Of mice and men (final)
Johns Steinbeck’s 1937 masterpiece “of mice and men” gives insight to the lives of ordinary people affected by the great depression in America, during the 1930s. In the novella the themes of loyalty and disloyalty are a key part of the plot. Steinbeck explores the seminal themes of loyalty and disloyalty by careful use of setting, structure and development of complex character constructs. Also the use of language and imagery in the novella depict the reality of the great depression for many people and the challenges they faced everyday.
At the beginning of the novella author John Steinbeck opens with a description of the idyllic natural setting, where “the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm to, for its
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In this moment he seems unaffected by her death, he is more interested in killing Lennie.“ I’m gonna shoot that big bastard myself.” He expresses no emotion towards the women he is supposed to love; we see that even in death Curley remains disloyal to his wife. He treats her like a possession that Lennie has taken from him. Her name also suggests that she is seen as a possession and not a person. Nobody knows her name she is always referred to as “Curley’s wife”. One could argue that Curley's reaction displays a twisted loyalty to his deceased wife; he feels he needs to gain retribution by avenging his dead wife.
Georges loyalty to Lennie is sometimes questioned in the novella he says, “ I could live so easy” George feels that Lennie is at times a burden but
George exhibits a strong sense of loyalty to Lennie in the final section of the novella “his had shook violently but his face set and his hand studied. He pulled the trigger.” Steinbeck does not covey characters emotions in the novella; the line of description here gives us insight to George’s battle of
Steinbeck uses dialogue and conflict to project his belief that dreams
George killed Lennie, was it self-preservation, or was it out of friendship? Many can say they do things out of love, but maybe he was just trying to make himself “feel” better… What do you base a friendship on? What someone might see as friendship, another might see as just a responsibility to stick with someone. Would you call what George did to him nagging or helping a brother out? “ O.K.—O.K. I’ll tell ya again.
During their conversation, Curley's’ wife tells him to touch her very soft hair, but she’s tells him to stop and he didn’t instead he puts his hand over her mouth from behind to stop her from screaming, accidentally he breaks her neck killing her. The decision has been made by George to kill Lennie because he was pressured when Curley and other were searching for Lennie and he wanted to kill Lennie
As a result, he accidentally kills Curley's wife, which prompts Curley to set out a lynching party after him. George reveals that Lennie is hiding in a brush and shoots him, resulting in Lennie's death at the hands of his best
“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.” (Steinbeck 61) Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is the story of two men, their travels, friendship, and troubles. The two main characters, George and Lennie, travel to California for a new job on a farm after being coerced to leave their old town. They had to leave their old place of work because Lennie, who is mentally unstable, was chased by a mob after being accused of attacking a woman.
George had to kill Lennie because he was going to die either way . In the novel, it said “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch”(96). This shows how Lennie killed Curley’s wife on accident, Curley wants Lennie to suffer.
Since arriving at the new farm, almost all the characters see Lennie as stupid and rude for his lack of understanding. But they refuse to look deeply into his character and actually understand him and how he is just scared. As the end of the book unravels Lennie kills Curley's Wife and ends up getting killed by George, his friend. Curley had made an assumption although true that Lennie killed her. He believed Lennie was a ruthless murderer as did the others beside George as he knew what actually happened.
George sacrifices the chance to have a better and more fulfilled life to stay with Lennie. First, when George was introducing himself and Lennie to their new boss, he said, “I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” This shows that George was portraying that he cares about Lennie enough to be picked up on by others. He was willing to lie about being Lennie’s cousin to get him a job. Also, when George and Lennie were talking to each other at their camp spot George said, “I could get along so easy and nice If I didn’t have you on my tail.”
The novella ‘of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s. It is set in a difficult period of time when America was sunk in deep depression. However, themes of loyalty shine brightly throughout the novella. He shows that even though Americas economy is in tatters, loyalty can still be as prominent. There were also distinct themes of disloyalty, mainly between characters.
1. Lennie suffers from a mental condition; it makes him unaware of his action and causes him to kill Curley’s wife. For example, when George and Lennie first get to the farm Slim asks why they were there and left their old job, so George starts to explain why the left Weed, their old town, because Lennie,”like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. so he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that's the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41).
Sacrifice is needed in order to have a successful friendship. Best friends will sacrifice anything and everything in order to protect each other. John Steinbeck shows a great example of sacrifice for friendship in Of Mice and Men. This is a story where two best friends work together in order to one day achieve their goals, but Lennie kills the wife of the ranch owner’s son, and George shoots Lennie in the back of the head in order to keep him safe. It was alright for George to kill Lennie because of their friendship and the sacrifices that friends need to make for each other.
Lennie is a tall person, which means Curley already doesn 't like him. Killing his wife gave him a legitimate to kill Lennie, this also shows Lennie doesn 't know his strength making him very dangerous. Curley doesn 't care about his wife he just wants to butcher Lennie. Candy brought everyone to the barn, to show them Curley’s lifeless wife. Curley stood silent for a second then came to
Archetypes are a manifestation of how our minds envision the roles of characters, these characters come in the form of the hero, villain, temptress, damsel, monster, and mentor. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, we follow the story of two men who struggle to pull through to survive horrible times, on their journey they come across other characters that fulfill the roles of the archetypes. The archetype in discussion is the villain archetype which is the evildoer of a story usually a person who commits a crime against society or against a couple of people. One character in particular that fills the archetype of the villain is Curley, he has an aura of evil that resonates from his attitude and his actions, which triggers people
George and Lennie, prominent characters in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are migrant workers—men who move from place to place to do seasonal work— who end up in California and are faced with numerous problems. Set in the era of the great depression, the story of Lennie and George, two very different men who have formed a family-like union, takes place on a farm where Lennie struggles to stay out of trouble. Having committed an unintentional, harmful act, Lennie is faces severe consequences; and George must decide to make a necessary decision which changes the mood of the entire novel. By the comparison and contrast of George and Lennie, unique characters who are very different from each other, the reader can better acquaint himself
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1937) is an intensely-focused novella that deals with friendship, trust, the relationship between good and evil and the role of justice. It is the second book in Steinbeck’s trilogy about agricultural labour, alongside with In Dubious Battle (1936) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939). The title, inspired by a line in the poem The Mouse (1875) by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (The best-laid schemes o' mice an ‘men / gang aft agley), encapsulates the spirit of the narration.