Personality In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Three characters in particular stand out as isolated. Crooks, the only black man; Curley’s wife, who is the only woman on the farm and never named; and Candy, an old man who cannot work efficiently. These three people are symbols of the American lifestyle during this time period. Out of all the characters, Crooks is the most isolated in this novella. He is segregated because of the color of his skin.

The book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is about two friends that are always working together. One of the three main characters, Lennie, is mentally handicapped, who has a muscular body, strong and tall. His other friend, George, is intelligent but unlike Lennie, he has a small body and he is smart. They move around and work together. Lennie and George try to find new jobs because they have been fired from their previous job that causes them to move to another city. They begin to work in a farm; they help feed animals and other farm works. This book is mostly based on dreams about the characters, so that it can help them keep living. The characters Lennie, George and Candy use the dream as a source of power to gain comfort when they feel uneasy.

The characters in “Of Mice and Men” have memorable personalities that we all can relate to due to their set archetypes. John Steinbeck uses these common and generalized in order to have the readers relate more to his characters. This allows the reader to experience the story and feelings of the characters much better and lets the reader to connect to the character’s feelings, or force the reader to form opinions that aligns with those of the main protagonist(s).

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.

Lonely Characters in Of Mice And Men Imagine a world where people didn’t really care what one said to another, and neither cared enough to ask each other questions. A place where everyone existed in silence, but were together at the same time. As portrayed in the novel, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, in which Steinbeck’s idea of loneliness is isolation in silences. The author teaches the reader that friendship is mostly about conversation, and magnifies the effects of isolation through the eyes of Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy.

John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, clearly and sharply creates his characters so that they can be interpreted - without surrendering individuality - as various archetypes. Steinbeck uses archetypes to enhance the fact that these characters do not belong in a normal society. On page 13, George says, “guys like us...are the loneliest guys in the world.” They move from ranch to ranch looking for jobs, but never “belong [to] no place.” A normal society contains people engaging with the trends and agreeing with the mainstream; contrarily, these characters are similar to outcasts. In addition to not fitting in with society, Crooks, Lennie, and Curley’s wife stand out since they all have become a specific archetype.

Steinbeck states in the novel, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight?”(60). An example of Candy telling George and Lennie his problems. Candy still feels upset over his dog death by Carlson. But by using that excuse he got George to agree with him, to let him live in the ranch once they earn enough money. With Candy’s help with George and Lennie’s dream, it is easier and now faster for the three of them to get their ranch.

In the story, George and Lennie move around looking for work on farms, so that they can one day use their money to buy a house on their own. Unfortunately, Lennie often makes mistakes causing them to leave a job early before making their money. At one farm, they meet a man named Candy who

George’s attitude is seen carefree and easy going. George effortlessly opens up as seen when he shares Lennie and his plan to buy the farm from some people and allows Candy to join. “George stood up. ‘We’ll do her,’ he said. ‘We’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there.”’

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”

George and Lennie’s dream can become real with the help of Candy, an old swamper. When Lennie makes the crucial mistake of killing Curley’s wife, their dream is over. John Steinbeck writes, “He sniveled and his voice shook. I coulda hoed in the garden and wash dishes for them guys… His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn”(91).

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.

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.

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.

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.