Martin Luther King stated that “hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” Both love and hatred played a role in John Steinbeck’s novel, but in the end cruelty and hatred brought George and Lennie’s friendship to a tragic ending. Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men during the Great Depression of 1930’s. He was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author. Steinbeck was once a manual laborer. Steinbeck was familiar with the time period and could connect with the feelings of the migrant workers. His writings were about social and economic concepts. This novel illustrates the culture of violence and cruelty of that time. Steinbeck 's characters show different types of inhumanity. Every character feels isolated and lonely, which causes some to attack those who are weaker than they are. Loneliness and the cruelty of others caused George and Lennie to stick together during many hard years, but the violence of their fellow workers overcame George’s good intentions to care for Lennie.
Cruelty of the World The cruelty of life remains in an endless cycle. Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, illustrates the harsh life of migrant workers during the Great Depression. Through his use of tone, foreshadowing, and imagery, Steinbeck shows an honest and cruel world that is never changing. Steinbeck’s tone throughout Of Mice and Men is very honest and to the point, much like life.
The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.
Analytical Paragraph Assignment Of Mice and Men provides us with plenty examples of dehumanization that guide us to conclusions, or insights or feelings of dehumanization. Some examples of this is the dehumanization of Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife. Of Mice and Men perfects the traits of dehumanization of Lennie by relating him to a number of animals like the horse. Steinbeck dehumanizes Lennie by comparing him to a horse when George says, “His huge companionship dropped his baskets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (Steinbeck, 2). Furthermore, Steinbeck helps us, by dehumanizing Crooks, living in a barn, to animals, to visualize how poorly Crooks is treated.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story.
Desmond Tutu, a South - African social activist and retired Anglican priest once said “ Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”. Of Mice and Men is a novel which revolves around the lives of struggling farmers and how they still maintain hope despite their hardships. The symbolic representation of light embodies the hopes and the American Dream, whereas the dark epitomizes the harsh realities and truths of their lives. Steinbeck uses light and dark to foreshadow the upcoming events in the forlorn lives of the migrant workers. He also combines aspects such as the setting and characters with light and dark to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind as to how the world of the migrant workers looks like.
He takes this opportunity to impose his power and get his revenge by killing Lennie. Steinbeck uses this moment to criticize the American Capitalist Society by showing how it allowed the one who has power to exert it onto the weak and innocent in the society. Curely abuses his power and ignores the effect it could have on people. He uses that factor to diminish people and make him feel better about himself as he is
In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many diverse characters. Every single character portrays a different aspect of the human nature. The naïve, the protector, the calm, the manipulative, the rage filled, the shunned, and the hopeful. Each character is dynamic in their own way. This is a small glimpse into what traits Steinbeck thinks the human race has, embodied into each of his characters’ personalities.
Curley is minimizing his chances of forming a meaningful relationship every time lashes out because of his own insecurities. He is also always keeping his eye on his wife and nagging people about her whereabouts because he doesn’t want her to leave him for someone else. “If you can’t look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it? You lay off me” (Steinbeck 62). Since he is unable to connect with other people, he starts to become distant from
When Curley’s wife is talking to Lennie, she initially judges him and claims, “I think you’re nuts” based off of the way he sounds and the things he talks about (Steinbeck 98). Curley’s wife misjudges Lennie because he talks and sounds different than her, so her initial judgment is that he is nuts. She uses a stereotypical reference to implicate the idea that he is a crazy person. However, after talking to him for a while now she realizes that he is “kinda a nice fella” and came to accept him (Steinbeck 99). Once she really got to talk to Lennie and really understand who he is, she could make the right judgment about him.
f Mice and Men Essay - Essays and Analysis Critical Context and Evaluation print Print document PDF list Cite link Link Of Mice and Men is one of the most widely assigned modern novels in high schools because of both its form and the issues that it raises. John Steinbeck’s reliance on dialogue, as opposed to contextual description, makes the work accessible to young readers, as does his use of foreshadowing and recurrent images. Equally important is the way in which he intertwines the themes of loneliness and friendship and gives dignity to those characters, especially Lennie and Crooks, who are clearly different from their peers. By focusing on a group of lonely drifters, Steinbeck highlights the perceived isolation and sense of “otherness”
The novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck shows how power and control is used in the majority of the novel. Through the use of metaphor, simile, and diction, Steinbeck evaluates the theme of power and control. Steinbeck’s use for the strategies is to appeal to the reader’s sense of pathos. Pathos is shown through the use of diction and metaphors used in the book. The novel takes place in Southern California where George and Lennie try to find a way to make their dreams come true.
Mainly his pride is hurt from when Lennie beat him up and broke his hand, but the fact that Lennie kills Curley’s wife does not help the situation at all. Curley shows his hatred for Lennie when he says, “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts” (Steinbeck 96).
“Cruelty might be very human, and might be cultural, but it’s not acceptable”- Jodie Foster. Even though cruelty was and is part of quotidian life, it does not mean that it is acceptable for people to be cruel towards each other. During the time period in which the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, was set, it was normal for people to be cruel to each other. The story is placed in the 1930’s as George and Lennie, the two main characters, work towards their goal, but face many obstacles along the way. In the book, most of the characters act cruelly towards others but in different ways: accidentally or purposefully. Surprisingly enough, even the least likely to be cruel will act harshly towards other people. It is often argued that people
The novellas Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are both often noted as social criticisms. The author, John Steinbeck addresses real-life issues that society is facing. Whether through direct statements and comments, or through a fictional characters’ situation, Steinbeck criticizes just some of the problems of society. He shows the way people are discriminated against, and why. He shows the issues society faces.