Direct And Indirectcharacterization In Inof Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck portrays Lennie's characterizations through indirect and direct characterizations. Indirect characterization is when the author will describe a person about how they are through context clues but not directly saying it. For example, "No whatta want? "Let's have different color rabbits George." (Steinbeck 16). That is indirect characterization for Lennie being childish because John Steinbeck does not come straight out and say that Lennie is childish, but readers can tell by the context that he is childish. Direct characterization is when the author comes right out to the readers and says the characters traits. For instance, "Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man..." (Steinbeck 2). This being direct characterization

Chapter one of Of Mice and Men began by introducing the relationship between the two main characters, George and Lennie. George and Lennie have a unique, brotherly, parental, and friendly dynamic that I believe will be interesting to continue to investigate over the course of reading this book. While reading chapter one, we were exposed to more of the parental side of their relationship, specifically in the scene where Lennie is guzzling down river water and George is warning him to slow down or risk feeling sick afterward. In this instance, George acts like a parent by predicting the consequences of Lennie’s actions as opposed to what a bother or a friend might do which is to allow him to drink the water and feel sick afterward. In addition,

Indirect Characterization is when the author describes the character's personality by the characters speech, actions, appearance, etc. Gary Soto does that alot. In the short story ¨Broken Chain” he describes Alfonso as he was very kind. He wanted to take a girl bike riding but while he was making his bike look good , his chain snapped in two. Then his brother gave him his bike after he got done catching frogs. Alfonso ask the girl if she wanted to ride on his handlebars.

The use of figurative language to make comparisons of Lennie and the animals serves as a way of illustrating Lennie’s personality – being docile and innocent. This allows the readers to further understand Lennie’s actions. In some parts of the story Lennie was described with non-human characteristics, which is a key element to the conflicts that arise in the

Steinbeck uses an anaphora in this passage; he repeats the phrase “and the people listened” three times. Steinbeck does this in order to make a point very clear in his story. He is trying to make the point that the migrants had very few forms of entertainment in their lives, but they did have storytelling. When people told stories the migrants listened because it was one of the few leisure activities they had.

In chapter 4, Lennie invites himself into Crook’s barn. Crooks bullies Lennie into thinking that George is not coming back. Candy visits and reveals the secret of owning land. Curley’s wife intrudes upon the men looking for a conversation. She laughs at their dream, saying, it will never happen. She gets upset when they ask her to leave. In return, she threatens to have Crook’s hanged. Therefore, Crook’s retracts his offer to help on the farm.

appeals, as well as creating a deep connection between the characters and the reader. Steinbeck

In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie Smalls is one of the main characters. He is a very rough, childish, short-tempered, and loyal man. An archetype provides the reader with traits of a character so we can better know them. By using archetypes, the writer attempts to convey realism to their work, which draws the situations and characters from experiences of the world. The ‘Innocent’ archetype is described as a character who is pure, wholesome, and full of virtue. Their innocence makes them a target because it is what makes them so likeable. People could also take advantage of them because of their ability to be accepting and gentle. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie Smalls portrays the archetype of innocence.

Indirect characterization is a literary device in which the author reveals information about the character indirectly through his/her thoughts, words, actions, and/or relationships with others. In The Secret Life of Bees,Sue Monk Kidd uses indirect characterization to reveal information about Lily Owens. Through Lily’s actions, thoughts, and words, the reader sees that she is a loyal friend, a young girl with independent thoughts, and a clever and intelligent person.

By creating a characterization the author is giving the reader a sense of what or who the character is through the text.In order to do this the author can tell the reader exactly what the person is like by stating their personality traits, appearance, etc. This direct characterization was used in The Crucible when Thomas Putnam was said to be a man of many grievances and a “vindictive nature”. The author can also give an indirect

Steinbeck used direct and indirect characterization to describe George in the novel. Direct characterization is when an author specifically tells you what the character is like. “The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose” (Steinbeck 2). This quote from the novel is an example of direct characterization because Steinbeck is telling us characteristics about George and what he looks like. Indirect characterization is the reader figuring out himself what the characters are like. “George knelt beside the pool and drank from his hand with quick scoops” (Steinbeck 3). This quote is from the part of the book when they pass a lake and Lennie starts drinking it by putting his head in. But, George did not think that the water was clean or good so he did it the smart way and took a quick sip from his hand. This is indirect characterization because the readers must figure out themselves here that George is a very mature man that takes everything seriously and is not childish like Lennie.

These examples give the novel complexity and is ultimately why John Steinbeck received a nobel prize for the creation of it. Characterization is used throughout the novel to give insight on the characters thoughts. Cyrus Trask was viewed to be a very distant parent through indirect characterization. The reader may have picked this up through the acts of his children fighting for affection. Another example of characterization would be shown through Cal Trask. Cal was known to be the most dynamic character. Both direct and indirect characterization were used to illustrate Cal’s thoughts and actions. Allusion is another figurative device used in this novel. The novel is discretely based around the Book of Genesis. Cain and Abel is the main story that this novel is based off of. Their relationship of jealousy shines through both Adam and Charles and Aron and Cal. In Aron and Cal’s relationship, the similarity to Cain and Abel starts to lose its shine. Cal grows a conscience and becomes more dynamic and eventually defeating the odds of himself turning into a true Cain. These different figurative devices used in this novel speak to the readers in a way to grab their attention long enough to

In the play, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses imagery in conjunction with diction to convey the moods of the chapters as the story progresses. A once very lively and hopeful mood turns into a dismal and depressing mood through the use of these literary techniques. To begin, in the very opening of the play, there is a stress on the lightness and contentedness of the scene that is being described, whereas in the opening of the concluding chapter, there is a stress on the dismalness and dreariness of the scene. “The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool... the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains” (Steinbeck 1).

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men he uses many literary elements in his book. John also uses a lot of different archetypes in his writing, John also uses imagery and symbolism. In page one John uses imagery to describe the setting also on page two he describes Lennie. The rabbit is a really good example of symbolism because the rabbits symbolise comfort and happiness for Lennie One of the literary elements in Of Mice and Men is an archetype. An archetype a typical character, a situation that represents a universal pattern of the human nature.

In the book, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck used figurative language, specifically personification and symbolism, as well as diction to develop an apprehensive tone, and later a morose tone, in the euthanization of Candy’s dog. Candy was concerned about Carlson killing his dog because he did not want to lose his companion, which he had for so long. After he received no support from anyone else he inevitably allowed Carlson to do so which left him feeling depressed. Once Carlson introduced the idea of killing the dog to Candy, Candy attempted to reason with him as he “scratched the white stubble whiskers on his cheek nervously”(45). Steinbeck’s use of descriptive diction helps portray that due to Candy’s old age, symbolized by “the white stubble whiskers on his cheek,” he was becoming insecure