Of Mice And Men: A Short Story

After Lennie has inadvertently murdered Curley’s wife, Curley’s lynch mob go out in search of Lennie. George’s decision is almost inevitable to spare Lennie’s life, rather than let Curley and his gang destroy the bit of life Lennie has.

His love of soft things instantly overwhelms the rest of his thoughts. His mental disability causes him to forget everything George taught him: about not going near her, about how she is trouble. Even though he didn’t want any trouble, her hair reminds him of the rabbits. As soon as Curley’s wife starts to get uncomfortable and asks him to stop, Lennie can’t. Curley’s wife is suddenly in horror, so she yells out for help. Upon hearing this, Lennie instantaneously cups his massive hands around her mouth and nose, knowing what consequences will follow if he gets caught in trouble again. Lennie’s childish actions causes Curley’s wife to start suffocate until he eventually breaks her neck. It takes a few moments for Lennie to react to what he has done an then he remembers whar George told him to do if he got in to trouble, “Lennie if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” . This is the only thought he can think of at this point, so he sets out for the river.

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

Compare the episodes in which Candy’s dog and Lennie die. How has Steinbeck made these events effective for the reader?

Regardless of how intensely the characters of this novel hope and dream, their plans do not find fulfillment. Due to the lack of fulfillment of their dream, the characters face loneliness setting each apart from the other. Unlike George and Lennie, the other character of Crooks has no one to support him and be there for him as Lennie and George have each other. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck contrasts the loneliness and isolation experienced by Crooks, whom life has made abandon his dream of equality, with the closeness of Lennie and George, establishing a false sense of hope for the achievement of their dream, making the ending tragic because they lose both the dream and their unique friendship no

One of the major themes of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is that having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination, enabling one to strive onward in life with a sense of importance. Three major examples show this idea. The first example is Candy’s loss of his dog and his joining George and Lennie 's dream of owning land. A second example is Crook’s memory of his father’s

     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.

“She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming. Lennie began to cry with fright. “Oh! Please don’t do none of that,” he begged. “George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.” He moved his hand a little and her hoarse cry came out. Then Lennie grew angry. “Now don’t,” he said. “I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.” And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her. “Don’t you go yellin’,” he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”

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

In order to prevent this agony from befalling his dear friend, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie with a quick, painless death by shooting him in the back of the head. This form of killing someone results in a painless, instantaneous death, as by shooting in the back of the head as done by George and Carlson, the spinal cord is obliterated, instantly killing the victim, so that they feel nothing. George decided to kill Lennie at his very happiest, while he was thinking about their plans for their piece of land. In doing so, George prevented Lennie from causing any harm to anyone else, or himself. He also saved Lennie from any grief or pain from being executed or shot by someone without sympathy, as well as having Lennie know of his death. One moment, Lennie was bubbling over taking care of his rabbits, the next he was dead, blissfully unaware of dying. This is the noblest motive for killing, and one that was highly justified by George, as well as preferable for Lennie. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie 's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred and then settled slowly forward to the sand, he lay without quivering."(p. 106)

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.

As the shot gun sounded all you heard was the dead silence of Lennie falling to the ground and rolling by the rivers edge. The terror arose for the other men when they heard the gunshot assuming the worst, that George was the one shot. All the men thought it was time for Lennie to die, They never put into consideration how nice of a man Lennie was he just had a little mental disability. After reading the book you might have a different opinion if you thought Lennie should have been shot by George, but they were practically brothers they have been together since they were youngins. In this case I do not think George was justified in killing Lennie because he didn't mean for harm to got towards Curley’s wife, he had a mental disability and,

Friendship is a characteristic in which one will remain loyal to the other companion. George remains with Lennie after his actions cause catastrophe. Lennie’s size stirs conflict between what he touches. The mental disability to come in contact with soft objects results into the consequence of death for the victim or exile for Lennie. “”Even when his misguided actions lead to the commission of crime, however, Lennie is treated with great compassion by George whose views represent those of the novelist” (Beachman 3024). The faith in which George has for Lennie keeps the two companions together. After Lennie causes devastation to other people, George has the duty to flee the country without getting caught. Therefore, George achieves Aunt Clara job for keeping George safe with

This only triggered Lennie's impulses. The more Lennie screamed at her, the more scared and resistant she got. This made Lennie result to permanently and fatally wounding her. When Lennie is alone, he shows his true character by saying bad things that get him into deep

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.