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Essay based on justice in to kill a mockingbird
Essay based on justice in to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird justice and injustice
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Manifestations of power and powerlessness is explored in John Steinbeck’s novel. The various individuals found in the novel, each possess occasions of strengths, but also moments of vulnerability. Stronger characters will often look down upon weaker characters as a mean of gaining power, while those weaker characters will pry on other while they are at their weakest as a mean to compensate for their loss of power. Crooks, a dark skin, stable hand, whose job is to take care of the horses, is represented in John Steinbeck’s novel, “Of Mice and Men” as a character who undergoes occasions of strength but also moments of vulnerability. Crooks is usually left in a powerless state due to his natural skin colour being black. Often being ridiculed, condemned and discriminated for something he cannot control. …show more content…
Crooks is shown to be segregated from the other workers for his skin colour during his conversation with Lennie. “A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not. He can’t turn to some other guy and ask him if he sees it too. He can’t tell. He got nothing to measure by. I seen things out here. I wasn’t drunk. I don’t know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an’ then it would be all right. But I jus’ don’t know.” This dialogue reveals a deep truth about Crooks isolated life of having no one to ask questions, talk about his ideas, play with, interact with, or to ask for confirmation. This shows just how his powerless experience has started to influence his mental state of mind. Another dialogue from Crooks conversation with Lennie, “This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?” This metaphorical dialogue presents the idea that black people are irrelevant and are not accounted for, even when clearly trying to express their thoughts and ideas. The author utilises descriptive imagery, “In the stable buck’s room a small electric globe threw a meager yellow light”. The words “small” and “meager” are both adjectives used when someone would be describing something impotent and inadequate. In this situation, Crooks possessions, showing his limited resources, and his condition of powerlessness. Although left in a powerless situation, Crooks is no innocent character and often endeavours to regain his lost power by prying on other weak individuals or when someone is at their weakest.
Crooks harsh tone in his dialogue with Lennie, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me”, displays Crooks attempt to express his desire for superiority. Since Crooks isn’t wanted anywhere else other than his own stable, he claims the stable as his own personal area belonging to no one other than himself to acquire a sense of supremacy. “They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.” This quote illustrates Crooks negative behaviour as a consequence of his mistreatment due to his status. Crooks malevolent plan was to suppress Lennie’s ambitions of owning a farm, as a method to express his sorrow and powerlessness, while also grasping a feeling of
dominance. Variations of power and powerlessness, present in John Steinbeck’s novel, “Of Mice and Men”, depicts the consequences of undergoing a perception of power and powerlessness. Crook’s deceptive persona of alternating from being powerless to being powerful, exemplifies that losing, then later obtaining power is almost always associated with a negative outcome.
why Lennie and George Travel together and is not very understanding. Although you never find
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.
John Steinbeck, the author of the novel Of Mice and Men uses many stylistic devices and description in chapter one to give the reader a deeper understanding of what may occur throughout the novel. Firstly, the name of the city the two protagonists, Lennie and George, are heading to is called “Soledad,” which means loneliness in Spanish; this is symbolism and foreshadowing because it can mean that as they get closer to the city, their relationship as friends may deteriorate and they may end up alone towards the end. Furthermore, this could also mean that there can be major problems in further chapters because of Lennie’s unpredictable behaviour due to his mental disabilities. In relation to Robert Burns’s poem, “To a Mouse,” the author may be
John Steinbeck’s creative and carefully planned writing expressed the difficulties of oppression in this Era. Of Mice and Men explored the effects of systemic oppression on women,
When you’re in a position of high authority, it comes with a great sum of power. Having a great deal of control can corrupt and can lead to the abuse of it. Abuse of power is using their power for their own benefit even if it may harm others. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the effects of the abuse shown by Curley and Curley’s wife to the other characters will ultimately lead to a tragic end.
The book, Of Mice and Men is not just about the death of Lennie, as one might think, it’s also about power. Throughout the book, one can observe each character’s attempts to gain influence over the ranch crew, or at least to be accepted into a society. However, only one man can be on top, and that man became Slim, the ageless jerkline skinner. Unlike Curley, he lead with an understanding mind instead of abusing the power gained by achieving the American Dream.
The quote that inspired John Steinbeck was the best laid schemes often go off track can be seen in the novel of Mice and Men. When Curley's wife met a man in her childhood that offered her to be an actress but the chance went away and she later died. Then Curley wanted to be a professional boxer but the dream never happened and he became a farmer then got his hand broken for trying to be tough. George and Lennie were going to buy a farm to live off the fat of the land then Lennie had to get in trouble and George had to give up the dream and kill Lennie for what he had done.
The 3 themes in “Of Mice And Men” are loneliness, powerlessness, and dreams often fail.
"Crooks is a black man that experiences isolation because the society in which he resides is racist. As a result, the previous quote was his means of finding a personal connection to Lennie. Like Lennie, Crooks has a "relationship" with loneliness. He knows that when people get lonely, they tend to get sick. Crooks is rejected from every group of people and cannot socially interact with others.
Crooks was excluded from the group and had his own barn which was his only freedom. When Crooks said “Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that? ” (Steinbeck 72), he wants to seek someone’s company like Lennie has George’s. Crooks threatened Lennie into the fact that George might not come back because he wanted Lennie to feel loneliness, but to his disappointment he was in vain. Crooks also conveys through his body language and the way he speaks that he doesn’t want to be excluded from the others and wants to participate in all the activities with them.
Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck, shows many different views on society. This book has a lot different messages you can take and apply to real life. All the people in the story can relate to someone today and also to some stuff that still happens all around the world. When reading this book you can really start to understand and connect with the characters and identify their weaknesses and their strengths. Some things you really start to notice is how powerful some people are and how they use that power in everyday living. Many characters had power, because of that it helped some get by, helped some take advantage and boss people around, but power also hurt them.
Men, Steinbeck’s character’s life is dependent on the assumptions made about him. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two men with opposite character who face the hardships and reality of
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
The conversation on page 68 of the book perfectly explains the discrimination against Crooks: “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck, 68). Crooks is unfairly treated solely based on his skin color, and the other men only say that he stinks to avoid dealing with him. In addition, Crooks displayed his need for attention when, on page 69, after Lennie had walked into his room, he states, “Come on in and set a while.” (Steinbeck, 69). He is proving how extreme isolation can cause one to crave human interaction. Although Crooks acts like he is reluctantly inviting Lennie in, he was truly excitedly welcoming Lennie, who stopped to talk in Crooks’ own house where no one else ever goes.
The theme of power in prevalent in John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice And Men’ and is presented and developed in many different ways. Power is first established in the title, which introduces the recurring wrath of fate implying that men, like beast, are helplessly fated to live a disempowered and isolated life. Some however seek comfort in their powerful dreams, and companionship in their romanticised fraternal bonds, most notably that of Lennie and George, whose unconditional love for another leaves the reader with questions regarding their own morality. Steinbeck’s powerful prose, a strong single plot line over a short time span drives the tragic events forward, and his depiction of the foreshadowing natural world gives the novella a certain aspect of duality.