John Steinbeck 's Of Mice And Men

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.

”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.

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

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

“I want you to stay with me Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.” The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows the relationship between two migrant workers in the 1930s, George and Lennie, along with the other members on the new ranch that they began working on. Georgie and Lennie dreamed of following the American Dream and owning their own patch of land and the novel revolves around the dream and the obstacles that stand in their way. Lennie, a strong but mentally ill person, who accompanies George, eventually makes George think about how much easier the dream could be achieved without Lennie, eventually leading to the downfall of their friendship. The novel shows what it means to be human

“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.

Wole Soyinka once said, “I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.” In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, Lennie seems to attract violence and tragedy like a moth to a flame. George takes care of Lennie because of Lennie’s mental disability, and Lennie manages to find some trouble in every place George takes them. Lennie’s actions throughout the novella, play a major role in the events that occur, they leave Weed because of him, his new puppy dies because of him, Curley’s wife dies because of him, and their dreams shatter because of him.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men portrays the

Quest stories are generally seen as physical tests of muscle and endurance. In an archetypal quest, the main character goes on a long and painful voyage, and conquers all fears in order to achieve the goal at the end. Literature describes quests in a slightly different way. Thomas Foster’s “How To Read Literature Like a Professor” describes how a quest has five general parts: a place to go, a person to go there, a reason to go there, challenges along the way, and a deeper meaning to the whole thing. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” relates to Foster’s words. In the novella, George, the main character, is questing towards owning a farm with his mentally disabled friend, Lennie. The two men are a package deal. Lennie

“Listen to me, you crazy bastard,” “Don 't you even take a look at the bitch. In this quote, it shines light on how people treat each other during the book and how they act when they are near each other. Instead of saying nice words, they bring people down in Mice and Men. Individuals in the story use mean phrases and words to use against people that are not the same as them or that doesn’t look like them. Why does the author use derogatory terms in his book Mice and Men, what message was he trying to send to his readers? “In John Steinbeck 's novel Of Mice and Men, the author illustrates that people discriminate against one another because they want to feel better about themselves and to gain self-pride.

The Great Depression affected many Americans throughout the 1930s. Many people had no source of income and had no other choice but to travel and find new jobs. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small wander through California in search of a new job that would help them make enough money to live their American dream on “the fatta the lan’”(Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie’s hard work and determination is not enough for them to live their dream. Lennie has a mental disability that slows the two friends down from living their dream; they have to run from job to job because of Lennie’s unintentional actions.

Additionally, Of Mice and Men depicts the broken dream of the two protagonists, Lennie and George. The two men, whose dream is to own a farm of their own, despise working on ranches as George denotes in his statement, “For two bits I'd shove out of here. If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the American River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket…We gotta stay” (Steinbeck 33). George fantasizes about leaving the ranch, but he knows that both he and Lennie will not be able to survive without a job. Candy, also a worker on the Californian farm, offers his life savings to Lennie and George so as to be included in their plan to buy a place of their own. This shows the dream of the workers, who hope to leave employment and have farms of their own. Now, the line “Nowhere else to go/ Work satisfies” further demonstrates that there is no other choice but to work and keep up a stake as that is the only way to survive. Any desire to give up work to lead an effortless lifestyle is disregarded, as many people of this time, the Great Depression, are realists. They understand that chasing a dream unrealistic of this time period is foolish and without a doubt will end badly.

Throughout the field of literature, all authors have at least one significant passage in their book that represents the important point of the literature and literary elements. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two characters, George and Lennie are on their journey to the ranch and reach for their dream. In chapter 3, George and Lennie’s co-worker-Carlson killed their friend, Candy’s dog because Candy’s dog was old and fetid, being disgusted by other co-workers. After Carlson shoot Candy’s old dog with a gun, Candy feeling regret of not shooting the dog himself, to end his significant relationship and responsibilities to the dog. John Steinbeck developed the theme and foreshadowing literary elements through the scene of chapter 3 in the book Of Mice and Men.

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is placed in the time period of the Great Depression. Poverty haunted the minds of men and made them evil and twisted. Dreams were the only source of comfort after a day’s work in the ranch as seen in Lennie and George’s dream of buying their own ranch and “ livin’ fatta’ of the land’ ”To achieve their dream now was harder than ever due to depletion in money during the Great Depression. After George kills Lennie, he realizes that by killing Lennie, the dream got killed too. Steinbeck shows that dreams amount to nothing unless you have someone to share them with which is seen in the cases of George and Lennie, Candy, and finally Curley’s wife.

‘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.