Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is a classic American novel, telling the fictional story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers, working on a ranch in Soledad,California. Selling 500,000 first edition copies, Of Mice and Men is a book high school students have read for generations. Forced or reading for fun, one can claim that moralistic values on compassion, dreams, and friendship can be heavily influenced through analyzing Steinbeck’s portrayal of his characters’ struggle in life. Overlooked and mistreated, Crooks is an example of a character who lacks compassion. In the 1930s, being a black slave on a ranch full of white men was the perfect breeding ground for hatred and isolation.”Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked.’ ‘Cause I’m black, They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black, They all say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.(65)” It is evident through the text that Crooks has been neglected so many times that he grew to be a lonely pessimist. The men on the ranch were never willing to get to know Crooks simply because of the color of his skin, and in return he did the same. I feel as if the men had been more tender, Crooks would not have been as miserable as he is. Walking through the halls of high school it is extremely difficult to be friends with everyone, especially when not all of us mix well together. However, it is certainly not hard to be kind. To me, this scene in the book highlights the
“So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again , do I ? Jesus christ, you're a crazy bastard!” George says (4-5). You can infer that the two characters have some issues with each other. In Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck shows the weaknesses that most of the characters have and the trials they face with those weaknesses. The characters such as Lennie, Crooks and Candy all have something that happens to them in the story that brings out their weaknesses. John Steinbeck portrays the effects that weak people reveal through the characters Lennie, Crooks and Candy.
Have you ever dreamed of becoming someone important or doing something exciting and memorable? Would you give up or refuse to let go of your dream until you achieve it? Has that obsessive under-minded your success? Many people have dreams that they want to accomplish, but there are obstacles individuals have to cross over in order to achieve their goals, such as facing reality. In the book of Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the story is a tale of two drifters working from farm to farm, trying to make a living, and save some money to have their own place someday, which is their dream during the Great Depression. The characters face the hardships
Of Mice and Men, a novella written by John Steinbeck, is the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who dream of owning their own farm. The two men secure jobs at a ranch and soon meet a swamper named Candy and Curley’s wife. Like George and Lennie, these characters also dream of having a better life than what they can accomplish while
Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck. He is a famed novelist, Of Mice and Men was published in 1937. It tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities During the Great Depression which took place in the 1930’s. In this novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the symbolism of Crooks, Candy and Curley’s Wife to contribute to the overall theme of loneliness
In his novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses many characters to show his assertion that man is basically evil. When Curley’s wife confronts Lennie, Crooks, and Candy in Crook’s place, she notes that the others “left all the weak ones here” (77). The “weak” ones that Curley’s wife refer to all attack each other in a vicious circular firing squad. Crooks taunts Lennie about the possibility of George not returning, and takes “pleasure in his torture” as he “[presses] forward for some kind of private victory” (71). Curley’s wife calls Candy and Lennie “a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep” (78) and threatens to get Crooks “strung up on a tree” (81). Meanwhile, all the other characters are the ones that make those Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife feel “weak” because they are disabled mentally, disabled physically, black, and female, respectively. In this way, Steinbeck shows that all men are basically evil as they do not lend a hand to each other and instead simply attack and prey upon each other.
.The novel Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck. In Soledad, California during the Great Depression in the 1930's two men of the one named George and the other named Lennie were men who travel around working at ranches. George is the small, quick-witted one, and Lennie is the big, slow, dumb and extremely strong one. They have a dream, to have a little place all to themselves, without anyone bothering them. Their dreams are shattered though, when Lennie, who doesn't know his own strength, gets in trouble. In the pursuit of love, happiness and the American dream, man becomes a victim of his own circumstances and discovers that the good life becomes impossible for humanity to obtain and contains
Biases and inequality towards women have been a problem in society since men foolishly decided to give women the stereotype of being housewives and only good for breeding children. Those who refuse to follow the stereotype are considered promiscuous, or unfaithful towards their significant other. This stereotype was highly expected of women during the early twentieth century, and was also exhibited in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men towards Curley’s wife. Of Mice and Men took place in the 1930s, and the plot follows two best friends trying to achieve their dreams, which lands them in a ranch that will do them nothing but harm. In this ranch, only the strongest may survive, and those who do not follow the usual stereotype were considered weak, and will most likely die. Steinbeck’s theme of death is always feared, but to some it is a way to leave the misery that is the world reveals the social injustices in society causes gender discrimination towards Curley’s wife. The hostility and bitterness towards Curley’s wife did not just lead to her death, but also saved her from the loneliness and isolation she had to go through on the ranch.
In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, turmoil and difficulties are not a rare occurrence, but the question is what types of difficulties happen to each character and how does it affect them. Hardships are present throughout anyone’s life and come in different forms. Lennie’s portrayal in this novel is being a gigantic man that has a mental disability and is unable to care or depend on himself. To demonstrate, after Lennie says he will go live in a cave and George responds back what he will eat, Lennie replies, “ I’d find things, George. I don’t need no nice food with ketchup.
Crooks deserves the reader’s sympathy because he is treated poorly because of his race. When Lennie comes in to talk to Crooks, Crooks doesn’t want to talk to Lennie because no one ever talks to him and he’s wary. Eventually though, he starts talking, bitterly. He tells Lennie that he’s all alone and that there are no other black families nearby, so he’s not respected. He says, “If i say something why you think its a nigger sayin it?” because his word means nothing to the white men on the ranch (70).
Crook’s characteristics go hand in hand with the portrayal of Social Injustice relating back to the fear of loneliness. He continuously faces countless hardships mainly because of the way the workers of the ranch treat him, unethically and selfishly. For example Steinbeck stated, a man will go crazy without anyone, without companionship; what is he to do with only books (Steinbeck 67)? As shown, he exhibits overall no authority; suggesting the emptiness Crook’s is put through all because of his skin color. However, he struggles with being optimistic because he believes he partakes no reason to do so. “You’re crazy, I see men just like you come and go with the same idea in their heads, you ain’t ever going anywhere with that dream” (Steinbeck 69). Along with that, the way Crook’s has been denied of happiness for nearly all of his life certainly influenced his view of the people around him. Regardless, being deemed upon as if you are no greater than an animal will definitely bring thoughts of hopelessness to your mind. "I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain't even funny"
I can tell that George and Lennie like to argue a whole lot, the reason that i can see they like arguing a lot is because in paragraph 34 it states "You can jus' as well go away, to hell," that makes me think that they don't get along to well. Both Lennie and George could have really good lives, but I think that if it was good that they stuck together, i also like how they have big dreams for they're futures. Even though they were probably going through a rough time because of the great depression, it would have been really hard for them to find a job. Some of the benefits that they could of have is that George already had things planned for him and Lennie, in the future, "a little house and a couple of acres, a cow, and some pigs. " I got that textual evidence from paragraph 9.
It was eerily quiet within the vicinity of the building. The creaking of the wooden floorboards beneath Lennie’s feet, the rustle of leaves on the opposite side of the wall, and the constant beeping of the home monitoring system was disturbingly loud as he made his way towards the kitchen. The bright neon lights that was placed directly outside his window, proclaiming the words, 'Truth is Knowledge is Power' which was the governments logo projected an array of colours across his kitchen which only resulted in his vision being further eluded. He switched the lights on within his house, blinding himself in the process and stumbled across to the fridge. His stomach growled and his headache sharped piercingly between his ears. He couldn’t wait
By: Sophia Mera Title: Of Mice and Men Author: John Steinbeck Genre: Tragedy, Fiction Plot Summary: This book is about two migrant workers, George and Lennie, during the Great Depression. The book opens with the two men making their way to a work camp in California.
As stated in chapter 1 Lennie likes mice, however he always kills them because he is to strong. Now Lennie has found pups. He wants to stroke the pups. George admits to Slim that he does not think Lennie is as crazy as he was. George tells Slim about the incident in Weed. Lennie liked to touch things that he liked. He liked touching a girls dress. She screamed and then ran. That’s why they left Weed. Lennie walked in to the bunk house trying to hide a pup. George took the pup. Curly comes in after Lennie. Lennie looked at George and tried to retreat. Curly kept after Lennie. Lennie was terrified from the blood dripping from his nose. Lennie cried to George, “Make him let me alone.” Backed up against the wall Curly continues to hit Lennie. George
Helen Keller once said, “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light”. There is always a time during your lifetime when you will depend on another significant person. John Steinbeck wrote the book Of Mice and Men during the late 1930s, which was during a period of agricultural and economic downfall. As a result, it made people unemployed which made people into migrant workers who suffered the hardships of moving from place to place. Furthermore, through John Steinbeck’s use of characterization, he defines that the friendship between Lennie and George changes how their lives are lived.