Critical Lens In 'Of Mice And Men'
Natalia Katsiashvili
Iris J. Crankfield
Honors English 9 4A
23 January 2023
Of Mice And Men Critical Lens Essay
Of Mice and Men, a novella by John Steinbeck uses disability as a catalyst so the readers can understand the importance of Ableism during the 1930s. George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers who travel from place to place in California in hopes to find a new job to survive. It’s hard for them to find a job as Lennie is mentally disabled which causes some roadblocks in the process. This story was written during the Great Depression in the 1930's. During this time The United States Of America was in a global economic and political crisis.
John Steinbeck drives the story by using disability to show how people were treated
…show more content…
George even lies that he and Lennie were cousins so The Boss wouldn’t suspect anything showing that George is ashamed of Lennie but also cares about him. George tries many ways to cope with Lennie’s mind, strategies such as making Lennie repeat what he said and punish him by reminding Lennie what his dream is and how George can ruin that dream for him. Unfortunately none of these strategies successfully ‘fixed’ Lennie but instead made him scared and traumatized by George. By using little events where George stands up for Lennie, Steinbeck drives the story to be more suspenseful because readers become aware that George will do whatever it takes to protect Lennie, building up tension and question of what else will George do and how far will he go to keep Lennie …show more content…
George gets angry about Lennie's actions and isolates him from the ranch members. Even though Lennie wasn’t doing anything by purpose he was still getting punished and isolated which makes him have a desire for affection. Lennie copes with his desires by petting an animal which at that time of the story was a little puppy in the barn. Regrettably he accidentally kills the little puppy which sends his brain into panic mode and tries to cover up his mistake by hiding the little puppy instead of telling George like he used to. Lennie knew he would get in a lot of trouble that's why he hid the puppy. Some time later Curley’s wife comes into the barn to chat as she was also isolated from man. Curley’s wife lets Lennie pet her hair. As Lennie desired affection he stroked Curley’s wife's hair over and over again when she got mad and started crying out for help which caused Lennie to panic; “Oh! Please don’t do none of that,” he begged. “George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.” … “I don’t want you to yell.” (Steinbeck 91) Curley’s wife struggled and struggled while Lennie's strength became more powerful to keep Curley’s wife quiet, alas killing her. After realizing what he’d done he ran away from the ranch and hid in a bush by a lake. After everyone found out that Curley’s wife had passed away everyone grew as
How Does Curley's Wife Change In Of Mice And Men
608 Words | 3 PagesLennie and Curley's wife are having a conversation in the barn, after Lennie accidentally just killed a puppy and covered it in hay. All of sudden Lennie got scared and the same thing happened to Curley’s wife after she let Lennie touch her soft hair. John Steinbeck uses imagery and characterization to show how Curley’s wife changed after she was killed.
How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Intentions In Of Mice And Men
1001 Words | 5 PagesThis also shows the overpowering control George has over Lennie’s conscience, and the consequence that Lennie can’t remember his own actions, only the stories George repeats. He is never truly angry with Lennie for his petty mistakes, he is simply thinking of the limitations of their dreams because of Lennie’s unpredictable actions. It seems George can only control Lennie by threatening him with the thing he cares about most which is the farm, “But you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits” he threatens, trying to make Lennie remember the importance of his actions (36). George is constantly complaining that he could have a better life and even have a farm without Lennie to look after, but he also wants a companion. Lennie is often simple minded and easily influenced, but intuitive enough to manipulate George’s loneliness, “If you don’t want me George I can go up in that cave over there and leave,” George quickly denies this saying “No, look I was just foolin’ Lennie, ‘cause I want you to stay with me” (20).
How Did George Kill Lennie's American Dream
658 Words | 3 PagesDid you know in the 1950’s the people of the mentally disabled community were mistreated in our world? The people that were mentally disabled were isolated from the outside world, shocked several times, and locked up and let them starve to death. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the main characters George and Lennie, who migrate from one place to the other in search of a new job. The story took place during the Great Depression, and the story mostly took place in Soledad. George did the wrong thing by killing Lennie because he could of run away, let Curley find Lennie, or followed his and Lennie's American Dream.
How Should George Be Punished For Lennie's Death
781 Words | 4 PagesHowever, in the conflict towards the end of the book, Curley’s wife had told Lennie to feel her hair. She asked him to stop soon after, but he would not. Curley’s wife started to scream and Lennie held on in fear of getting into trouble. Steinbeck wrote, “Lennie began to cry with fright. ‘Oh, please don’t’ Lennie said, ‘You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will.
How Is Lennie Presented In Of Mice And Men
679 Words | 3 PagesOf Mice and Men is a short novella by John Steinbeck that illustrates the ranchers in the West during the Great Depression. It describes the loneliness, companionship, the impossibilities of the American Dream, and oppression of the ranchers in the state of California. Among them were two migrant workers named Lennie and George. While George is a quick-witted character who is a companion of Lennie and helps to solve a lot of problems in his daily life, Lennie is an ignorant character who can be better understood through looking into his thoughts, his interaction with others, and his actions.
How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Death In Of Mice And Men
1027 Words | 5 PagesRyder shannon Mrs. Familiar English CTP 8 March 2023 Of Mice And Men Essay Lennie and George are the two main characters in John Steinbeck Of Mice And Men. This book takes place during the Great Depression in the 1930’s with two men named George and Lennie who chase their dream of their own farm. On the way to chase their dreams they faced some adversity and Lennie made some bad choices and put Lennie and George in jeopardy. It is an ongoing thing for Lennie to put them in situations that George has to fix every time. George took care of most of the problems but Lennie killed Curley's wife, which led to George killing him, so he didn't suffer.
How Does Lennie Change In Of Mice And Men
1365 Words | 6 PagesEssay 3 Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck tells the story of two men, George and Lennie as they endeavor on the challenges presented by Lennie’s special needs as two migrant workers in the Great Depression of the 1930’s. At the time, it was almost a standard that migrant workers traveled alone, working with only the motivation to help themselves; but not George and Lennie. Even in the heart of Soledad, they were never alone. They always had a plan; just the two of them, but things happen, and plans change. Control is not always a guarantee.
Examples Of Institutionalized Oppression In Of Mice And Men
1176 Words | 5 PagesInstitutionalized Oppression and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck, and award-winning American novelist. Born in 1902, Steinbeck was raised in California’s Salinas valley which, in later years, greatly influenced his writing. Steinbeck’s seventh published book, Of Mice and Men, follows an unlikely pair of male migrant workers. One man, George, small and logical; the other man, Lennie, large yet lacking wit.
Of Mice And Men: A Classic And Striking Story
454 Words | 2 PagesOf Mice and Men: A Classic and Striking Story The book is about two displaced ranch workers named George Milton and Lennie Small, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States. This novella is written by the famous author John Steinbeck. It is a type of story where it fills your hope at the start, but at the end shatters it, which makes it a classic and striking story. At first, “Of Mice and Me” is a story that fills you with hope because the two main characters in the story, George and Lennie, had a huge dream in having their own ranch.
How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of The Rancher In Of Mice And Men
1036 Words | 5 Pages“Curley's wife lay on her back, and she was half covered with hay”(Steinbeck 92). Lennie was confused and freaking out so he had to cover the motionless body with Hay and find a way to escape the situation. “He crept to the barn wall and peered out between the cracks”( Steinbeck 92). Lennie's mind was in a different world at this point and his first thought was to escape before the body is found and he is targeted by crazy Curley. Running, for his life, Lennie fled to the brush by the river.
Lennie's Death In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck
624 Words | 3 PagesIn Of Mice and Men, a tragic social novella by John Steinbeck, that takes place in Salinas Valley, California during The Great Depression, we follow two great friends as they travel looking for work. George and Lennie, migrant workers, who work on a ranch to pursue their American Dream. While working on the ranch, they face many challenges such as loneliness, death, sorrow and violence that are a result of inequality created systemic racism, misogyny, ableism and ageism. Throughout this story we see Lennie, who is cared for by George, accidentally kills mice, a puppy, and Curley’s wife due to his disability that causes him to behave like a child with uncontrollable Herculean strength. In this tragic novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, society in this case is most to blame for Lennie’s death for the reason being of how society viewed disabled people and how it allowed the mistreatment.
Examples Of Discrimination In Of Mice And Men
382 Words | 2 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s novella "Of Mice and Men" explores various forms of discrimination during the Great Depression. The story follows two migrant workers, George and Lennie, as they search for work in California. Throughout the book, Steinbeck highlights the racial, gender, and disability discrimination that was common during that time. One of the most prominent examples of discrimination in the book is racial discrimination.
How Did George Make The Handicap In Of Mice And Men
901 Words | 4 PagesThis quote shows that Lennie is incapable of keeping a puppy, nevertheless, rabbits. When it came to the incident with Curley’s wife, that was different. “You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up.” (91). She had invited him to pet her hair, but he started petting it to hard.
Examples Of Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men
648 Words | 3 PagesThis time, when Curley’s wife tries to get away, Lennie breaks her neck and kills her, resulting in him running away from the ranch. Similarly to
How Does Steinbeck Present The Death Of Curley's Wife
669 Words | 3 PagesCurley’s wife was weakened by her state of isolation as the only female on the ranch. Due to this, she sought companionship with Lennie. Although Lennie was a mentally challenged individual, he was stronger with his status as a man who was also physically strong. Despite her efforts to escape Lennie’s grasp, the difference in power made Curley's wife unable to defend
More about Critical Lens In 'Of Mice And Men'
How Does Curley's Wife Change In Of Mice And Men
608 Words | 3 PagesHow Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Intentions In Of Mice And Men
1001 Words | 5 PagesHow Did George Kill Lennie's American Dream
658 Words | 3 PagesHow Should George Be Punished For Lennie's Death
781 Words | 4 PagesHow Is Lennie Presented In Of Mice And Men
679 Words | 3 PagesHow Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Death In Of Mice And Men
1027 Words | 5 PagesHow Does Lennie Change In Of Mice And Men
1365 Words | 6 PagesExamples Of Institutionalized Oppression In Of Mice And Men
1176 Words | 5 PagesOf Mice And Men: A Classic And Striking Story
454 Words | 2 PagesHow Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of The Rancher In Of Mice And Men
1036 Words | 5 PagesLennie's Death In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck
624 Words | 3 PagesExamples Of Discrimination In Of Mice And Men
382 Words | 2 PagesHow Did George Make The Handicap In Of Mice And Men
901 Words | 4 PagesExamples Of Foreshadowing In Of Mice And Men
648 Words | 3 PagesHow Does Steinbeck Present The Death Of Curley's Wife
669 Words | 3 Pages