Allegories in 'of Mice and Men'

In Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck uses an allusion to a Robert Burns poem. The allusion is meaningful to the novel by being the base for the main idea and adding to the use of foreshadowing. The main idea of the poem that is also conveyed in the novel is that even the most well-thought out plans can fail. The allusion shows parallelism between Lennie to a mouse and George to a farmer. Both Lennie and the mouse are simple minded and do not have to worry about the past, future, or mistakes. While, George and the farmer envy the mouse for their simplicity. The allusion also helps to make the friendship between the main characters more solid, “But you get used to goin’ around with a guy an’ you can’t get rid of him”(41). The allusion deepens the relationship between George and Lennie. The poem does some foreshadowing as well, and gives a hint as to

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men novel he constantly uses biblical allusions to express the theme of losing paradise. His novel contains characters that allude to certain biblical stories, particular those in Genesis. Curley’s wife is alluded to the apple of temptation from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. Also in the book of Genesis, George and Lennie are allusions to the sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. In using the biblical allusions of the apple of temptation and the brothers, Cain and Able, Steinbeck expresses the theme of losing paradise and straying from the path of dreams.

Curley’s Wife was a subject of Prejudice because she was a woman. During the 1930’s a woman’s place was to be at home raising a family, also women were seen as second class citizens and property of their husbands. Before we meet Curley’s Wife, the reader already has an opinion of her because of what the character Candy calls her- “jail bait”; George calls her a “tramp”. It’s implied that she is a tart and a promiscuous woman; she craves the attention her husband doesn’t give her.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a book about two companions George and Lennie, who are running from troubles in their past job. George and Lennie are different from the rest of the society, in the year of 1930 where every man is for himself, that’s not the deal with George and Lennie. They stick together no matter how different they are. This is a novel that will let you experience the hopelessness, struggles and loneliness of the protagonist and the antagonist, during this period. One such character is a well- known woman referred to as “Curley’s wife”. In the novel of Mice and Men, Steinbeck’s use of Curley’s wife as a symbol of victimize to the rules and regulations of society in 1930. (fix by adding negative word)

Curley’s wife is a complicated character. She is unfaithful and bitter. But that’s only because she is extremely lonely and feels unwanted by her husband. She takes the feeling of dissatisfaction and projects it at all of the men on the ranch. She regrets the direction her life has taken but still has hope that she can achieve her dream. All the characters in the novel feel like outsiders and Curley’s wife is no

Curley’s wife - a flirtatious, mysterious women in the novel. She is the only women that is described by Steinbeck in the novel. How we call her- “Curley’s wife” shows that she is just a possession of Curley. And the others names that George and Candy had given to her are “looloo; jailbait; tart”; these names show how badly she was treated in the ranch particularly and the sexism in American society in 20s - 30s generally.

John Steinbeck uses symbolism to signify ideas and qualities by giving them a meaning. For instance, Candy’s dog. Candy’s dog represent the fate awaiting anyone who has outlived his or her purpose. Candy’s dog is old and weak so he is no longer needed in the world. Although, Carlson promises to kill the dog painlessly, his insistence that the old dog must die supports a cruel natural law that the strong will dispose of the weak. “That dog of Candy's is so God damn old he can't hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too. Ever' time he comes into the bunk house I can smell him for two, three days. Why'n't you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat. Candy feeds him milk. He can't chew nothing else." Candy knows this lesson, for he fears that he himself is coming to an end when he will no longer be useful at the ranch.

American journalist David Grann once said, “You want the story to be about something, have some deeper meaning, but there is also an emotional, almost instinctual element, which is, does this story seize some part of you and compel you to get to the bottom of it?” Every piece of text has a meaning that goes deeper than the page it is printed on. Of Mice and Men is an example of this. Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in 1937. The story takes place in California during the Great Depression, a time where it was laborious to be anything close to successful. Everyone believed that with a minimal amount of hard work and money saved up, the American Dream could be at their fingertips. The two main characters George and Lennie struggle to get land to call their own. Lennie is driven by his dream of tending rabbits, but he makes it challenging when he is the main reason of their setbacks and complications as they move from job to job. Fortunately, George is always there to clean up the mess. Of Mice and Men is studied as an allegory because the characters symbolize problems more substantial than the ones Steinbeck clearly writes about. John Steinbeck zooms in on other problems that America struggles with besides the enticing desire for just materialistic things. Steinbeck criticizes racism, the mistreatment of those who are disabled, and the disrespect of women.

She is considered an outcast because she is a woman. All that she wants is freedom and the ability to leave the house and talk to who she wants, but this is very difficult for her. When she tries to talk to the men on the ranch, they characterize her as a tramp because of her flirtatious personality and disregard everything she says and tells her to go back to the house. These actions can make Curley’s wife feel belittled and degraded because she doesn’t want to be stuck in the house like the ideal “housewife.” In the book they don’t even give her a name, which should reveal that they significant separation between men and women. The only other character in the book without a name is candy's dog. Another way that the ranchmen belittled Curley’s wife is by completely avoiding and treating her poorly when she was around. They outcasted her by making her feel like she didn’t belong, but the only reason she hung around them was to socialize, which she rarely got to do. Curley’s wife was upset because all the men called her a tramp and slutty and said that she should be waiting for Curley in the house. She tells the men , “ you can talk to people but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad” (87). Curley's wife wants to feel like she belongs, but they keep knocking her down. They degrade her by making her feel like less than she is, she is human just like everyone else on the farm or in the world, however, is still treated without respect and rights because she is a

The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes,

As Candy, the housekeeper mentions to George, ?Well, I think Curley?s married?a tart.? (p. 14) What the men do not know is that Curley?s wife is just incredibly lonely, once having dreamt to be a star, and marrying Curley after the failure of that dream. She is all alone in the secluded world of the ranch. Having a husband who pays no attention to her, she tries to find someone to talk to among the men in the ranch, dressing provocatively for that reason only. Unfortunately, the combination of misunderstanding and their knowledge of only one type of women ? the kind they encounter at ?cat-houses? ? drives the men away from Curley?s wife.

Each set of characters presented a new theme to give meaning to the book. Curleys wife presented sexism and how gender played a role in who will get to experience and hold the American Dream. She also gave the awareness of how women were continuously dehumanized and viewed as less than equal to men during that time. Steinbeck was inspired to write Of Mice and Men, from his childhood experiences and observations of immigrants moving from ranch to ranch in search of jobs. This gives a representation of how he believe the American Dream was unattainable. Steinbeck explored the nature and lives of the people during that time and connected that to the characters in the novella which set the stage for the

star, but she has to stay on the ranch on "Sat'iday night" and talk to

A perfect portrayal of Steinbeck's theme and overall message is Curley's wife. Curley's wife is first introduced by Candy, he tells George and Lennie that she is a "tart", this sets her up in a negative light. Not only are these feelings shared by Candy but most of the other men on the ranch as well. She is probably one of the most isolated and lonely person on the ranch. She has a husband who doesn't really care for her, as a husband should. She's just something Curley can put to the side when he wants to. Also being the only woman on the ranch, she is not able to have real

John Steinbeck’s 1949 novella entitled Of Mice and Men uses many significant symbols to convey meanings about the human condition. Such symbols include hands to represent labour, cards to signify chance and taking a risk, and finally, rabbits to suggest ideas about achieving one’s hopes and dreams. Symbols are a key central device in delivering meaning, as they consistently repeated throughout the narrative and are typically associated with the novella’s many characters.