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Emotionality essays
Emotionality essays
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Intolerance is human nature; people who are different from or weaker than the norm
are victims of intolerance and become isolated and lonely. Those who are in the
norm are expected to be strong and not show their feelings. In Of Mice And Men, by
John Steinbeck, the social power group is the white, male workers on the farm.
They are younger men, still useful, reasonably intelligent, and average-sized. They
exclude people who do not fit their norm, such as Curley for being short, Lennie for
being retarded, Candy for being old, Crooks for being black, and Curley's wife for
being a woman. Between themselves, they expect strength, distance and
independence, and are uncomfortable with emotions. This intolerance and isolation
cause loneliness for all the characters in this novel.
This social power group oppresses and isolates Curley, Lennie and Candy because
they are different, even though they are white. Lennie is very strong and big but his
mind is like a child's, so the men don't respect him as an equal. For example,
George explains to Slim that he, "Used to play jokes on [Lennie] cause he was too
dumb to take care of 'imself"(p. 40). Lennie does not take part in the activities the
workers do in their spare time. Lennie does not go to town with the men. In Weed,
Lennie gets in trouble because the people don't understand his problem. They react
with anger instead of understanding. George explains to Slim, "Cause he ain't
mean....like what happened in Weed-"(p. 40). Candy is afraid that he will have
nowhere to go soon because he is old: "I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get
no jobs." (p. 60) Candy knows that society doesn't value or care about people who
can't work. Society ejects them because they are no longer useful. Carlson shows
this when he says about Candy's dog, " He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't
no good himself. Why'n't you shoot him, Candy? (p. 44). Candy knows he is like
his dog; an old man is almost useless. He knows how they will discard them he's no
longer useful: "They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they
can me here I wish't somebody shoot me." (p. 60) Curley feels excluded from
society because he is too short. He hates big men because big men automatically get
into the social power group. Candy comments to George that "Curley's like a lot of
little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys.
In section two, Carlson’s belief that Candy’s old, useless dog represents to us the reality of this cruel world-the strong shall survive and the weak are unworthy. We all know that Lennie has mental disability and hence he cannot escape from this reality likewise. Another new character Curley is introduced to us, we are made to realize underlying threat this character would give. The pair manages to avoid Curley by sticking even closer to each other than usual. However, the only character which has relationship with Curley appears to be even a bigger threat. She is Curley’s wife, the only female in the ranch. When we l...
why Lennie and George Travel together and is not very understanding. Although you never find
had to leave Weed. Lennie would not let go of a girl's dress he wanted
In Of Mice and Men the character Lennie is big and has a diminished mental capacity. Lennie is s...
Lennie has always been told what to do by George. George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the
Lennie’s illness was seen as common and nothing to take concern over, which pertains to the vague yet soft sympathy from George whom “babysits” Lennie. George was an older brother to Lennie in a sense, helping him to get through life without any mishaps. However for George, Lennie’s illness determined their income and job status. In several incidences, Lennie overreacted in certain situations causing them to lose or leave their job spontaneously. At different points in the book, George became frustrated with Lennie: “You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (Steinbeck 12). This showed the overall frustration yet compassion towards Lennie, however extreme concern. According to Lennie, when he killed the puppy he said: “Why do you got to get killed, you ain’t as little as mice I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 85). This really brought out the fact that Lennie’s illness was not to be tempered with, as he really couldn’t ever contemplate the harsh, unintentional things he’s done. When George and Lennie arrive at their new job, tension rises in the book and the author brings out that possible aspect of Lennie unintentionally doing something wrong which in turn would cause them to lose their job--or
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.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, the effects of loneliness and need for companionship
I looked over at Candy. “It was only me sir” I said. “The boss looked as if he was gonna truly hurt me but his face slowly showed some sympathy. “Leave, before I decide to do anything to you!” yelled the boss “At least, let him take his bag sir?” asked Candy
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:
like fugitives and take refuge at a ranch house, where they work for money, food, and shelter
‘Lennie never done it in meanness,’ he said. ‘ All the time he done bad things, but he never done one of ‘em mean.’ “ page 95. George knows that Lennie would “never done it in meanness.” He sees the good in Lennie but is not able to help Lennie because he is peer pressured into being the one to kill his best friend. George has stood by Lennie’s side though all the bad he has done in the past yet when he let others get into his head, he ends up killing Lennie. Earlier in the book, when Slim and George are talking, Lennie not being mean comes up. Slim said, “ ‘ Didn’t hurt the girl none, huh?’ he finally asked. ‘Hell, no. He just scared her. I’d be scared too if he grabbed me. But he never hurt her…’ ‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can tell a mean guy a mile off.’ ” page 44. Even Slim can see that “[Lennie] ain’t mean” and that he would never want to hurt anyone. He understands when George explains that Lennie just scared the girl, nothing else, but she lied to the law. Not only does George know that Lennie is a good guy but so does Slim. Slim claims he “can tell a mean guy a mile off” which proves that if Lennie really was a mean guy, then Slim would not be saying otherwise.
Men are allegedly competitive, aggressive, dominant, and strong and if these attributes are not acquired a man is not a man. When other men recognize a man failing in those four areas of “manliness” they compare him to a female with negative connotation as expressed in the following quote, “The worst insult one man can hurl at another-whether its boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom-is the accusation that a man is like a woman.” These actions create perceptions that women are unworthy and pitiful. Jensen mentions that because of masculinity men are thought to seek control over women resulting in an increase of physical violence towards women. However, masculinity has harsh effects on men as well. Men are constantly trying to prove their dominance to each other, while competing against one another for ultimate dominance. This creates a never ending cycle of competition and unease for
Lennie, like a mouse, is helpless. Lennie relies on George to think for him like mice rely on scraps of food from the dinner table to eat.
In the Salinas River Valley, after the Great Depression, there were a large number of unemployed workers seeking jobs. In the fiction novel "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is among one of those men. Lennie and his friend George both have just received jobs on a ranch as farm workers. What brings the two together is their dream to someday own their own land. Lennie has a lot of character and personality traits that define him. One trait that he has is he is very forgetful. Another trait he has is he is very curious. A final trait he has is that he is very reliant. Although he might not be the intelligent person in the book, he has a very well developed personality. Lennie demonstrates his personality and character traits throughout the novel.