Title: Of Mice and Men Author: John Steinbeck Date of Publication: 1937 Genre: Tragedy, Realism Narrative Structure: Point Of View: The story is told from the point of view of a third person omniscient narrator. The narrator can access the point of view of any of the characters as required by the plot. Tone: The tone of the novel is tragic, doomed, fatalistic, sentimental and realistic. The book depicts the harsh and tragic life of American migrant workers in the 1930’s. Steinbeck juxtaposes the idea of freedom, friendship and wealth with the harsh stark environment of the impoverished America of the 1930’s one in which poverty, human intolerance and violence where daily struggles of most people. Steinbeck depicts in the book that at the time the dreams of the American people where nothing more than dreams bound for hopelessness and tragedy. Plot Summary: At the beginning of the novella we are introduced to two migrant workers, George and Lennie, they have just got of a bus miles away from a Californian farm where they are about to start work. George is a small, strong man who is presumably intelligent whilst Lennie is his opposite, a giant man who has some mental disability. The two, who are very thirsty, stop by a series of ponds and camp there for the night. As the two start to converse Lennie’s mental disability become blatantly apparent. Lennie is deeply devoted to George and depends on him for guidance, instruction and protection. Lennie, who at heart is essentially
Of Mice and Men was an excellent novel about two migrant workers traveling in Southern California, trying to make enough money to fulfill their dream of attaining their own plot of land. They have trouble accomplishing this goal when Lennie, the big and clueless on of the two, consistently makes mistakes, some of them being vital. The author, John Steinbeck, uses great techniques and literary devices that build up to the climax and resolution. Throughout the story, he describes how several characters all have/had dreams or goals, but none of them truly achieved those dreams. All of these literary devices, techniques, and the entire plot lead up to my thesis statement.
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world (Harriet Tubman). Throughout the novella, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck displays that having a dream may impact one to make better choices. Steinbeck shows this through the motif of dreams, characterization, and imagery.
As society has become an integral part of the world’s culture, the opinions and misconceptions of others have dominated the way people live. Throughout history, certain groups and ideas have been suppressed by the ones in charge. These actions have sprouted an almost universal indifference to those deemed less than ideal, and therefore created a divide in the way society sees race, age groups and even gender. Coupled with the Great Depression, these beliefs are the driving force for the majority of problems individuals experience in the text. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the device of conflict to portray the external struggles of characters living in the era of the Great Depression.
Of Mice and Men, set in California’s Salinas Valley, depicts the world of the migrant worker, a world in which Steinbeck himself had lived, and the workers’ search for independence. Steinbeck was critical of what he perceived as the United States’ materialism, and his work echoes his convictions about the land and its people. Like the characters in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Of Mice and Men’s George and Lennie dream of a piece of land to call their
Lennie is a big character involving this stories theme by still having friends even though is very different from George and all the other workers. Some readers might think that Lennie has a brain injury that causes his forgetfulness and is a mean person who wants to cause havoc. Despite, the readers thinking that Lennie has a brain injury, it is clear that those allegations are false and George only says this to cover up Lennie’s stupidity. Although, some critics may think that Lennie is a mean person always trying to cause havoc, it is obvious that Lennie is a nice man with a small mind who does not know how to control his strength. Lennie is a dynamic character with observations being made about his forgetfulness and kindness.
Throughout Steinbeck’s naturalistic novel, Of Mice and Men, He portrays two distinctively different men struggling to persevere and survive in an otherwise cruel world. Two migrant workers, George and Lennie thrive off the company of one another and the impossible dream that one day, they will acquire land and make a contented life for themselves. Through their friendship and constant hope for a better life, George and Lennie learn how to survive and cling to aspiration during the harsh Depression era. Steinbeck uses symbolism, irony, and characterization in his classic novel to illustrate the undying hope found in a desperate situation. Steinbeck uses symbolism to portray how people find hope in the direst situations.
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
The book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, involves many pivotal relationships. Certain relationships demonstrate why they can be so important. The dynamics of all of the relationships prove such significant parts in the way the story flows. The most important relationship in this book is between George and Lennie. Their relationship is almost a domino effect for everything that happens.
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
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.
Anyway, this research will focus only on three aspects - conscience crisis, violence, and fate and destiny. These aspects will be discussed in three separate chapters under the umbrella of the selected novels of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men(1937) , The Grapes of Wrath(1939) , and The Pearl (1947) and Cormac McCarthy ’s Blood Meridian (1985) , No country for old men( 2005) , and The Road (2006) . The investigator has adopted the sociological methodology throughout the thesis. Furthermore , the second chapter - conscience crisis, will be divided into two parts ( man’s inhumanity to man and greed ). “The phrase (Man 's inhumanity to man) is first documented in the Robert Burns poem called Man Was Made to Mourn, Samuel Von Pufendorf also wrote in 1673, More inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other of nature 's causes.”
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s is revealed through a simple story of ranch workers who hope to improve their lives. Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have a friendship that is based on trust and protection. The other workers lack the companionship and bond that these two men have. In the novel, the absence and presence of friendship is the motivation for the characters’ actions.
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.
Of Mice And Men John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ published in the 1930’s employs carefully considered narrative techniques that effectively inject sympathy within the reader. The chain of events are foreshadowed through speech, Death and Lennie Small. Curlys Wife soon becomes the instrument who destroys the dream. Steinbeck demonstrates this through various techniques including of foreshadowing, realism, symbolism, circular structure, significance of the title and setting.
PLOT Two workers, George and Lennie, have been let off a bus miles away from the California farm where they are to start work. George is a tiny, dark man with “sharp, strong features.” Lennie, his sidekick in