The power of novels can allow readers to learn significant lessons about humanity and life experiences. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” set in Americas great depression of the 1930’s, explores the human need for company and the impact of loneliness. This is shown through the characters experiences of power and powerlessness on a barley ranch in California. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty, emphasised by the desperation of the era which the novel is set. Loneliness is destructive as humans need company to survive. Loneliness is described through the characters in this story when Curley’s wife is treated poorly by all of the men as none of them want Curley to get mad at them. “Well I ain’t giving you no …show more content…
trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time? The technique used by Steinbeck in this example is vernacular this is shown by Curley’s wife simplistic and innocent intentions which are misunderstood by the men. Similarly the characters are lonely because they are isolated and powerless. Steinbeck explores the isolating impact on the individuals when power is abused. Curley abuses his power when he tries to intimidate Lennie, however, this is isolating for him as the other men stand up for Lennie. Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier “what the hell you laughin’ at”? Crooks is powerless because of his race and his disability which isolates him as he is unable to interact with Lennie and show kindness. Crooks look sharply “you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me”. The technique used by crooks is aggressive and intolerant tone which is ironic as he is isolated and excluded by the white society. The technique used by Curley is aggressive tone which is used towards all the men because Curley is powerful and he abuses it. The characters also show that because they are powerless in times of cruelty compassion is needed. There is greater need for compassion in times of cruelty.
Candy shows towards his dog by putting him out of misery. At last Candy said softly and hopelessly “Awright-take im”. A parallel scene which escalates this dilemma when Lennie has accidently killed Curley’s wife and George is forced with a decision with letting Lennie face a violent death or a more peaceful one by his own hand. “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger”. The technique used is foreshadowing as the shooting of Candy’s dog foreshadows a later dilemma that George must face. Irony is also used when George has to kill Lennie as he sacrifices his own needs and is forced wellbeing to protect his friend. Novels can create the power to teach the reader about people and life. Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” that was set in the 1930’s American depression, teach readers about how humans need company and the impact of loneliness. These themes are shown through the characters experiences with power and powerlessness. Steinbeck shows his readers the need for compassion in times of cruelty. Steinbeck used his imagination to produce a novel that explores all the different experiences we come across in
life.
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
In Of Mice and Men, the author attempts to portray the hardships that a man attempts to face yet fails to withstand. Set in the post-depression era, the book depicts the harsh truth of the
All in all, through the use of the characters in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck is able to highlight how isolation that is forced on individuals by society ultimately leads to one’s suffering. The overall message of the novel is that no single individual should be mistreated because of a mental issue, his or her race, his or her gender, or the fact that one may have a physical injury. It is everyone’s human right to be treated equally and respectfully. No one should ever feel alienated from his or her surroundings. Loneliness is something that no one can avoid. As the story comes to an end, the story brings to light different causes of isolation, particularly discrimination and preconceptions.
Mother Theresa once said, "Loneliness is a man's worst poverty." Without friends and companions, people begin to suffer from loneliness and solitude (Dusenbury 38). Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life and cannot be avoided, as shown prevalent through each of the characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Each and every character in this novel exhibits loneliness. Lennie was isolated for being mentally handicapped, Candy was isolated for being old and disabled, Crooks was for being black, Curley's wife for being a woman, and George for having to care for Lennie and being unable to socialize with others because of Lennie's consistency of getting into trouble from town to town.
Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two characters in the novel that are apart of the overall theme of loneliness are crooks the crippled stable buck and Curley's wife the flirtatious city girl. Crook's fits in to the loneliness theme because he is black. During this time in history, there was very little racial empathy. So being black means that he is isolated from everyone else at the ranch. Speaking of isolation, curley's wife feels very isolated because her husband, Curley, doesn't trust her at all, however, because Curley is so strict and concerned about her flirting with other guys it almost fuels her desire to cause trouble.
Curley’s wife is an extremely sad example of loneliness been characterised in the novel. T...
‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novel written by John Steinbeck about the Great Depression time period and was originally published in 1937. The novel consists of many techniques used by Steinbeck to engage and communicate with readers, such as dialogue, description, animal imagery and foreshadowing. These carefully considered four techniques allows Steinbeck to emphasise on the important aspects of the plot and convey vital messages as to engage the audience.
After stumbling across Lennie in the barn one day while the other men were playing horse shoes, she explains to him, “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (Steinbeck 86). Especially being a woman during this time period, Curley’s wife is left to talking to no one but her husband. Because she is young, and beautiful, people perceive her something she is not (a slut), which keeps people from interacting with her. She explains, “…I can’t talk to nobody but Curley…” (Steinbeck 87). She is forced to talk only to none other than her husband in whom she does not like. It is considered wrong to talk with other men, even if it has nothing to do with a wanted relationship. Being a wrongly perceived woman leaves Curley’s wife feeling
People do not talk to her because she is a woman, she is avoided because of her gender, but they do not even think about how lonely that makes her. When the others tell her to go away because they do not want trouble, she says, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody” (Steinbeck 77). She is avoided and rejected, and that would make anyone lonely. Curley’s Wife is also lonely because of her unhappy marriage with Curley. Curley is not a kind man, and she may be married to him, but she does not love him. Curley does not let her talk to others, and when she can only talk to Curley, she feels alone. When Lennie does not want to talk to her because he does not want to angry Curley, she says, “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley” (Steinbeck 87). She feels trapped by her terrible marriage. Curley’s Wife feels hopeless because of her marriage, and Candy is hopeless as
I have been analysing the novella ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck, which was published in 1937. Steinbeck wrote the novel based on his own experiences as a bindle stiff in the 1920’s, around the same time when the great Wall Street crash happened, causing an immense depression in America. Throughout the novel he uses a recurring theme of loneliness in his writing, which may have reflected his own experiences at this time. This is evident in his writing by the way he describes the characters, setting and language in the novel.
John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ focuses on the relationship between two itinerant workers: George and Lennie. The average itinerant worker moved from place to place to find work, travelling alone. They led very lonely lives, and the majority had no family and didn’t belong anywhere. But George and Lennie travelled together, the simple desire for company and friendship; as well as their dream binded John Steinbeck’s main characters together. George and Lennie’s dream is to live on a farm with a bit of land and a few animals; somewhere that they can call their own. John Steinbeck based ‘Of Mice and Men’ on the American Dream, which was thought to be every man’s goal in American in the 20th centaury. People wanted to feel fulfilled and respected, to belong somewhere and feel safe, happy and content. The dream was rooted from The Wall Street Crash of 1929 that was followed by The Great Depression in the 1930’s. Many people lost their jobs and were forced to travel to different places to find work. ‘Of Mice and Men’ shows just how unachievable and unrealistic this shared dream really is. The title of the book is based upon a line from Robert Burns poem ‘To a Mouse’ it quotes “The best laid plans of Mice and Men will always go astray” suggesting that however much you plan and however hard you work things can always go wrong.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men fathoms the suffused effects of the Great Depression’; following two itinerant friends: Lennie Small and George Milton. The novella incessantly portrays violence through the deliberate use of circumstance and character’s temperament. The theme of cruelty permeates the plot, considering Steinbeck’s belief: “humans are naturally cruel”; which derives from the reasonable actions performed by the characters in the book. These primary and secondary characters explore cruelty through many stages, such as , the act of regretting someone’s presence, racism and segregation,
Human nature reveals itself in inconspicuous ways, whether good or bad. The era of the Great Depression portrayed the cruelties thousands of American citizens saw in themselves as their lives plummeted to unimaginable lows. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck tells the story of two migrant workers struggling through the effects of the worst economic panic in the history of the United States. Steinbeck’s application of foreshadowing, characterization, and symbolism offers a deeper insight into the dark side of human nature.
Throughout the early 1900s of the United States, the daily life of American citizens consisted of several social hardships such as racism, sexism, and other types of oppression. Furthermore, the ordinary folk experienced adversities like the struggle to obtain a steady position at an occupation. Thus, simply collecting capital and making a living was rather difficult. One writer by the name of John Steinbeck precisely demonstrates such living conditions in his novella, Of Mice of Men. The story contains unfortunate and grim occurrences that simulate the reality some people had to face in the United States during the 1930s. John Steinbeck’s utilization of foreshadowing in Of Mice of Men develops the tragic ending of the novella. Throughout the