistently makes mistakes like these throughout the story. Mistakes that have consequences, and help to express important ideas to readers. Lennie Small is a static character with the mind of a child, used as an effective tool by the John Steinbeck to send messages to people all around the world.
Life is not a bed of roses. People use this expression to stress the fact that there are and will be difficulties in life. John Steinbeck, in his novella Of Mice and Men, does not fall short of the same views. It takes place in the year 1937, a period associated with the Great Depression, and illustrates the hardships of the time, and more so those that laborers such as George and Lennie experience. Life proves to be full of disappointments for both men who are victims of harsh circumstances in more ways than one. The two have a dream to own a farm of their own but circumstance and fate robs them of their dream for a better life. This is a depiction of the lost American Dream during the Great Depression which lasts between 1929 up to the 1940s. The poem titled “This Is Not The Life” further depicts the hardships found in life. It clearly portrays the uncertainty and struggle associated with living during the Great Depression. Thus, both the novella and the poem explain that human dreams for a great future are subject to circumstance and fate, which most of the time collude against human success in life leaving only a trace of broken dreams, pain and misery.
Since Curley had a problem with Lennie, he takes advantage of what he did to his wife to kill him. If he truly cared about his wife, he would have been strict on her from the beginning and restricted her from talking to the workers. If he really wanted to get even for his wife’s death he would have gone after Lennie in fury without having to ask for the men to go with him. Also, shooting someone is the easiest way to kill someone. If Curley wanted to prove his manliness, he should have wanted to fight him with his bare hands.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men fathoms the suffused effects of the Great Depression’; following two itinerant friends: Lennie Small and George Milton. The novella incessantly portrays violence through the deliberate use of circumstance and character’s temperament. The theme of cruelty permeates the plot, considering Steinbeck’s belief: “humans are naturally cruel”; which derives from the reasonable actions performed by the characters in the book. These primary and secondary characters explore cruelty through many stages, such as , the act of regretting someone’s presence, racism and segregation,
First of all, George has given off a sense of friendship to a lot of other characters. First of all, George will always be supportive of Lennie in the long run. Lennie has gotten in trouble in weed and now they are on their way to Soledad. It is nighttime and George is a little bothered with Lennie, but he does not want Lennie to feel bad about anything. George says to Lennie “I want you to stay with me, Lennie.” (13). George needs the companionship from Lennie no matter what situation they are in. He does not ever want to upset Lennie. Even though Lennie gets them in trouble every job, George still needs him just to be with him because he loves friendship. George will always stick with Lennie. In addition, George tries to cheer Lennie up if he is confused or just did something wrong.George and Lennie are still on their way to Soledad after what happened in Weed. Lennie wants to be cheered up after having issues in Weed. George says to Lennie, “ Ok someday-we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs.” George is telling Lennie no matter what happens to us at this moment later in life they are going to have a whole house together. Lennie loves when George tells him a story because Lennie knows that there is hope in their dreams. No matter what George will try to cheer Lennie up. George knows how much Lennie loves animals, and telling him this will keep their friendship very strong. George and Lennie will always have a friendship because they have been with each other for such a long period of time.
John Steinbeck, the American author of the multi-award winning novella, Of Mice & Men, wrote the telling story of two men, George and Lennie, whom are trying to find their way in a dark time during the Great Depression. Steinbeck depicts his novella’s character, Lennie, as a dependant unknowing man that has more in common with a bear, rather than an adult, accompanied by alongside with George who looks after him. The characters are united by their strong belief in the American Dream and navigate their way to it by working on a farm. However, as a result of Lennie killing Curley’s wife, George has an ultimatum to either let Lennie be lynched by the farmer’s, or to mercy kill him and save Lennie the pain. In this essay there will be analytical discussion of the events leading up to Lennie’s death and why we should justify George’s actions.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck In 1937, author John Steinbeck wrote the novel "Of Mice and Men" which was based on the Wall Street crash and how it affected the American people. This was the first novel written by an American writer describing their own culture. The novel is based in Soledad (California), which means a town of loneliness. American writers at that time were mostly writing stories and novels based on European culture and history.
Society has continuously shown prejudice towards those who suffer through mental disabilities. Especially in times when there was no knowledge of mental disabilities like the Great Depression,which is the time period of John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. In the novella,Steinbeck shows a childlike innocence in Lennie because of his disability,but is treated wrongly because of it.Steinbeck depicts Lennie as a sympathetic character by highlighting his childlike innocence with his inability of controlling his strength,his lack of comprehending abstract concepts,which conveys that innocence is disregarded in society and has a fatal end.
Curley makes sure his wife doesn’t talk to anyone. She is a victim of herself because she married a man that she hardly even knew. She married him though, to have a companion. She killed herself and Lennie because of her need for companionship. She craves companionship because she is an attractive woman with a need for interaction.
In the novella “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck tells the story of two bestfriends who rely on one another to achieve their dreams. George and Lennie are in search of work during the 1930’s, and it’s not easy with Lennie’s mental illness. Throughout the story Lennie causes trouble for most of the characters, such as the time where he ended up killing Curley’s wife. In the novella Steinbeck expresses themes of visions of America, dreams,hopes, and plans,man and the natural world, friendship and justice. These themes are introduced through symbols like the dream farm,the characters such as George , and through the settings like the pool by the river.
Although John Steinbeck’s novelette Of Mice and Men included a vast away of interesting characters, Lennie was one that sparked my interest the most. Small’s personality is similar to that of an innocent child’s; he is also often depicted like an animal, as he is as strong as a bull (as Milton describes him), but acts like a dog. Small is also mentally handicapped, feels security when it comes to touching soft items, and does not understand many abstract ideas. We can look at all of these traits through his devoted dependency towards George. Though he acts this way, he does not actually comprehend this idea of loyalty. As a result, he often gets into trouble without the intention of doing so, and once he does, only defines his troubles in terms of consequences, as he says “George goin’ to give me hell” or “George ain’t gonna’ let me tend them rabbits no more.” Despite his repetitive behavior, he never understands the reason why his actions are incorrect. In the beginning of the story, an instance the reader can observe his animal-like (or childish) behavior is when he slurps...
As one of the protagonists and the tragic hero, Lennie Small plays one of the most important parts in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. Lennie Small was a flat character due to the fact that all the way to the end of the novel and his life he never gave up on his dream with George to own a farm and have rabbits. Lennie also never lost his innocence and his childish presence and behaviour throughout the text. Lennie passed away happily, thinking of his dream of the farm and having rabbits. In the novel, Lennie had a strong, undying friendship with his friend George Milton.
In addition, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men depicts the universal lesson of characters possessing relentless ambitions while remaining constricted to a life of hardship. George and Lennie share a common objective, living freely on their own land, being their own bosses, and tending woodland animals. During desperate times on the ranch, when men would begin to doubt their possibilities, Lennie would incessantly