Morality And Survival In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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

The long, hard war of human equality in society, has been a war since the beginning of civilization. The Great Depression, a tragic time in America’s history, reflects American determination, but also social inequality. In the fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and characterization to address ableism and sexism in society. Steinbeck addresses these flaws in society in an attempt to ultimately bring awareness these riffs before society falls.

Some people have to face difficult decisions in their life. In fact, some people have to make decisions between life and death. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are best friends and migrant workers during the Great Depression. Many characters face discrimination in the story including Lennie, Crooks, and Candy. Lennie is a tall guy who has a mental disability which makes it hard to distinguish between right and wrong. Crooks faces racism everyday, while Candy deals with ageism. On the other hand, Curley is a small man who is very intimidated by men bigger and stronger than him. George acts as Lennie’s caretaker and best friend. But, George realizes he has to make a life-changing decision when Curley threatens to hunt

Through his use of imagery, Steinbeck not only creates a brilliant setting, but also ties man’s inherent good into an otherwise dark portrait of the human condition, reminding me of the good within us all.

In life human nature can be known to be thought of as a high quality and/or low quality. Naturally, human nature is there without thought about what it actually is. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author sprinkles clues and evidence of how human nature was and still is today. The themes that Steinbeck used throughout the novel were, for example friendship, loneliness, and weak vs. strong.

Of Mice and Men: The American Dream and fate Many times in life people realize that things they have dreamed will happen in their lives, in fact, will never come to fruition. In the book Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck tries to teach through Candy that the American Dream is the desire to belong, to be wanted, finally to be understood, when reality checks in you are hit with fate, “something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune” (Dictionary.com). And realize it is nothing more than a dream.

John Steinbeck’s ultimate theme of survival of the fittest through fight or flight responses in the face of fear is best shown in his novel “Of Mice and Men” through Curley and his wife’s individual yet overlapping conflicts. Though never actually seen interacting in the novel, Curley and his wife’s goals, defense mechanisms, and coping skills stand in direct opposition of each other. They both face their greatest fears and have their ability to survive tested, but, guided by their stance as either fight or flight characters, only one survives.

“He pulled the trigger, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly to the sand and laid without quivering”.Steinbeck in the story uses the elements of Focusing on the ethical struggles and social issues of real-life situations, and detailed depiction, and the avoidance of the exotic, sensational, and overly dramatic.“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny” “I tol’ you an’ tol’ you”

“Of mice and men” happened during the Great Depression, it was set in the farmland of Salinas Valley, where John Steinback was born. The novel began in the countryside, the ranch was based on Steinback’s experience. This novel indicates how the author utilised the characterization to show how worst the social condition was during the Great Depression. Firstly, Steinbeck’s description of Crooks reveals the division in social status between people due to their races.

Isolation and loneliness play a significant role in Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men”. Isolation and loneliness can be seen prominently in Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. Candy is a handicapped, old man who exhibits unconditional love for his dog. When Carlson shoots Candy’s dog it is evident that he has lost more than just a dog. Candy had had his dog since he was a puppy and they had grown old together, the dog had also provided a family for Candy, as he spoke of having no other.

Steinbeck’s relevance in themes, characters and figurative language to indicate the deep cruelty of the human nature. Does this make John Steinbeck an optimist, pessimist or a realist in his portrayal? How does he aim to bring the truth out? What thematic truth does Steinbeck offer through his portrayal of themes, characters and figurative language?

With the story Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck introduces an interesting perspective on work and life balance in the Great Depression via the impermanence of farmhands George and Lennie as they travel together throughout the West. This is in stark contrast to the permanence of Slim and Crooks in their employment. Through the characters, Steinbeck suggests that one can choose either a steady job, or meaningful social relationships, but cannot achieve both. Often when speaking of his future with Lennie, George references the isolation of the typical worker, saying “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world… With us it ain’t like that.”

“The greatest writers and the best readers know that literature is not always mere sugar candy;it can sometimes be a strong medicine:sour perhaps-at least to the untrained taste - but necessary for continued health” (1). A statement written by Professor Thomas Scarseth shows how without value in books, a reading life would never reach its intended purpose. By learning to apply knowledge that books provide through characters, we can improve ourselves as individuals. This particular book, Of Mice and Men, has values such as linguistics, sociological value, and historical value. Linguistics are shown through Steinbeck’s use of poetic devices such as imagery and repetition. Sociological value is given through the perspective of Crooks, who shows the struggle of achieving the great American Dream of having a place to call your own. Finally, historical value is provided through racism and how it affected Crooks, or any other black man at the time.

What is the concept of the moral dilemma, how does it impact George? The moral dilemma is choosing from right from wrong. Throughout the story there are many events that show a few of the characters having to choose right from wrong. The first event is the killing of Candy’s dog. Did they really need to?

This key root involved George and Lennie dream of handling their own ranch; however, Lennie’s tragic end was the result of his innocence that caused the death of Curley’s wife making his death inevitable by George that ultimately crushed their dream. In addition to, the reader witnesses how Curley’s wife had her own aspirations and dreams of becoming an actress ever since she grew up in Salinas (Steinbeck’s hometown), but it was crushed due to her mother’s hegemony and her marriage with Curley which she opposes. On the other hand, Attell’s analysis also validates social realism with Crooks. Crooks, a black man, is shunned out by the white society because of his race that led him to his unfortunate fate of being discriminated from the prejudiced