Discuss how a novel you have read reveals the imperfections of its society.
Introduction
1. Introduce the topic of your essay: novels and themes
2. Thesis statement: has the novel used conventions to communicate the themes or not?
3. Introduce the main ideas of the novel the essay is exploring.
4. List the techniques and conventions the essay will discuss.
5. Summarise your personal response to the overall topic presented in the novel.
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
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She is forever associated with a man that she hates. Even Lulu, Candy’s dog, has a name. With the inclusion of Suzy, a woman who owns a brothel, Steinbeck allows readers to understand the hypocrisy of society during the Great Depression. Curley’s wife is lonely. She is condemned to marry a man she despises, is forced to abandon her dreams and forbidden to talk to anyone. She is desperate. Desperate for companionship. She tries talking to the men on the ranch but is isolated on the assumption that she is a temptress. Despite her never acting on any sexual endeavours due to society’s restricting motifs that women could only be a housewife or a temptress, the men suppose she is trying to seduce them. Due to these unfair assumptions, she is seen to be nothing but trouble and this diminishes her worth to men. Suzy on the other hand, although a woman, is celebrated because she provides prostitutes for the men. This shows that, if women during the Great Depression were of use to men, they would be commemorated, but if they weren’t, they would be marginalised, seen as inferior and forced to be property of their husbands.
Through the narrative convention of foreshadowing, Steinbeck uses the execution of Candy’s dog to predict what will occur to Candy himself, once his ability to work diminishes completely. Candy’s dog is a metaphor of himself. The dog represents the brutality of life on the land and the inevitability of becoming useless.
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.
I wake up to see Lennie standing over my bed and staring at me, and poking my arm. He keeps saying my name over, and over again trying waking me up. I get up and push him off of me because he is getting too obsessive. I get out of my burlap sack, and instantly feel A knot in my back. I shake it off, and pull all the ticks off of me. Lennie asks me what we are doing today even though I already told him what we were doing last night. Then I tell him that we are hauling bags of grain to the barn. I put on a rugged pair of denim overalls with a dirty white shirt underneath that stinks. I ignore the smell because I have gotten used to it. We go and get or company brekfast of slop with a side of slop. Lennie digs right in without a second thought, I on the other hand can barely choke it down, but I need the protein. Then after almost regurgitating my food Lennie, and I head off to a long day's work.
Power is usually measured through physical power and mental power. Several different kinds of power appear in the book, and Steinbeck shows clearly how each of them carries with it a heavy responsibility,Though not every character is able to measure up to this with success powers. By how the characters act and how they treat each other shows what powers they have.
get Curley but his eyes slipped on past and saw Lennie, Curley got into a fight with
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):
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.
Thesis Essay 10.6.16 Slim is a contrast between the 99% of people and a 1% who lead the rest. Almost how FDR was the president to lead us out of the Great Depression, Slim leads the protagonist out of hard times and this is shown because he is seen at every major junction in the story, from the death of Candy’s dog, to George’s final decision. He guides George and the rest throughout the book. Slim is the moral compass and leader within Steinbeck’s classic story, showing that empathy and wisdom can still exist within the struggle of the Great Depression.
Reading life is filled with many different values. It can entertain and lead the reader to imagine wonderful things that give joy and happiness. Reading can teach lessons about beliefs of society and lead the reader to believe in things that they never knew possible. It can also lead to the reality of society and the horrors of it. That is why the purpose of this essay is to explain and question some of the aspects of Of Mice and Men to high school students.
John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, takes place during the Great Depression in the 1930’s, in the Salinas Valley, California. It establishes the prospect of the American Dream, discrimination,loneliness, and disenfranchisement through its characters. George and Lennie provided the value of the American Dream, to which the leading female role, Curley’s wife, represents how women are exempt from the American Dream, and appeared as less than equal to men. She developed a form of loneliness throughout the course of the novel. The novella seeks to demonstrate the way of which life was like for the characters of all different statuses and backgrounds. Through Curley’s wife’s character, we are able to see how life was like for a women during
“The true paradises are lost paradises,”Marcel Proust, French novelist and author, once said. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, explores this idea in the novel about two men during the Great Depression in America, and how they are unable, in the end, to achieve their dream. Many characters in the story dream of a better life in the story, but discover by the end that their dream can not happen. Through biblical allusions, Steinbeck shows that it is human nature to dream of a “paradise”. However, this paradise is impossible because of the imperfection of humans, and paradise is often lost.
Steinbeck describes Candy to be an old disabled man with an old dog as a companion. When Carlson, a worker on the ranch decides that the time has come for his dog to be put down Candy does not “move nor answer him” he simply “lay back on his bunk and crossed his arms” (Steinbeck 48). Candy’s dog is the closest thing he has to family and before Carlson shoots him, Candy loses the only thing he feels close to in the world; the sole source of his happiness and comfort. His already lonely life has just lost its one root of happiness by the death of his dog, because of this, Candy clings to George and Lennie’s dream immensely in a hope that it will help him find a new happiness in life. Candy and his dog are seen to have a close relationship where they do everything together and rely on each other.
Candy’s dog represents the candy himself and how the strong survives while the weak dies. Steinbeck describes candy as old. ” Old Candy, the swamper, came in and went to his bunk, and behind him struggled his old dog.” his dog is described as an old sheepdog. Candy’s is so God damn old he can’t hardly walk.
The characters’ fates in the novel develop individually through separate journeys all controlled by power. The scene depicting Carlson influencing Candy to let him kill his dog represents the idea of power, and the concept of the characters’ journeys with power. Candy is an old man, and because of this, he does not have a powerful position in the social structure on the ranch. Carlson and Slim have power over him because of their younger age and physical abilities. Slim agreed with Carlson’s idea and had the last word on the matter when the book states, “Slim’s opinions were law” (45). Candy knows that he does not have any power over the situations or even himself as he becomes obsolete on the ranch. The dog symbolises Candy and represents the end of Candy’s life journey and the loss of power and worth due to old age when Slim states, “I wisht somebody’ed shoot me if I got old and’ a cripple” (45). The idea that Candy has no power over himself because of his social status and
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.
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.