Naturalism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays opposite personas, as George represents a smart and brave character, and Lennie acts as a follower to George, showing fear and discomfort around others. To begin, usually when you first meet someone, there is a sense of shyness. Displayed in the reading, Lennie shows he is shy when he meets Curley’s Wife, and is nervous on interacting with her. Towards the end of the story, Lennie makes a difficult decision, as he decides to kill Lennie with a gunshot to the back of the head. In George’s defense, he should kill him, as he causes so much trouble to their dream idea.

In Of Mice And Men, George and Lennie were very close due to the fact that George looks after Lennie. They form almost a parent and child bond. Lennie does not know his own strength and continuously kills small animals that he wants to care for and pet. Lennie not knowing his own strength is developed further when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s Wife. Lennie was stroking Curley’s Wife’s hair to the point that she became alarmed and panicked and when she did so, Lennie broke her neck by shaking her too hard, he wanted her to stop yelling.

You ain’t so little as mice. I did not bounce you hard” (Steinbeck). This quote shows that Lennie did not know his own strength. He plays with the puppy, bounces it with his huge hands and at last he killed his puppy by accidentally.

Although Lennie loves mice, he is inept at handling feeble creatures. George notices the mouse and addresses it by saying that: “‘That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie...you’ve broke it pettin’ it’” (Steinbeck 9). The euphemism that George uses for death suggests that the mouse’ death was not intentional, nor sadistic. Lennie roots his intentions in kindness, but his strength overpowers this emotion.

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.

George from George Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” made the right decision of killing Lennie in the story, while other might disagree. George shot Lennie in the back of the head to save him from the suffering and humiliation from a mad and revengeful Curley. George did this not out of hate, but out of the love of their friendship. “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again” (Steinbeck). George is struggling to come to terms that he is going to shoot his best friend. Continuing on the point, another reason that it was good for George to be the one that would slain Lennie is because he was dangerous. Throughout the whole story Lennie proves with his actions he makes that he is a menace to society. “..And

“The unavoidable truth is, however, that Lennie, be he innocent “natural,” uncontrollable id, or simply a huge child, is above all dangerous.” (Owens) Children are known for having tempers. They have trouble expressing their feelings in words. Lennie is a lot like this and with his enormous strength, it is difficult to control him. Of Mice and Men shows many thematic ideas that relate to the world today even though it is set in the 1930’s.

Ableism is a dynamic represented in Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. Lennie a character in the book, is characterized by his mental limitations. Steinbeck writes, “ ‘Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it don't take no figuring. He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders.’” This shows that Lennie has limited capacity to think for himself.

Killing out of love is different than murder or killing with hate. John Steinbeck expresses this in the novel Of Mice and Men. George Milton and Lennie Small, who are two best friends, travel from ranch to ranch. Lennie is a bulky thirty-something-year-old with a developmentally delayed brain, he has the intelligence of a three-year-old. George is the caretaker who helps Lennie survive.

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

‘Lennie begged, “Le 's do it now. Le 's get that place now.”’ George concurs, places the Luger on the back of Lennie’s head, and shoots him. One of the most controversial aspects of George Steinbeck 's novel Of Mice and Men, was the death of Lennie by his friend’s hands. Many believe that George murdered him in Lennie’s best interest, yet many others believe that George was being selfish and with his act, removed the burden of Lennie.

Lennie kept annoying George by taking dead mice and forgetting where they were going. Then when he asked George for ketchup, George grew very frustrated with him. He went on to talk about how he could live so much better without Lennie and how Lennie was always something that was holding George back from the potential he had. This is showing cruelty because during this time, it seems that

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, legality is often deemed less important than morality in terms of decision making. Multiple characters throughout the novel disregard the law in order to carry out their vision of justice. When Curley, the son of the ranch owner, discovers his wife’s body, he is furious. So furious that he plans to track Lennie, a new employee with an intellectual disability, down and murder him to get revenge for his mistake. Regardless of the law, Curley’s morals based on vengeance and masculinity drive him to kill Lennie.

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.

In the novella along with the poem, both Lennie and the mouse are placed in situations that are beyond their ability to control. The use of Naturalism suggests the author's view on unfair treatment and realizing and achieving goals. Burns and Steinbeck use their views to convey a larger message about life and