The traditional family of the twentieth century puts the man of the house in control. He makes the ultimate decisions for survival and stability, while the women complete everyday tasks: keeping food on the table, tending to the children’s needs, and cleaning up around the house. Like many men living in the rural state of Oklahoma, Pa has a farm to manage. Because the farm produces crops to consume and sell, it is a direct source of how one is able to live. This puts Pa in a position of authority over his family’s survival. When the banks decide to remove this much needed commodity from the men, as well as their homes, a sense of self is lost. There is nothing to live for or live off of. The men explain to their loved ones that they must evacuate the land. The narrator solidifies this idea of men obtaining the dominant role in a relationship within this situation. The women ask where they will go, and the men have no answer. Something bigger than these men is offering a challenge they believe they must accept and conquer themselves. Patiently, the women wait and depend on their determined men to configure a plan to stay alive (Steinbeck 44). Before the journey to California …show more content…
Normally a vain and cocky person, Al struggles to speak to his mother when driving the truck. He finally spits out a question of concern about if Ma is afraid of going to a new place. She admits she has a little fear inside of her; however, she is not completely doubtful. Hinting a desire of reassurance, Al continues to ask, “Ain’t you scared it won’t be nice like we thought?” Quickly, she replies, “No, I ain’t. You can’t do that. I can’t do that…They all depen’ on me…” (Steinbeck 158). Ma knows her position in this family. At this point, she is relied on to keep things organized and everyone’s head straight. Without sugar-coating it, Ma let’s Al know he must accept change and deal with it however it may
“And Mack said, ‘That Doc is a fine fellow. We ought to do something nice for him’” (16). With this quote, the whole plot of the book of Cannery Row is explained, for it has a simple one: Mack and the boys want to throw a party for Doc. But it is because of this simple plot that Steinbeck is able to freely portray...
They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They aint got nothing to look ahead to” (Steinbeck 13).
On February 27, 1902 in Salinas Valley, California John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was born to John Ernst Steinbeck Sr. and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. He lived a modest childhood, as his father held multiple jobs in order to support the family. For a short time Steinbeck attended Stanford University, but in 1925 he dropped out to pursue his career as a writer. Later that year he went to New York to find inspiration for his first book which he would later name Cup of Gold.
Sarah then decides to take charge and confront her husband. Throughout the story, the author presents a realistic view of the domestic power and counter forces within the Penn marriage as she develops Sarah’s role. Her leadership breaks traditions and influences generations to come. To brighten her family’s future, Sarah begins taking charge, altering their marriage and attitudes of her children .
I got a wife and kids. We got to eat” (Steinbeck 50). As a result, we see a formerly decent man influenced by
Hegemonic Discourse in the Dick Van Dyke Show, The depiction of the character Sally Rogers in the Dick Van Dyke Show is as a flawed, unattractive, undesirable professional woman. This is a classic archetype of structures and character development. The representation of this central character is an example of the hegemonic approach to television that characterized the 1960's as this show and others of its era were used as a subtle tool of control and marginalization of women. The Dick Van Dyke Show displays a dominant pattern of gender social relations as women were presented in a manner that was only validated if they were married and confined to the home.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrates the downfall of two lonely men. who have only each other to depend upon. Many of George and Lennie’s struggles come from things they cannot control, such as Lennie’s mental illness and the fact that both men are stuck in the dead-end pursuit of rural labor in 1930’s America. However, the greatest tragedy in this story comes from the simple fact that Lennie is left alone with Curley’s wife because Curley’s wife is the true villain in Of Mice and Men; she alone causes the trouble that leads to Lennie’s death. In his novella, Steinbeck examines the different ways that men and women express their power, and while the men in his tale rely upon the power of physical strength to assert their place in society,
Steinbeck’s lesson on coming together in
Set out on a journey to socialize with the American people, Steinbeck shows how people have the power to influence others, and for him, it is not always positive. One of Steinbeck’s first negative experiences is at a small restaurant in New England. After a distasteful attempt to converse with the lifeless waitress, Steinbeck makes a strong statement about all people. He says, “…one person can saturate a room with vitality, with excitement. Then there are others, and
The spirit of unity emerges as the one unfailing source of strength in Steinbeck’s novel. He tries and accomplishes in conveying it to the reader, through imagery. On multiple accounts,
She wrote about the positions within a family saying, “Each family was represented in the outside world by its male head, who cast its single vote in elections and fulfilled its obligations to the community through service in the militia or public office. Within the home, the man controlled the finances, oversaw the upbringing of
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
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.
What is literature if not an author’s imaginative response to what occurs around them? John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a prime example of just that. His experiences living during the Great Depression in America is reflected through the geography in his book and the meanings behind it. The perceived geography of the novel; the river, the barn, and Crooks’s room; is so simplistic to allow the reader to see the effect of more discrete aspects of the setting. As Thomas Foster says in How to Read Literature like a Professor, “Geography is setting, but it’s also (or can be) psychology, attitudes, finance, industry- anything that place can forge in the people who live there.”
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men follows George Milton and Lennie Small as they attempt to survive the destitution of the Great Depression. The two travel together, making them different from the rest of the ranch workers, who are alone in their hardships. However, their relationship is more complex than the surface: it presents a power struggle with the ulterior motive to help oneself. Through the characterization of the ranch workers, Steinbeck makes a claim about human’s innate characteristics: people in power will use their status in order to solidify their position over the weak. Through George and Lennie’s relationship, Steinbeck exemplifies a power struggle in which the stronger of the two, George, prevails over the other.