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Great depression and literature essay
Lennie characterisation in mice and men
Lennie characterisation in mice and men
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The story,Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck take place during The Great Depression, the era where twenty percent of Americans were unemployed, many characters might work as laborers in a ranch but does not mean that they have dreams. Many characters that newly introduced in the story each have their unique individual dreams and goals that they want to accomplish. Lennie dreams of being with George and getting an opportunity to tend rabbits.Crooks dreams of being finally equal as any other man in the country.Candy dreams of working with George and Lennie to buy land and farming for themselves. Many of those dreams require a lot of time and patience and eventually their dreams might come true, but without those key component, their dreams might …show more content…
Because Lennie is bright as a dim light bulb, he has to listen to George no matter what he says or else, Lennie might get into bigger problems than he is now. Lennie goes to the ranch to work with George since they are poor during The Great Depression. He might be poor and clueless, but he has big dreams for the future. Lennie dreams of always being with George no matter what, so he can always guide him to do the right thing in any situation since Lennie is not capable of processing things quickly due to his mental handicap. And Lennie's other dream is to tend rabbits he can only tend those rabbits if he is responsible and doesn't get into any trouble they(George and Lennie) work on the ranch:"’[George]O.K. 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 and—’ ‘[Lennie]An' have rabbits’(page 14). Finally, Lennie's other dream is to be equal to George, most of the time Lennie has to be quite while George does the important stuff, Lennie just wants to be involved with the important things. Lennie just wants to be involved with the others and not be left out just like always. He wants to be useful as the others and be able to make a difference by
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.
Everyone dreams about something. However, it is important to know when the right time to dream is, and when to wake up. A major theme that Steinbeck conveys in the book Of Mice and Men is the pursuit of the American Dream. The book tells the story of two men trying to earn a better life. Their American Dream was to get their own place somewhere and live together. Although, through the characterization of Lennie, the symbolism of rabbits, and the setting of the book, Steinbeck is trying to convey that people cannot continue to live in a dream.
First, Lennie is a lonely outcast because he is retarded. One of the reasons he doesn?t fit in with the other ranch hands is because he doesn?t always understand what people are talking about. He doesn?t even always understand George. Lennie admits this when Crooks says to him, ?Sometimes he talks and and you don?t know what the hell he?s talkin? about.? (Steinbeck,77). But Lennie always needs companionship. He is never alone, even if he has a dead mouse or a puppy with him. George would sometimes punish Lenny by not letting him tend to the rabbits on the ranch. And Lennie?s biggest fear is of being abandoned by George:
George and Lennie need each other to achieve their dream of their own farm with rabbits to tend. Lennie could not take care of his rabbits or even survive without George.
When Lennie and George encounter Slim, another ranch hand, they automatically respect him and react positively towards him. “This was Slim, the jerkline skinner. His hatchet face was ageless. He might have been thirty-five or fifty. His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought. His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.” (Steinbeck, 33-34) Slim is the noblest of the ranch as the only character who seems to be at peace with his circumstances and his life. The other characters view slim as wise and respectable man and often go to him for guidance, as the only person who has achieved what he wants in life.
Hope-an illusion. Hope-something to be seen but never achieved. Hope-something to look forward to, never a reality. Reality comes from action, not wishes. Hope-a thing with feathers, flighty, beautiful, unreal. In both “Hope is the thing with feathers”, by Emily Dickinson, and Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, hope is portrayed as keeping up one’s spirit, and welcome when times are grueling, and sounding promising but not always making sense. Curley’s wife dreams of being a movie star, and this keeps her married, if unhappily, to Curley, but her dream is actually a delusion, and while promising much, never actually delivers. George and Lennie are sustained throughout their troubles by their dream of a farm and escape from the migrant worker’s life, and while it could have happened, Lennie kills Curley’s wife, thus making their dream impossible. The poem describes hope as a tangible thing that is constant in the soul, and attracts people to it, but isn’t based on reason.
The American Dream is a dream that everyone imagines to be picture perfect. The American Dream means having freedom, equality and opportunity’s to achieve the dream that you conceptualize to be right by you. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck did not want to just illustrate the American dream as being easy, but he wanted to point out the American Dream as being difficult too. Steinbeck made a work of art by composing a great novel to make the reader understand that life can be difficult and at times dreams are hard to achieve. Of Mice and Men was written and based on the settings of the Great Depression (Anderson). The Great Depression was a very dire time that left multiple of people despondent and the unavailing to move on with their lives. The Great Depression created a world where everyone had to seek and survive for themselves. In the novel Steinbeck wanted to explore and point out how powerless people where during the time of the Great Depression. Steinbeck purposely incorporated his characters to depict the life struggle of what people go through during grim times. In the novel, Steinbeck illustrated a great set of characters Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses handicaps, hardships, and friendships of the characters.
excited one. He now has hope of doing something and it came from the "dream
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.
To begin, Lennie has this big dream of George and him living on their own land, being their own bosses, and tending to his own rabbits. Lennie’s major obstacle in achieving his dream is that he is slower than most people for his age. Lennie acts like a child making George the responsible adult. Lennie also listens to whatever George says because Lennie looks up to George almost like he is his brother. Lennie also has a tendency to forget what he is told:
What is the role of dreams in John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ In John Steinbeck’s novella, ‘Of Mice and Men,’ the role of dreams plays a very important part. The book was written during the ‘Great Depression,’ which occurred just after the well known ‘Wall Street Crash.’ The book Of Mice and Men was set in the depression of the 1930’s in California in a place called Soledad. Men travelled around looking for any work they could find, they had to leave families and their homes just to make money. Even firms and companies went bankrupt; these were depressing and desperate times, with no hope and definitely no future.
a better way of life - but something always seems to get in the way of
Discuss the theme of the Dream in Of Mice and Men. “Everyone in the world has a dream he knows can’t Come off but he spends his life hoping it may. This is at once The sadness and greatness and the triumph of our species” John Steinbeck = ==
Lennie is more of a child, he always has to rely on George since he has a mental disability. By George sticking with Lennie the whole time shows how great of a friend he is toward Lennie. In the book it is mentioned that Aunt Clara tells George to take care of Lennie after her death, so George promises to take care of him. Despite their differences they still manage to be friends. They have a real strong bond that slim, and other ranch workers see unusual especially the boss because he’s never seen 2 guys travel together and keep a tight relationship. That is only because George sticks with Lennie to get more jobs because he is so big and so workers will be willing to take them in. The boss sees that as George taking advantage of Lennie but George doesn’t because they’re such good friends, Lennie without George makes him a loner, and Lennie keeps George’s life occupied. Although George and Lennie’s relationship was so strong and good George had to kill Lennie since Lennie killed Curley’s wife. George knew that he had no way of saving him so he had to kill him also because Lennie could not get out of his own
“Do Dreams Really Come True?” Most people have a dream they work toward within their lifetime. It could be for a job, a relationship, or a new home. In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by, John Steinbeck, each character has their own dream. Steinbeck writes of a pair of family friend workers George Milton (“slim, smart, and sharp”) who takes care of Lennie Smalls (simple, friendly, and mentally challenged).