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Essay on john steinbecks life
Analysis of John Steinbeck
John steinbeck research essay
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There are different influential factors when you are comparing the personality and the relationship of the character in this book. This setting takes place during “The Great Depression” and “The Dust Bowl.” Lennie and George are both farm workers and they are not financially stable, especially after the stock market crash. In addition, the Unites States of America is filled with very cruel prejudice towards races and sexes. Lenny says, "I was only foolin', George. I don't want no ketchup. I wouldn't eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me." There are a lot of relationship types throughout the story because of the mood during it. Through characterization and the language used in chapter one, Steinbeck openly shows the characteristics
One reason Lenny and George are both different is by Lenny being less mature than George. For example, in the beginning of the book when Lenny and George were walking to get to the ranch, Lennie had a dead mice and was trying to be clever by trying to hide it from George. For that he could be able to keep it. He didn’t succeeded and was told like a kid to get rid of it and when he denied, George was the adult and threw the dead mice away. (pg.6) This shows how Lennie is less mature than George because no adult would be walking around with a dead mice and trying to hide it from someone. Proving
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the relationship between George and Lenny to express the decency of common people. Lenny is mentally disabled and George is his companion because Lenny is too incompetent to live on his own. Throughout the book, it becomes increasingly apparent that Lenny is incapable of interacting appropriately with people (other than George) without unknowingly causing some sort of trouble. Even George is sometimes overcome with the hassles of taking care of Lenny.
Steinbeck makes Lennie and George well developed, with colourful personalities and appearances at the beginning, as both of them are looking for work during the Great Depression. From reading the first chapter, I feel that I can relate to George because of his wise, parent-like, and rigid personality. George is a very responsible and tries his best to take care of a very mentally unstable person, where getting irritated is very easy. I also experienced a similar situation, but not with a mentally disabled person. My grandfather, a heavy smoker and alcoholic, suffered a lot of mental problems referring to addiction, as well as health problems because he was diagnosed with throat cancer in the last six months of his life. It was a tough time for my family because both of my parents had to work in order to support the family, so I was the only person who could take care of him. Furthermore, he was confined to a hospital bed until the day he passed away. Staying by his side and providing whatever he wanted was very difficult because there was very little communication, besides writing, because he could not talk due to an artificial respirator in his throat. Staying in the hospital for the majority of the time over the course of six months is extremely tough because of school and family problems I had to deal with. This is relatable to the
As the story continues on and the pair arrive at their job, the character chart begins to branch as we are introduced to Slim, another worker on the farm. After learning of the two’s past together, he openly expresses, “Ain’t many guys travel around together... I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other” (Steinbeck 35). There is a unique value to George and Lennie’s relationship which the world lacks. Rather than combining their might, people would rather watch their own back with one set of eyes than having a second set to keep watch. There is mistrust between people and the idea of backstabbing and swindling is very present due to the economic decline and the loss of wealth for all social classes. Due to Lennie’s mental decline, however and the fact that if it were not for George, Lennie would not be alive, there is a strong bond apparent. To be separated from one another would mean becoming the rest of the world, sad and lonely. Neither of the two would like to bring sorrow to one another or let each other go through
The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. “I want you to stay with me Lennie” (13). They stay together because “It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know” (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.
The Dust Bowl was a treacherous storm, which occurred in the 1930's, that affected the midwestern people, for example the farmers, and which taught us new technologies and methods of farming. As John Steinbeck wrote in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath: "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out. Carloads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless - restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to cut - anything, any burden to bear, for food. The kids are hungry. We got no place to live. Like ants scurrying for work, for food, and most of all for land." The early thirties opened with prosperity and growth. At the time the Midwest was full of agricultural growth. The Panhandle of the Oklahoma and Texas region was marked contrast to the long soup lines of the Eastern United States.
Compare and Contrast Essay Rough Draft January 26, 2016 Justin Park The Great Depression was the worst period in the history of America’s economy. There is no way to overstate how tough this time was for the average worker, and there was a feeling of desperation that hung over the entire country. Current political wisdom leading up to the Great Depression had been that the federal government does not get involved in business or the economy under any circumstances. Three Presidents in a row: Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, all were cut from the same cloth of enacting pro-business policies to generate a powerful economy.
‘Of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. The story is based on migrant workers in California during the time of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was caused by the Wall Street Crash in America which effected many business and banks many of which became bankrupt. This resulted in mass unemployment, inflation and economic migration from the city to the countryside. Steinbeck wrote this novel to show what life was like for low-paid, poor workers and to show how the Great Depression effected American people. He represents what life was like for many unprivileged people in 1930s America: migrant workers, women and black Americans.
They are a textbook example of loyal friends. They, together, are like peanut butter and jelly in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lennie gives George someone to talk to and someone to keep him on track. George gives Lennie insight into the world and someone that will respect him even though he isn’t intelligent. They, more importantly, give each other something to live for.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.
John Steinbeck was a major literary figure in the 20th century and continues to be widely read in the twenty-first century. Steinbeck was born on February 27,1902 (About John Steinbeck) in the Salinas Valley of California. (Laskov) "His father, John Steinbeck, Sr. was the County Treasurer and his mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a former school teacher. As a youth, he worked as a ranch hand and fruit picker. (John Steinbeck [2])". "He attended the local high school and studied marine biology at Stanford University between 1920 and 1926, but did not take a degree" (John Steinbeck [1]). Steinbeck's fascination with science and biology is evident in most of his works such as in this quote from the Grapes of Wrath: "Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up in the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." (Steinbeck 165) As Steinbeck began his writing career, he took many other jobs to support himself. For a short time, he worked at the American in New York City, and then returned to California where he worked various jobs such as a painter and fruit-picker before taking a job as a caretaker for a Lake Tahoe Estate. (John Steinbeck [1]) His job as a caretaker allowed him time to write and by the time he left the job in 1930 he had already published his first book, Cup of Gold (1929) and married his first wife Carol Henning (John Steinbeck [2]). After his marriage he moved to Pacific Grove, California where, in the early 1930s, Steinbeck met Edward Ricketts, a marine biologist, whose views on the interdependence of all life deeply influenced Steinbeck's novel To a God Unknown (1933). (John Steinbeck [2])
Imagine coming home from the beach, there is sand in your hair, in your toes, in your bags, and basically there is sand everywhere, the Dust Bowl was not a simple, fun day at the beach It was a terrible historical event that affected the lives of many people. Did you think dust could ruin a country as much as it did? In three waves, the Dust Bowl came across American and Canadian prairies, ruining agriculture in both countries for about ten years. The Dust Bowl was later called the Dirty Thirties and had been caused by a long drought that lasted for the next devastating 1930’s.
To the nations rescue, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected and provided many alternative solutions for the repair of America. Roosevelt supplied hundreds of thousands with jobs. He also had acts passed that saved banks and found solutions to protect American jobs. The beginning of World War II marked the ultimate end of the depression.
Many of the works of the writer, John Steinbeck take place during the hard days of the Great Depression. Two of his most famous works, “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men”, take place in The Great Depression. They depict hardships of finding work and feeding their family. Steinbeck expresses that in many ways in his work. John Steinbeck depicts the Great Depression by, the journeys the characters go on to find work, the poor conditions of the places they work, and the isolation of the characters.
The Great Depression was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the United Sates. No event has yet to rival The Great Depression to the present day today although we have had recessions in the past, and some economic panics, fears. Thankfully the United States of America has had its shares of experiences from the foundation of this country and throughout its growth many economic crises have occurred. In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors ("The Great Depression."). In turn from this single tragic event, numerous amounts of chain reactions occurred.