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Of mice and men literary analysis
Literary analysis essay of mice an men
Of mice and men literary analysis
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John Steinbeck uses imagery to convey Lennie’s character from his short novel “Of Mice and Men,” by using them in similes and metaphors. He compares Lennie to different types of animals to portray everything about Lennie, without directly having to tell the reader how Lennie acts. Within the first chapter, where Lennie and George are first introduced, Steinbeck uses quite a few similes to depict Lennie, such as “he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (2). This comparison helps the readers see that Lennie seems to be slow and innocent, but is also very large like a bear, showing that he may also be dangerous in another way. Again, Steinbeck mentions Lennie’s “paws” when Lennie drinks from a pool, and “dabbled
In the book Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses both Direct Characterization, and Indirect Characterization, to describe the characters. Direct characterization is when you tell the reader the characteristics of the character directly. For example, “She is tall and skinny.”On the other hand, Indirect characterization is when you give a description of the character, without directly saying what the character is like, through speech and actions. Direct And Indirect Characterization can easily be compared and contrasted in many ways.
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck chooses to use many different and unique symbols in order to help develop characters and to foreshadow upcoming events. The symbols used in this story give it a more effective message and provide a better understanding to what Steinbeck has intended to convey. He uses many different forms of symbolism, some which are objects while some are actual human relationships, in order to make the story more realistic and to give it a more insightful approach.
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.
With his disability, he needs something to feel connected to. He loves to pet furry and soft things. In chapter one in “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George are walking along a dirt road, on there way to a ranch. George discovers Lennie playing with something in his pocket. Lennie states to George before the dead mouse was taken away. ““ I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along”” (Steinbeck 6) . In order to prove that Lennie is not smart enough to fulfill the American Dream, Steinbeck creates Lennie to seem as not normal as possible. Steinbeck places Lennie in a state, where he does not understand right from wrong. He does not know nor understand, that playing with a deceased critter is not only gross but unacceptable as a
“Slowly, like a terrier, who doesn’t bring a ball back to its master. Lennie approached, drew back, approached again” (ch1, p7) wrote the author. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, he uses animal imagery through Lennie Small. He has a mental disability that prevents him from interacting and communicating with humans on a normal level. His inability to communicate effectively has led into dangerous situations for him and his friend George. John Steinbeck uses animal imagery to convey the idea that humans who are outsiders are often treated as animals.
Lennie is a massive and powerful man, but is dull-witted, George on the other hand is scrawnier and not as mighty. Both are hearty individuals just trying to survive a tough life. After Lennie’s Aunt Clara passed away George took the responsibility of looking after Lennie. Through good and bad times George has learned to love and protect him. Lennie, an animal lover at heart always takes pleasure from petting them. He loves all small, soft, fuzzy things and cannot help himself from petting them. During their journey to the new ranch, Lennie catches a mouse, “I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along.'; (Steinbeck:6). George hates it when Lennie catches animals and plays with them “well you ain’t petting no mice while you walk with me.'; (Steinbeck:6) because he knows Lennie could end up killing the tiny animal. Lennie does not know his own strength and handles the mouse too rough “you’ve broke it pettin’ it.'; (Steinbeck:9) After the two men spend the night in the woods, they finish their journey and arrive at the ranch.
In Steinbeck’s work, Of Mice and Men, he artfully uses diction to portray Slim, leaving the reader with a vision of a towering strong wise man. Steinbeck uses a variety of diction, some to show Slim’s personality, while others to show the respect he is given and the way he prefers to work. These types of diction create the perfect painting of Slim.
When you’re first introduced to a character you can depict their role within the story, but sometimes they can portray a much larger meaning. Many characters in numerous stories can be considered allegories due to author trying to show a bigger picture. Such as the story Of Mice and Men. This John Steinbeck novella can be viewed as an allegory due to the characters being able to embody certain groups in society. Three characters that symbolize a particular group are Curley’s wife, George, and Lennie.
Description is a quality that sets different novels above others. John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men illustrates many uses of description throughout the novel. The author’s immense use of description is one of the reasons why his book is successful today. Therefore, even though the characters are in a different time period, people can still relate to them as well as their emotions. Steinbeck deeply describes the characters, setting, and also dialogue throughout this novel.
In this chapter, when Lennie says George is ¨nice¨ and that he wont be mean. I think he is correct because George at the beginning never had hurt him they were good friends. Lennie killed Carlson's wife and a dog but even though that happened George was still a good friend. Then when George shoots Lennie in the back of his head, George did the correct thing because it was for Lennies own good so wouldn't keep doing and harm to other people. If George had not killed Lennie, Lennie would of been in jail or Slim or Carlson would of killed him but they would also hurt him at the same time so Lennie would of died in pain. George also did it because Lennie would have been suffering or they would have sent him to an insane asylum where he would have
When George killed Lenniey, he did it because he was his friend and he was being kind. Yes I know that is not kind at all, but if he would not have gotten killed, Lennie would have spent the rest of his life in prison for killing that poor woman. George did Lennie a huge favor by killing him I think. George is seen as a protective friend because he helps Lenny get out of trouble and he wants him to succeed and be nice to everybody.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, it also displays a deep need for important relationships, and someone who can care for you. Similarly to Of Mice and Men, the characters both only have one important relationship they cling to, but both seem unhealthy and borderline abusive. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is dependent on George, but in that case, both George and Lennie are oppressed because they are migrant workers and have little money, moving from town to town. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator is dependent on her husband, but she is the only one oppressed, because she is a woman, her state of wealth, or where she lives aren’t important. In the story, the narrator feels very isolated, which leads to further damage to her mental state. When she says “John does not know how much I really suffer.
It is often pointed out in the novel that while Lenny is by no means intelligent, he has physical strength far beyond the other men. Is this an accurate portrayal of mental disorders or mental illness? And what could have been done about it in the 1930s? It is never said if anything can be done about Lennys condition but this could be because of Georges own ignorance. Lenny’s hallucinations and memory are other points to be researched as well. Also, people would often call Lenny a lunatic. What was the public opinion on the mentally handicapped in that time? I will discuss the accuracy of these portrayals and support it with evidence.
The simile in the closing paragraph of this chapter underlines the correlation between hunger and anger by showing how all the migrants are scrambling around from place to place because they are being pushed off their camps. Steinbeck makes the simile, “On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment” (284), to show how the anger grows from having too much on their plate (which isn't food). Not only do the migrants have to worry about getting jobs and feeding their families, but they also have worry about where they are camping out. Over time, these migrants will be so fed up with scurrying around that their hunger will also bring frustration and anger with it.