In the 1930's, the drought across the US forced many people to travel west to find jobs, and save up money to buy a piece of land to rebuild their lives. They travel from place to place seeking jobs and acceptance during the depression. This is how it was for George and Lennie in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck because they travel around looking for work and land, and hoping to find a place where they're accepted. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie have a dream, and already have a plan ready, but as the story continues, things quickly go wrong. First, Lennie accidentally breaks Curley's hand, then kills both his puppy and Curley's wife. Because George attempts to cover up Lennie's actions, things fall apart for him too. In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Characterization, foreshadowing, and irony to prove that dreams grow out of being true to oneself at all times. First, …show more content…
Steinbeck uses the characterization of George and Lennie to support that trying to fit in and cover up one’s actions only creates larger, more serious problems. At first, George is described as a dedicated caretaker who continues taking care of Lennie, even though he sometimes has some trouble doing so. In the following quote, George tells Lennie not to drink so much water. "'Lennie!' he said sharply. 'Lennie, for god's sakes don't drink so much.' Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. 'Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night'"(3). The quote indicates that George needs to remind Lennie of every little thing, such as not drinking the stagnant water. Then, in the next quote, George is shown as a tricky problem solver who likes covering things up and fitting in with others around him. When Lennie makes the mistake of talking at the wrong time, George does whatever he can to make Lennie seem more normal; "George said, 'He's my . . . cousin. I told his old lady I'd take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awrite. Just ain't bright. But he can do anything you tell him'"(22). Trying to cover up the reasons he does so much for Lennie shows that George tries to change himself according to the conditions and tries to fit in and get accepted to wherever they go. But there are always things he cannot cover up. Doing so eventually costs him his dream. Then, Lennie is quoted telling George he could go off alone and find live in a cave multiple times in the book. One of the examples is: "'I could go off in the hills there. Someplace I'd find a cave'" (12). Then, he says almost the same thing twice near the end: "I'll go right off in the hills an' I'll fin' a cave an' live there so I won't be no more trouble to George"(101). Wanting to go off in the hills and live alone indicates that trying to fit in isn't what Lennie wants, and that he will be better off living alone. This also indicates that Lennie knows himself better than George does. This contrasts to George, who wants to fit in wherever he goes. At first, George seems like a dedicated caretaker, but likes to cover up his actions, but attempting to cover up actions that cannot be covered up causes a great deal of trouble, while Lennie doesn't fit in, and doesn't make an effort to fix it. Then, Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to show that George and Lennie's dreams will never come to fruition.
The first example is when George is angry at Lennie, and recalls how they had trouble the last place they worked. "He took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they are mimicking one another. ‘Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress—jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse"(11). Lennie attempting to pet the girl's dress foreshadows trouble with Curley's Wife, as the only female on the ranch. Then another example is when Candy tells George he should have shot his dog himself instead of letting someone else do it: "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog"(61). Candy saying that he should have shot his dog himself foreshadows that Lennie is going to get in trouble, and George is going to shoot Lennie himself instead of letting someone else do it. Lennie getting in trouble with the girl
foreshadows trouble with Curley's wife, and Candy wishing he had shot his dog himself foreshadows George being the one to kill Lennie sums up to their dreams not coming true. Finally, Steinbeck uses irony to show how each character isn't always what they seem. The first example of irony is when George doesn't allow Lennie to go live in the hills in case he gets shot for a coyote; "George says, 'I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead'"(13). It seems like George cares a lot about Lennie, but then, in the end, it George who shoots Lennie because of him having trouble fitting in and causing trouble everywhere they go. The next example of irony I when Slim says that being smart and being nice are not the same, and being smart usually means not being nice. "'He's a nice fella,' said Slim. 'Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella. What's ironic is that Slim is relatively smart, and ends up George's dream by taking him drinking. At the beginning, it starts with George being the smart one, and Lennie being the dumb one, but it changes to Slim being the smart one, and George being the dumber one. Achieving a dream does not depend on intelligence. Dreams grow out of being true to oneself at all times and perusing what makes one happy. Dreams fall apart when one depends on someone else to make them come true. Characterization shows that trying to fit in and cover up all one’s actions will only create greater problems than they fix, foreshadowing shows how George and Lennie's dreams will never come to fruition, and Irony shows how the characters may seem one way, but really are different. Everybody has dreams, but not everyone's dreams does come true. That is sometimes because one may succumb to others' wills, destroying their dreams forever. But, if they stay true to themselves, and refrain from becoming someone else, they still might succeed in their dream.
Many characters have hopes and dreams which they wish to accomplish. Of Mice and Men has two main characters that go through obstacles to get what they want. In the beginning it is George and Lennie running away trying to get a job. Once both George and Lennie have a job they try to accomplish their dreams. Unfortunately they both can't get their dreams to come true since lennie does the worst and George has to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbol as rhetorical strategies to make George's actions justified.
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about loneliness and the American Dream. This book takes place during the Great Depression. It was very difficult for people to survive during this time period. A lot of people hardly survived let alone had the necessities they needed to keep relationships healthy. Of Mice of Men has a common theme of disappointment. All the characters struggle with their unaccomplished dreams. The migrant workers, stable buck, swamper, and the other men on the ranch had an unsettled disappointment of where they were at in their lives. George and Lennie, two newcomers to the ranch, aren’t like the other guys. They have each other and they are the not loneliest people in the world. Lennie has a dream though he wants to own a farm with plenty of crops and animals one day. The only problem is his blind curiosity of people and things around him. George wasn’t justified for killing Lennie because Lennie was innocent and never got the chance to find out what he did wrong.
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.
Have you ever watched a movie and knew what the ending was before it was over? Characters from the story use foreshadowing to hint on what will happen in the future. There are many examples of foreshadowing that John Steinbeck creates in Of MIce and Men. some key uses of foreshadowing that Steinbeck uses in Of MIce and Men are there wishes of the ranch but their plans going askew, how curley's wife will die, how they will not get the ranch, and lastly how lennie will die.
In California, two friends travel together to attempt to achieve their life long dream of owning their own farm. As they are traveling, they encounter situations that affect their future plans. During the Great Depression, George and Lennie, the main characters, begin searching for work to pay for their dream. As they search for work, George notices that Lennie can’t control his own strength. When they find work, they face many problems on the job especially with the bosses son, Curley. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Foreshadowing as a unifying device to reveal future events that may occur later in the story.
Since Lennie always gets them both into trouble, George told Lennie not to verbalize when they got to the ranch. “He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid” (22). George is making up an excuse to the boss why he is answering the questions that are geared towards Lennie. This quote somewhat informs the reader why Lennie is the way he is. John Steinbeck illustrates his use of symbolism very well in this novel.
Pg 2: “Behind him was his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck used George and Lennie's relationship and the theme of hope to point out the loneliness in the novel. The novel starts off and is set in Soledad which means lonely. At the beginning they get a job working on a farm together. Lennie is a little retarded and has great physical strength that isn't too controllable. As they work from ranch to ranch, Lennie relies on George for guidance and help. Rather than wasting their earnings, they try to save it in the hope of buying a place of their own. While working at one ranch they meet a worker named Candy who tries to help them financially. Before their dream can be fulfilled, Lennie kills the wife of the boss's son. As the novel concludes George must kill Lennie for his own benefit. Later Lennie goes into town and abandons his dream by spending his money.
Has loneliness ever creeped up your spine? Has the palm of lonesome ever managed slapped you across the cheek, leaving a mark that is unable to be faded; physical pain from such a mentally-fitted emotion? Of Mice and Men is a book about two men - George and Lennie - who travel together, both having a dream of grabbing a plot of land to begin their own farm. Furthermore, foreshadowing is an important aspect of this book; but, what is foreshadowing? To answer this in Layman's terms, foreshadowing is the process of hinting at future events. In Of Mice and Men, there are various traces of the writer’s use of foreshadowing. This includes the title itself, Lennie accidentally harming various creatures, Crook’s skeptic-attitude towards George and Lennie, and the general inhumanity of people at that time.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Hopes and Dreams Help People to Survive, Even if they can Never. Become Real How is this true for George and Lennie/ the characters in ‘Of Mice and the.. Men’. An important theme in ‘Of Mice and Men’ is that of hope and dreams. The main dream is that of George and Lennie to own a smallholding and work self-sufficiently.
Many times, life gives us clues as to what is yet to come. These clues that tell a person what might happen in the future is called “foreshadowing.” Foreshadowing is also a literary device used by authors. John Steinbeck, the author of, Of Mice and Men, uses foreshadowing to connect certain events in the story. Of Mice and Men, is a story about two men, George and Lennie, who are running from their past and chasing their dream; However, several tragic events change the path that they were on and everything went haywire. George and Lennie are two migrant workers who travel together, in search of work. They came across a ranch and decided to work there so they could make money and put it towards their dream of having their own piece of land. While working George and Lennie meet many new people such as Candy, Curley, Curley’s wife, Slim, Crooks, and
In the novel, “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck examines the relationship between the two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. He described them as displaced migrant ranch workers, aspirating to obtain a piece of the American Dream. Steinbeck defines the American Dream as, owning a piece of land, obtaining financial stability and breaking the cycle of Lennie’s destructive behavior. Therefore, the contributing factors that led to George killing Lennie are, as follows: a) Lennie was mentally handicapped, who could not control his desires to touch soft things (i.e. either dead or alive); b) Lennie’s acts of violence progressively worsen; c). Lastly, the climactic event of the novel proved Lennie was out-of-control. He violently attacked Curley’s wife, breaking her neck that
In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck proves that in order to achieve one's dreams, one has to plan in spite of fate's intervention.
1937 was the ending of the great depression a time when america would go through a economic downfall so people would go from place to place just to work even though they would maybe get one dollar and seven cents for working a whole day on a ranch the book Of Mice And Men would come out and explain how the times were. In the novel Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck is about two men who go to work on a ranch. One of the many themes in the novel is loneliness is a bad thing because it can drive people crazy . Steinbeck use foreshadowing and symbolism to expand and make many creative themes by showing the character emotions like fear or anger and he shows things like suspense to develop the character dream.