Through a variety of literary and cinematic techniques respectively, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men and Sean Penn’s Into The Wild illustrate how the fulfilment of one’s life, and their pursuit of happiness, hinge upon friendship, dreams, and one’s attitude towards life and happiness in general. Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice And Men illustrates the importance of friendship and dreams in a context of hardship and economic downturn. This is done by using George and Lennie and their dream of landownership and material possession to demonstrate how dreams give people the hope required to drive themselves, and how friendship offers them the ability to keep going even if their own spirit should break. Sean Penn’s 2007 film Into The Wild …show more content…
The ability for dreams, friendship and attitude to positively influence one’s life is conveyed through the repetition of George and Lennie’s dream about “living off the fatta the land”, and the way in which Candy and Crooks are pulled into the dream, giving them all a sense of hope in the otherwise hopeless context. Penn’s Into The Wild similarly demonstrates the importance and power of dreams and attitude, using Chris’ dream of reaching Alaska to illustrate the drive it can give someone, whilst Chris’ attitude towards freedom and escaping his materialistic society are conveyed through his manifesto and the diction he uses when speaking, demonstrating the power this instils in him. Chris’ eventual epiphany about friendship is mirrored in Of Mice and Men where George and Lennie have “somebody to talk to that gives a damn” and gives them the drive they need to hopefully achieve their dreams. Whilst these themes are comparatively balanced throughout both texts, the fundamental ideal of freedom is however demonstrated as a polar opposite of each other, with George and Lennie striving for material possession and wellbeing whilst Chris longs to get away from societal dependence on materialist and consumerist ideals.
Of Mice And Men and Into The Wild both share similarities in their expression of the importance of friendship, dreams and one’s attitude towards
John Steinback’s Of Mice and Men is a book that describes the chase of the American Dream. Although achieving the American Dream is a great desire for all, seldom does it actually come true. George and Lennie, the two main characters in the book, have a goal of pursuing their version of the American Dream, as do many other characters. However, due to relationships and other conflicts, that dream is not achieved.
You can judge a society by its treatment of the old, the weak, the helpless and the needy. Through the narrative conventions of foreshadowing and characterisation, John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice And Men, published in 1937, is able to effectively reveal the imperfections of America’s capitalist
Although Of Mice and Men definitely teaches young students about how the setting was set up back then, the themes of abuse and death included could be found highly inappropriate or offensive to young students today. These themes arise from the multiple abusive and gory deaths of characters throughout the novel. For example, the novel included a reoccurring scene of murder of innocent animals by Lennie including mice and puppies. Some readers are not able to handle such grimness, therefore finding it repugnant or simply unacceptable. Readers with their own pets may also feel a terrible sense of guilt and repulsiveness by simply reading the novel. Another example is portrayed when Lennie violently kills Curley’s wife by shaking her to death.
Everyone has dreams, big and small. When one dreams, there is a scent of whimsical hope in the air mixed with the powerful drive for success to obtain their luminous goals. But, many times these luscious dreams end up in grief and pain instead of a promised joy due to the hurdles in life, such as the certain circumstances that society professes or the flaws in a person that restrains them from their aspirations. The writer, John Steinbeck, incorporates this ideology in his novella, Of Mice and Men by creating three pivotal characters. Lennie, Crooks, and George all have schemes that go wrong, and yet hope to illustrate their desires of fulfilling their American Dream and to be prosperous for their own independent purposes.
In Of Mice and Men, the hopes and dreams of the men on the ranch are a continuous focus and theme throughout the novel. John Steinbeck portrays the effects that dreams, or lack of them, have on the lives of the characters and the outcome of the novel. Steinbeck uses the concept of dreams at once to show hope and aspiration, as they invoke companionship with united determination for a better future, and to illustrate the difficulties of survival, with unrealised dreams illuminating the dark despair of society at that time.
Ever since humanity has come into existence, the world has allowed dreams to blossom into beautiful flowers or be rejected and die like a fly swatted in a household. Each dream may end in a success or a tragedy, but it is up to the discretion of the cruel, but rewarding world humans inhabit. In the novel of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a myriad of characters all have dreams that they passionately want to fulfill. Curley’s wife, who remains unnamed in the book, has a dream of becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. Crooks, the black stable-hand only dreams of being able to have friends and be seen as an equal to others. Lennie and George are a pair of migrant workers who want to live the American dream and have their own ranch. Each of these characters’ dreams were all torn down by the world, illustrated by Steinbeck as a cruel place where dreams cannot come true, no matter how passionate a person may be.
Miloš Forman and John Steinbeck in their texts One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Of Mice and Men (1937) heavily use and explore the key ideas of ambition and companionship explored throughout their texts, primarily through the use of characterization but also through imagery and symbolisms. Alongside techniques, Forman and Steinbeck utilise other themes and ideas to further develop and convey their ideas, exploring the effect and power of ambition and dreams alongside belonging and individuality being used to explore themes of companionship.
E.M. Forster once said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” In the novel Of Mice And Men, some of the characters have this big dream of a life they want to have. The dream is very specific and soon enough gets crushed by inevitable circumstances. Although plans might not work out people can move on and live their lives to the fullest. The novel was set in farmland of the Salinas valley in California. The characters live on a small ranch where they all work for “the Boss”. The book took place during the great depression, everyone was struggling. The two main characters are Lennie and George, Lennie is a bulky, strong man who was very gentle and innocent on the inside. George is a short, quick witted man with a rough outward appearance, but a heart of gold. Lennie struggles with a mental disability that only George is aware of, they travel together and George is constantly taking care of Lennie and helping him to live as much of a normal life as he can. The use of the dream farm as a symbol helps the readers better understand the novel’s theme, which is, life doesn’t always go as planned but people can move on.
Of Mice And Men The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ reveal life in the 1930’s. A time very diverse to ours. Steinback, the author of this novel wrote about various issues such as lifestyle of the travelling ranchmen, loneliness, friendship, the American dream, racism and sexism. The book is about two migrant labourers, George Milton and Lennie Small in California.
When we try to chase our dreams, we end up in our own diminutive lonely world. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, has taught readers that the American dream can only ever be accomplished through hard work and determination. More times than others, we are distracted by the dream itself, and don’t chase the reality, which can then lead to high expectations, and without hard determination, that can then failure. In the end, we have been lonely for so long, chasing a dream, that when reality hits us, we become isolated and lonely. For George and Lennie, they have each other, until the American dream seemed too hard to chase.
Throughout society, many people are living in their own fantasy world, oblivious to the reality of a harsh world around them. In the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the prospect of a broken future is a major theme. In many instances, characters in the story have a yearning hope for a better future, yet their dreams of a better future are never achieved. Throughout the novella, it is shown that dreams can go awry as a result of a simple mistake or wrong-doing. Steinbeck shows within the characters of Lennie, George, Curley’s wife, and Candy, that all three characters have the extensive thought of the American Dream, yet they have trouble reaching it.
Hopes and dreams can be very important for peoples’ needs and survival. In Steinbeck’s story, Of Mice and Men, each of the main characters is driven by their hopes and dreams; it provides a sense of motivation and animation to each of their being. From Lennie and George being driven by their hopes and dreams of owning a farm, to Curley’s wife’s dreams of becoming an actress, having dreams plays an essential role in giving hope to the characters of Steinbeck’s story. Although dreams and hopes are essential themes in Steinbeck’s story, in a sense, Steinbeck does seem to emphasize that dreams are not meant to be achieved, and that there are other factors that are essential for survival. I believe Steinbeck included their dreams to give
The story Of Mice and Men took place during the 1930’s. That time period was very different from today. Race and gender were very important characteristics that determined whether a person had the opportunity to make money. The 1930’s were also a time where people started questioning life and the American culture. Many people like John Steinbeck thought that life was very unfair and questioned whether if life was even worth living. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck demonstrates that mans dream is destined to be destroyed by a cruel reality.
Dreams and inspirations is what fuels human beings to persevere through tough times and overcome adversities. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the setting of the Great Depression to portray that dreams establishes friendships, and hopes, enabling one to go through life with a sense of belonging. During the low economic times of the Great Depression, the majority of the population was forced to endure the harsh lives of migrant workers; an occupation that is near impossible to avoid and escape. George and Lenny are able to withstand being migrant workers by clinging on to their dream to ‘”live off the fatta the lan,'” (Steinbeck, 7). This dream is later shared by a lonely swamper, Candy, who was able to face his dog passing
Of Mice and Men was written during a period of racism. In the 1960's it was important for everyone to get along with eachother because not everyone was equal. George and Lennie showed a great part in friendship throught the whole book. At the ranch in Selinas mostly everyone showed friendship in some way. Friendship was a great factor when the book was published because of all the racism going on at the time.