In the year John Steinbeck wrote, Of Mice and Men, many travelers left their homes with only a few of their belongings and dreamt of finding a new life purpose in life in California. Many of the families only had that dream to keep them working and trying to provide for their families. Miles and miles away from home, many settlers found themselves staring loneliness in the face instead of paradise. Also during those times, the black community, the mentally challenged, and the disabled people were all treated the same. They were shown different treatment as the rich white man or the strong abled body when it came to things such as work. Steinbeck shows the disabled point of view through Candy, the negro through Crooks, and the not so rich white …show more content…
Because the two characters are ranked the lowest in society, the moment the two shared in Crooks’ room was very significant to his role. Crooks is an outcast on the ranch, but has his own room and is surrounded by books. Crooks is very advanced academically wise, while Lennie is not mentally past a toddler's age. Besides the fact Crooks was kicked in the back, he is measured nowhere close to Lennie’s physical strength. Since Crooks is ranked the lowest on the ranch, he is a realist and sees things for how they are, “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head” (80). Crooks tells Lennie that no matter the amount of books he has, a man needs someone to talk to because a man can go crazy. Crooks does not really understand the bond that Lennie shares with George because he has never been able to understand that human connection, after he realizes what he says to Lennie is hurtful to him and uncalled for, he wants Lennie to try to understand where he is coming from at this point, he states, “This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?" (4.39). Crooks defines his own notion of himself not based on what he believes he's worth, but on knowing that no matter how he feels, others around him
The character in Of Mice and Men that is most similar to Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is Curley. Curley and Tom Buchanan have many similarities throughout both books. These shared characteristics stem from one thing both men have an abundance of: privilege. Curley and Tom are easily two characters with the least amount of struggle in The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men.
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was an American author wrote many novels including one of his most famous, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men teaches many lessons about the nature of human existence. Each relationship grows throughout this short story and end with a dramatic experience. All of the characters, including Lennie, George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of isolation, seclusion and loneliness.
The psychological approach views literature through the lens of psychology. There are multiple approaches to the psychological aspect of literature but the two most recognized are the Freudian and Jungian approach. The best approach to use when critically analyzing the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is the Jungian approach. Because the novel’s main theme is a struggle with the idea of “self”, using this approach allows the reader to understand the main character, its influences, and ultimately his actions.
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.
American journalist David Grann once said, “You want the story to be about something, have some deeper meaning, but there is also an emotional, almost instinctual element, which is, does this story seize some part of you and compel you to get to the bottom of it?” Every piece of text has a meaning that goes deeper than the page it is printed on. Of Mice and Men is an example of this. Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in 1937. The story takes place in California during the Great Depression, a time where it was laborious to be anything close to successful. Everyone believed that with a minimal amount of hard work and money saved up, the American Dream could be at their fingertips. The two main characters George and Lennie struggle to get land to call their own. Lennie is driven by his dream of tending rabbits, but he makes it challenging when he is the main reason of their setbacks and complications as they move from job to job. Fortunately, George is always there to clean up the mess. Of Mice and Men is studied as an allegory because the characters symbolize problems more substantial than the ones Steinbeck clearly writes about. John Steinbeck zooms in on other problems that America struggles with besides the enticing desire for just materialistic things. Steinbeck criticizes racism, the mistreatment of those who are disabled, and the disrespect of women.
Is murder always bad? In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, a character who goes by the name of George shoots and kills his mentally disabled best friend on purpose. Some people would automatically think that George is a terrible human being, but based upon the situation the two men were in, George was only trying to protect Lennie. Even though George is tough on Lennie throughout the story, George is only trying to stop Lennie from getting into any trouble. Throughout the book, Lennie finds himself in troubled situations. His dear friend, George, often helps him out of these situations or shields him form harsh punishment. George’s actions justify his treatment and harsh actions towards Lennie.
“And it don't matter. It's just the talking.” This shows that Crooks is probably a hidden conversationalist. He likely loves having conversations, but that’s not possible for him anymore. “It's just bein' with another guy. That's all." More so, it’s the company aspect of having a friend that is more important than merely talking. “S’pose George don’t come back no more.” Crooks went from being friendly to attacking Lennie’s only weakness, George. “What’ll you do then?” Crooks wants Lennie to imagine how he would be without George. George is the only one caring for Lennie, essentially protecting Lennie from himself. Lennie cries: “He won’t do it,” right before he becomes nearly hysterical. Lennie cannot fathom a life without George. It’s nearly identical to a toddler realizing they are lost in a mall without their parents. “Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure in his torture.” Crooks acts very sadistic in this particular passage. He knows very well how attached Lennie is to George. They have one of the most recognizable friendships on the ranch. Crooks does not want that to be - he wants everyone to feel how he
In life we are part of many roles that create dangers we face that may lie beyond our understanding. Even though these roles are hard to understand, they can give meaning to our life. In John 's Steinbeck "Of Mice and Men," we see these men 's day to day lives, the main character; George takes care of his friend Lennie who has difficulties understanding the rules of the world we live in. Through the story there are many ups and downs mostly involving Lennie, who is trying to see through the eyes of George and to do and be as George is. For this reason George is constantly trying to think of what is best for Lennie. Through all of this they face even more dangers and still try to find a way to raise money for a farm to
Are you really as lonely as you think you are? In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the two main characters Steinbeck focuses on, are George and Lennie. Lennie is very childish and cannot do things without someone to help him. George is very independent, but he looks after Lennie, and is like a father figure to Lennie. Lennie gets in trouble in there old town, so him and George leave town and go to find a new job. When they arrive at their new job, George tells lennie not to speak, so he doesn't blow their opportunity at this new job. After the ranchmen see Lennie work, they are very interested in having Lennie and George work on the ranch. Lennie later in the book, kills one of the worker's wives and runs away and hides. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the book focuses on the idea of loneliness, 3 characters that portray loneliness are George, Crooks, and Candy.
Deep down inside, each person has a strong desire for a companion. Someone you can trust, who you can learn from and teach, but most importantly, one who can always be there for you no matter what happens. The relationship between the intelligent and feeble George Milton and the imbecile, but vigorous Lennie Small is displayed as the main objective in Steinbeck 's novel, Of Mice and Men. The description among these two characters is a form of juxtaposition because the two characters vary in several ways. The author’s intention of using this technique points out the differences between characters and how their personalities counteract each other significantly.
Also he tends to react in this way because he is insecure about himself. Crooks, and his character development, is the outcome of him being isolated, lonely, separated from others, and discriminated against. Loneliness drives the way that people think, and how they feel. As Crooks trys to explain to Lennie how lucky he is to have someone to lean on, he feels a sense of sorrow, because what he is telling Lennie, is his life. Crooks proclaims to Lennie, “Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody--to be near him.” He whined, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,” he cried, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (72-73). This quote specifically is talking about Crooks life, and what he goes through everyday. That day Lennie became Crooks somebody, which is something he has never experienced before. At first he was hesitant about Lennie, but because he never talks to anyone, Crooks let him in because he realized that Lennie could be that somebody, somebody to talk to and connect with. Crooks symbolically represents loneliness, and the negative effects of not building/having
Does Steinbeck reflect a desperate society or does he offer some hope and optimism in his novel "Of Mice and Men"
The bunkhouse was nearly empty, the men in the dining hall. The sun was just rising above the horizon, peeking through the dusty windows. If a blind man walked into the rectangular building, he would have never known a man named George was sitting on a bunk near the blackened stove, gazing at the floor, his eyes full of morose. The mattress next to him and the shelves hanging above it were empty, as if no one had sat on the bed or placed their belongings on the makeshift apple box shelves in a long while.
The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression come quickly to mind when reflecting on the 1930s, a well-remembered and hardship-filled decade in American history. The fictional novel Of Mice and Men provides a detailed flashback to what was happening in this era and exposes the many challenges and prejudices of the day. John Steinbeck uses stereotypes to illustrate how difficult life really was in the thirties for the discriminated: women seen as less than men, African-Americans still being discriminated against 60 years after the end of the civil war, people with mental disabilities thought to be inferior and easily manipulated, and the elderly perceived as useless and decrepit. The characters in Steinbeck’s novel can be viewed as individual characters,
Of Mice and Men is a novel set on a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The title of the book is a reference to Robert Burns's poem To a Mouse. (1759 - 96):