John Steinbeck 's Of Mice And Men

Lennie Small has a very symbolic importance in the novel Of Mice and Men. In the novel George Milton and Lennie Small both migrant workers pursue their dream of someday owning their own ranch by travelling around working as ranch hands to earn a living. The dream they share is to be able to "live off the fat of the land,". Lennie Small is a very complex character, although he may not appear to be at first glance. Lennie is the most interesting character in the novel because he differs from the other is many ways. Lennie Small ironically is a man of large stature and is very strong. He is child-like in his emotions and has a diminished mental capacity. Lennie's feelings are much like that of a normal person when you take into

”Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.

Besides the American Dream, the theme of death plays a major role and is recurring in both texts. From the novel ‘Of mice and men’, both Lennie and Curley’s Wife die. From this we can deduce that they both got killed due to their differences and society looking at them in a different way. Both texts also foreshadow the future deaths from the beginning to the end of the texts, there is hints everywhere. The moment that Curley’s Wife was introduced, an ill feeling overcame the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. At the beginning, George clearly states that Lennie always gets George into trouble. Steinbeck states ‘You do bad things and I got to get you out’. Previously, before George and Lennie arrived at the ranch, Lennie got into trouble by supposedly attacking the only woman in Weed. This also suggests that there will be trouble between Curley’s Wife, who is the only woman on the ranch and Lennie. Connecting ends with ends, this shows that the only two women are insecure. Later on, there was an intimation that she is going to be killed by Lennie as Lennie kills the soft things he likes to ‘pet’ such as the puppy and the mouse. In the novel Curley’s Wife lets him touch her dress, which is soft therefore leading to an inevitable death.

Loneliness is an emotion of isolation and no hope or dreams in life, which is what John Steinbeck achieves by portraying this through the characters in his novella Of Mice and Men. The main characters are affected by loneliness in their own different way throughout the novella. rf

Curley’s Wife’s mistake in allowing Lennie to stroke her hair even though warnings were given about her from George to Lennie foreshadows her own death. "Don 't you even take a look at that b*tch. I don 't care what she says and what she does... You leave her be." (Steinbeck 16). This is another example of foreshadowing because Lennie couldn’t keep his hands off of things in the past and tells the reader that he might do something bad to her in the future. George is attempting to keep Lennie away from Curley’s Wife because he is aware of the possible consequences of their interaction, especially as Curley is the ranch boss’ son. Lennie 's accidental killing of Curley 's wife was the situation that George had been dreading from when they met her on the ranch. “She took Lennie 's hand and put it on her head. "Feel right aroun ' there an ' see how soft it is." Lennie 's big fingers fell to stroking her hair.” (Steinbeck 54). Lennie can 't keep his hands off of soft things and covers Curley’s Wife’s mouth when she yells for him to let go of her hair, strangling her by unawareness of his own strength. George

“Everyone always says that anything is possible, but some things in life just can’t be reached. Sometimes your dreams just can’t be achieved.” (Carl Johnson) All humans living in America have dreams. These could all easily be described as the American Dream. The American Dream can frequently change from time to time due to the time period. It can also change due to the age of the person at hand. Children grow up having these dreams, but who knows how long these dreams will last. Some elderly people develop new dreams or are still chasing to fulfill the dreams they’ve had since they were much younger. These dreams are all things that people want and desire to have. Some of these dreams are unrealistic and could never happen.

Lennie Small; A simple man with a simple mind in a not-so-simple world. Lennie is mentally handicapped, living in the 1930’s during the Great Depression with his friend and caretaker, George. Because Lennie has the mind of a child but the strength and appearance of a 30-year-old man, which often gets him in trouble. He poorly hides the evidence of his wrongdoing, and cannot fully understand the cost of his own actions which ultimately results in his death. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lennie’s death is foreshadowed in conversations, Lennie’s tendencies of petting soft things too roughly, and events that happen on the ranch and in his past

Lennie was strong, fearful, hopeful, kind, and childish, and Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because he made Lennie not able to take care of himself and always rely on George. Lennie is childlike. For Example when he grabbed the girl's dress while they were in Weed and got them kicked out. Steinbeck describes how Lennie is always messing up and not letting go or accidentally killing something. For example when George said to Slim.¨Well seen this girl in a red dress dumb bastard like he is he wants to touch everything he likes. Just wants to feel it so he reaches that to feel this red dress and the girl Lets out a squawk, and that gets all mixed up and he holds on ´cause that the only thing he can think to do.¨ (Pg 41) This affects the story because it is the reason that all of these things are happening to Lennie and George. This trait hurts his relationship with others because his wrongdoings usually affect everyone else. It hurts him personally because it makes him worry about everything and constantly think about owning rabbits and all of these other things. This gets him into trouble because he does not realize the things that he does

People’s largest obstacles often lie solely in their minds. Loneliness, for example, at its greatest extent, can potentially drive people to extreme measures in order to extricate themselves from it. George Milton and Lennie Small, central characters in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are nomadic workers in the fields of Californian ranches. The men are polar opposites; George is small, sharp, and quick-minded while Lennie is ponderous and intellectually disabled. However, the two are inseparable, sharing with each other the privilege of companionship. What compels them to continue seeking jobs and working is their enduring dream of a farm to themselves. As George and Lennie begin a new job on a ranch in the Salinas Valley of California, they befriend and come across numerous unique workers. Throughout the course of the novel, most of these ranchers exhibit traits that illustrate their lives of loneliness and lack of companions.

Do you think that it is worth being in a friendship with a person that has a mental illness? Throughout the book, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the two main characters, George and Lennie do exactly this. Lennie is the big strong brute that has mental challenges. And George is the smart, yet timid friend of Lennie. Throughout the book, George and Lennie are dealing with both the advantages and disadvantages of this relationship. Whether it be getting run out of a town called Weed, accidently killing a dog, or having to be watched over all the time, George and Lennie remain friends throughout the entirety of the book. As shown by the fact that George and Lennie share a parental and sibling-like relationship, the advantages of being in a parent-like relationship with someone who is not sane outweigh the disadvantages.

Loneliness is something almost everyone has felt at one point or another and, as soon as that emptiness of heart has been endured, one yearns to be together and supported by another living soul. However, during the 1930 's Great Depression, society and the ranch workers way of life didn 't make having a partner or family copacetic.The nature of loneliness through the demoralizing of dreams as well as the sacrifice of amenities is revealed in John Steinbeck 's novel Of Mice and Men. Lennie Small and George Milton are two migrating ranch workers who escape from Weed due to an unintentional mistake made by Lennie. They are in search for a job, at a new ranch, but before they can get a job; George forewarns Lennie to not communicate with anyone until they get the job.The fact that both men travel together, unlike other ranch men, distinguishes them from the other ranch men as well as raises the risk of suspicion towards Lennie 's mental disability. Most of the characters have companions or partners but with the passage of time they start losing them without having any control over what has been destined for them. Through the methods of characterization, foreshadowing and symbolism John Steinbeck depicts how the characteristics of the ranch workers, the invisible force of fate and the symbolism of hands and cards come together to isolate a man and eventually lead him towards eternal loneliness.

Death, and the reasons for, leave the people left behind with different perceptions of the events that have occurred, and the events yet to come. This is the same with novels, as authors portray deaths with different themes that often connect to each other. The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a story about Lennie and George, two migrant workers in the Salinas Valley, California. These friends stick together through the troubles of the Great Depression and survival in a world where differentiating qualities threaten these two workers’ hopes and dreams. There are three main deaths in this work, whether real or metaphorical, that are portrayed with primary themes. The novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, is about Ponyboy Curtis, a lower class teenager living in 1960’s Oklahoma. Ponyboy faces the obstacles that regard economic-social class and the struggles that are associated with stereotypes. This novel also regards the death of three characters that, similarly to Of Mice and Men, provide major themes. The deaths and murders in The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men relate to each other in the themes of protection, prevention and ignorance.

In of Mice and Men the characters in the play are interrelated to loneliness and violence through the foreshadowing of events and the segregation between contradicting minorities and the ‘God-like’, more respected characters; which links to events in the 1930s. Steinbeck portrays society as times of disseminated families and maladroitness in the economy. The Great Depression was when the American stock market crashed in 1929 which subsequently left thousands economically deprived and diminished thus leaving them situated in lands of squalor and poverty. As a result, millions of people were left unemployed and their quality of life severely dropped. Therefore, because unemployment rates rose communities were scattered as there were lots of

Gary Sienese, in his film adaptation Of Mice and Men, did not stray far from the John Steinbeck 's novella of the mishaps of George Milton and Lennie Small, across Depression era America on their quest to achieve the American dream. Indeed, most of the praise surrounding the film hails from the book 's adhesiveness to the original prose of Steinbeck in his novella. Roger Ebert, wrote "The most sincere compliment I can pay them is to say that all of them - writer and actors - have taken every unnecessary gesture, every possible gratuitous note, out of these characters. The story is as pure and lean as the original fable which formed in Steinbeck 's mind. And because they don 't try to do anything fancy -- don 't try to make it anything other than exactly what it is -- they have a quiet triumph." Similarly, Vincent Canby of the New York Times, described the book as one that "remains faithful in almost every way to the stark Steinbeck tale". Thus, due to their almost identical storyline, the novella and film share common themes including, loneliness and disillusionment with the American dream. But despite the overall agreement with critics that Of Mice and Men scores it 's highest marks in fidelity, it does mistakenly, on numerous accounts, diverge from the original plot, particularly in Lennie 's the last moments.

‘What freedom men and women could have, were they not constantly tricked and trapped and enslaved and tortured by their sexuality’ – John Steinbeck illustrated that in this male dominated society women were prevented to bring to the table that which would have benefited all.