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Of mice and men book to movie comparison
Of mice and men book to movie comparison
Of mice and men book to movie comparison
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John Steinbeck in Of Mice and Men and Robert Benton in the film Places in the Heart both tell a tale of disappointment and frustration as the unfortunate reality of life often destroys plans and crushes dreams. In an age of lost hope, both Lennie and George in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and the Spalding Family in Benton’s Places in the heart both hope for a brighter future but their plans are quickly destroyed. Benton and Steinbeck put many references on what could have been if life did not take such a toll on the characters. Tragedy still lurks as hardship destroys the goal of peace and prosperity among the Spalding family, they look back on past events and think of what could have been. For example many times throughout the film Ms.spalding …show more content…
is caught in moments where she is in the role of both mother and father and has to carry out the responsibilities formerly given to Mr.Spalding .Ms. Spalding often reminisces on the times before the death of her husband, and wishes she could go back. The director put this into the film to show Ms. Spalding’s pain and increase in stress as a result of Mr.Spalding's death. In addition Moses was suddenly attacked by members of the KKK, who destroyed his self-esteem and was the reason he left the Spalding house. This scene was added to the film to show more disappointment as the mood drastically changed as well as Moses’s attitude. This incident snapped Moses back into his own unfortunate reality, Moses left because while Ms. Spalding made him welcome society did not. In the final scene Mr. Spalding and the boy who killed him as well as many other enemies make amends and come together in a church service. This scene is about what could have been if life was different, it shows a perfect unrealistic world untouched by reality. The final scene shows the main idea of the story because it's completely unrealistic, because there is no real peace among those characters in the rest of the film. The disappointment and attacks these characters face make them wish they were in a time when things were simpler. Lennie and George live a life of disappointment as their plans often go undone and their hopes are ruined by careless mistakes.
For example when george is about to shoot lennie he said "No, Lennie. Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place." Lennie obeyed him. George looked down at the gun…."Go on, George. When we gonna do it?" "Gonna do it soon." George knows what he has to do, but just then realizes that he will not get his land and makes himself feel worse by telling Lennie lies. In this final scene the death of lennie shows that this story is about unfinished goals because with his death comes the realization that they will never get their land. In addition after learning of what Lennie had done Candy asks george about the land to which george replies with “its over”. George puts down the idea of getting land because it would remind him too much of Lennie and the dream that they never got to accomplish. Steinbeck put this into his book to show that one small mistake changed all of george's future intentions. When George is talking to Lennie in the final scene he tells him "You... and' me. Ever'body gonna be nice to you. Ain't gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from 'em." When George is talking to lennie before he kills him he is trying to make Lennie's death as peaceful as possible by describing a perfect world to him. George and lennie aimed to have no problems, or trouble in their lives but the reality is that their
will only be more trouble in the future. George and Lennie never will live an ideal life, but the comfort in wishing for one keeps them going. John Steinbeck in Of Mice and Men and Robert Benton in the film Places in the Heart both tell a tale of disappointment and frustration as the unfortunate reality of life often destroys plans. The lesson that things don't always go as planned, and life often takes a toll on your goals can be learnt while listening to both of these stories. Reality and society is harsh and no matter how much we plan for the future, things will never go exactly how you want it.
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.
As we journey through life, we must make difficult decisions, even when few options exist and the situation is grim. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the decision George faces after Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife is complicated, as none of his choices are good. The importance of his relationship with Lennie forces George to look at the big picture and act in Lennie’s best interests, even though the action he must finally take will result in a weight that he will carry forever.
George and Lennie were lifelong friends and had varying personalities even from the start. Lennie thought about how his Aunt Clara said he should have been more like George. At the time when the story took place, the two men were travelling together, and had been for some time, working and then moving on to search for the next job they could find. They were like many other men in search for work, except it was rare for men to travel together. George felt a need to take care of Lennie because he was somewhat slow. George was an average man of the time. He was a good size, nice, but firm, and he had aspirations to be more than just a nomadic laborer. Lennie, on the other hand, had always been a little different. He was big, goofy, clumsy, but sweet. They were also both good workers. George was concerned with working and getting his money before they got into trouble and had to leave camp. Lennie was the one who normally started the trouble. He was a hard worker and lived to appease George, but he got distracted easily which angered George. George told about how they would own a house and a farm together and work for themselves. Lennie loved to hear the story and think about the possibilities, even though nobody knew if any of it was a possibility. George and Lennie's differences in part led to George's inclination to kill Lennie. Despite their dissimilarity, the two men needed each other probably more than they realized.
That ain’t no good, George.’”(Steinbeck 97). Because Lennie killed Curley’s wife, he committed a felony. George wanted Lennie to be thrown in jail at first. He wanted Lennie to be arrested because he thought it was the best thing for Lennie but then Slim told him it would not be good for Lennie. It would be bad for Lennie because Lennie would not understand his rights because he’s mentally challenged and locking him up in a cage would just hurt Lennie. George then realized he needed to kill Lennie so nobody would mistreat him. George is protecting others from Lennie.”’Lennie-if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before…’”(Steinbeck 15). George has been with Lennie for many years and he knows how Lennie will never learn and he will keep committing bad stuff. George knew something was going to happen at the ranch because Lennie has always done something wrong. George tried to prevent something from going wrong but he couldn’t. As a result he had to put down Lennie so he would not hurt anyone ever again. George felt the hard choice of killing Lennie was the right decision for George because Curley wanted to get his revenge, Lennie would be mistreated in prison and he was
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.
George is almost certain is will happen, as he wishes for 'a little house' with a 'few acres' of land to grow their own food. This is also important as it shows that in 1930s America, the main goal was to achieve stability, to be able to rely on yourself and not be worried about getting 'canned' everyday and to live, not only survive on the bare minimum. However, even George's simple dreams seem incredibly unrealistic and Crooks sums this up the best as he says 'nobody never gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land' which shows how many people attempted to acheive the same thing, to achieve stability, however no one ever did. At the end of the novel, George's dream comes to an abrupt stop as he has to kill Lennie. These final moments show how short life in 1930s America was, and how unfair situations were. Even though Candy still offered to give George his savings, George chose the solitude life of a ranch worker as Lennie was part of his dream, and how he couldn't even seem to reconsider living the American dream without him shows the reader how much Lennie meant to him.
In the beginning, the farm and the bond between George and Lennie presented to us is so beautiful yet strong. Foreshadowing already appears constantly in the first section of the book and Steinbeck stresses the doom that awaits the pair. The rabbits ran for cover immediately after the footsteps, hinting their American dream is getting away from them. We learn about Lennie’s deadly desire to stroke for soft things, and the dead mouse explains to us that the weak, innocent will not survive. The innocent soft things from mice to Lennie’s puppy all dies because of Lennie’s incapability to control his immense strength, which he has completely no idea how to control which makes him no less helpless than the animals he kills. George recounts the reason why they had to flee from the previous weed and we are made aware that similar ending will fall upon the one and only woman in the ranch-Curley’s wife.
Steinbeck uses foreshadowing throughout the story that hints on them not achieving their dream. Crooks one of the workers, predicts that Lennie and George will never get their own farm. Also, George looses hope and stops talking about the dream. As Crooks and Lennie discuss the plan to get a farm, crooks docent think that Georges and Lennies dream will become possible.’‘I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, …’em has a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever get it…” In other words Crooks has seen many people with the same dream as George and Lennie that haven't come true. Crooks says that none of the peoples dreams come true, this foreshadows that Georges and Lennies may nit come true. As a result, The failure of dreams creates an effect creates an uncertainty that their dream will come true. Not only does Crooks think that their dream will not come true, but George lost hope in their dream too. While George and Lennie are sleeping by the water, George tells Lennie a story about what their farm would be like, but George breaks down and doesn't want to talk about it. While George and Lennie are sleeping by the water, George tells Lennie a story about what their farm would be like, but George breaks down and doesn't want to talk about it. “I aint got time for no more…” in other words, George is tired of having dreams he doesn't think he can
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.
Within the beginning of the story, the dynamic of George and Lennie’s relationship is introduced, one that is uncommon and presents a fatherly vibe. The readers are thrown into the novel at the height of the great depression, an economic catastrophe that shook the world. Within these dark time, an unlikely friendship is in full blossom and we are meet by Lennie and George setting up camp for the night by a riverbed. After the duo’s personalities are expressed, they begin to set up the idea of a commonly shared dream which exists according to Lennie “Because... because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie is seen as a quite simple minded and extremely dim-witted character from just the first
The point of living is so that you can accomplish something by the time you die. Therefore hopes and dreams are the driving force of life. Hopes and dreams are exactly what kept the two migrant workers, George and Lennie, going on in life. Their ambition of one day having a farm of their own is what makes Lennie and George work as hard as they do. The theme of these ambitions being deleterious is what makes up the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Even though the ambitions that the characters of the story have could show to be better for them and be their fresh start if proven pointless, the theme of the book Of Mice and Men is that ambitions are deleterious because for Lennie and George their hopes of one
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.
George’s struggles with himself become apparent at the beginning of the novel. Steinbeck clearly lets the reader know that George has conflicting feelings about Lennie. He believed, “ ...if he was alone he could live so easy. He could go get a job an ' work, an ' no trouble” (11). George is basically telling Lennie that sometimes, he wishes he could live
Lennie’s point of no return contributes to both of these themes. Dreams are a large part of the novel because Lennie and George’s dream of owning their own rabbit farm is fueling them to keep pressing on and working through terrible conditions. However, George realizes the realism of life and acknowledges the fact that their dream will never become a reality. Lennie, on the other hand, is less realistic and believes that one day he will be able to pet rabbits on his own farm. Before George kills Lennie, he paints Lennie their dream so he can picture it before he dies. George tells Lennie “"Look acrost the river, Lennie, an' I'll tell you so you can almost see it….We gonna get a little place...we'll have maybe a pig an' chickens…”(Steinbeck) in order to bring him hope. From an outside perspective, George killing Lennie looks like a selfish act and wrongdoing. However, George kills Lennie because he knows that it is a better death for his friend than being tortured and taunted by the mob of angry men. George kills Lennie parallel to killing his own dream out of love for his friend. The main themes of dreams and friendship are supported by George’s reaction to Lennie killing Curley’s
The connection between George and Lennie illustrates the adversity during their course towards achieving the American dream. Things Lennie did, either on accident or purpose, foreshadowed what was going to happen in the book and the way people acted impacted this. Like millions of other people, George and Lennie were affected during the great depression heavily, and dreamt of owning land of their own. They worked from place to place making barely any money, and didn’t have a real home. To add to this, Lennie got in trouble a lot and in the end George had to make the crucial decision to shoot Lennie so he wouldn’t have to deal with any more difficulty. George knew he had to do what was best for Lennie and himself.