Imagery In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

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

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