Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men portrays the American Dream through the journey of two close friends, Lennie and George, as they seek to achieve their personal aspirations. Along the way, they encounter a number of hardships that challenge their ability to reach their dreams. Steinbeck further introduces to the world the idea of the “American Dream” by utilizing Lennie and George’s life experiences traveling throughout the United States in their pursuit of happiness to enlighten others of the hardships of the Great Depression.…
How does Steinbeck present attitudes to women in the society in which the novel is set?…
Hopes and dreams are a fundamental part of the human condition. Without them, one can lose a sense of purpose in life. In ‘Of Mice and Men’ George and Lennie attempt to break away from conforming to a malicious society. This central notion of the American Dream is mirrored in George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm allowing self-reliance, “live off the fatta the lan”, enabling them to be their own masters. Steinbeck’s repetition of the concept of land ownership through the dialogue of George and Lennie, particularly Lennie’s total devotion to “tending the rabbits”, highlights the crippling feeling of dispossession of the itinerant workers and their need to dream to cope with life. Every character at one point also confesses of possessing a dream different from their dull unsatisfactory lives, Candy latches…
The author of this summary explains to readers the theme, symbolism, and the structure used in the story. They compare George and Lennie 's friendship to the relationship of the other men. Stating that they all desire to have a close friendship with each other to where they are practically brothers , but their lives are too harsh for them to look out for each other. The author then says that although George and Lennie never reached their goal of attaining the farm with the rabbits, they were the only two who got the closest to achieving that friendship. The author emphasizes the impossibility of The American Dream and shows the difficulty of this dream by saying all the characters in Of Mice And Men all had their dreams, but none of them ever reached them. The author believes the selfishness of the characters is what gets in the way of their dreams and believes that when George sees how the other characters failed at their dreams he realizes how impossible his American Dream really is. The author supports his ideas with examples and scenes from the book itself. The author explains his ideas and relates the events of the story to everyday life, giving the reader an understanding of the book and its characters.…
John Steinbeck (born in 1902) was a talented Californian writer. Steinbeck spent much of his time in New York and the Salinas Valley. Although he spent a few years at Stanford University, he desperately wanted to be a writer, therefore he started writing. His work includes The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, The Red Pony, East of Eden and of course, Of Mice and Men. Hollywood loved Steinbeck and even made these very books in to film adaptations. Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962 for his realistic but imaginative writings. In this essay I will be talking about one of John’s well known books, Of Mice and Men. This story is about two travelling ranch workers, George and Lennie, trying to earn enough money to get their own house and farm. The tale is based is 1930’s America during the Great Depression. This book encompasses themes of prejudice, racism and the fight for personal independence.…
As one traverses through the journey of life, he becomes confronted with many obstacles. One such obstacle becomes apparant through the illusion that society has taught him that all men are created equal. However, there comes a day in every man's life where he is discriminated by his peers, and he learns the reality that all men are not created equal. It may be because of his behavior, or even just because he has a disability. His actions can cause an inconvenience to his peers, and to society as a whole. At times, the way he communicates can be frustrating to those who he deals with. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the author portrays how people with disabilities have to learn how to blend into the society that mocks their differences. In his Of Mice and Men Steinbeck portrays characteristics of people with disabilities to be outcasts to society. Steinbeck conveys this theme by using symbolism, and parallelism. One example of parallelism is shown by this quote "I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks." Herndon 2 "Well I can't stand him in here," said Carlson. "That stink hangs around even after he's gone." Parallelism is shown between the Candy's dog and Lennie. People mock the dog's horrible stench, which is symbolic to people mocking Lennie being an idiot therefore the dog's death foreshadows Lennies death.…
Q- “I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her” what is the reader supposed to think about Curley’s wife?…
To use violence or not to use violence, that is the question that every author aspiring to write a novel must ask. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two men working ranches out west and How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster is about literary symbolism, and they both refer to violence. How to Read Literature Like a Professor explains violence and its significance, and Of Mice and Men includes violence as major plot events. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster in Chapter 11 refers to violence and what it means. In this chapter Foster writes “Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications.” ( Foster 88) This quote describes how violence is always meaning more than just simply violence. Violence can be symbolic, thematic, or even biblical in its meaning, but it is never just violence for violence’s sake. In Of Mice and Men’s case, the violence was symbolic in a foreshadowing way. This quote takes place while George and Lennie are in the wilderness thinking of memories, and Lennie remembers this memory. “I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead—because they was so little.” (Steinbeck 10) This quote is foreshadowing of how Lennie will kill Curly’s wife later in the book, because she does something mean to him like the mouse and then he does something to stop her, just like he stopped the mouse. He also ended up killing both the mouse and Curly’s wife. To the reader this shows that Steinbeck carefully intertwined symbolism into his novel in the form of foreshadowing. As demonstrated, How to Read Literature Like a Professor was right in saying that violence is always more than violence, and Of Mice and Men is an excellent example of that. Whether violence is biblical, thematic, or symbolic in its usage, it always adds the electricity…
There are many questions throughout this novel that are left unanswered. The biggest question being what truly possessed George to…
Have you ever witnessed someone being mistreated because they are not the same as everyone else? If you saw that person was belittled, made fun of, how would you react? In the novel Of Mice and Men how Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are marginalized is what conveys the meaning of what it’s like to be put down for such unnecessary reasons.…
E – expand or explain the topic in more detail – contextualise it (1 sentence)…
The esteemed novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place in the Great Depression, a time when few people are willing to stick together. The story is about two companions, named Lennie and George, who show all the people that they work with on the ranch that it is possible to work together with someone during such harsh times, but few people are willing to believe it. Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men portrays the theme of companionship as something out of reach, but always wished for.…
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck 's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book 's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.…
The American Dream of prosperity and independence fuels Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The two central characters, George and Lennie, forge a bond to achieve this dream. In the achievement of their dream, they must separate themselves from the masses of itinerant workers whose sweat, grime, and despair become obstacles to dream fulfillment. George feels that their situation is unique in contrast to other ranch workers: they have each other. He boasts, 'Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.' This shows that George and Lennie share a symbiotic relationship; they depend on each other to provide a sense of hope in an otherwise bleak life. In addition, their wages, food rations, and necessities will be shared.…
John Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ was written in the 1930’s America, about two migrant workers, Lennie and George. Lennie and George both share the same dream that one day they will both have their own farm.…