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. This essay will explain the sociological value of this novel and will show that everyone can learn from this book through the characters of Curly’s wife and Lennie. “She is to him a thing, a possession, a sex-object and a status symbol.” (Scarseth). In many men’s eyes this is the definition of a woman. A toy to play around with, …show more content…
Lennie throughout the story is portrayed as this friendly giant character. He ” A huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders,” (2) who also has a gentle, soft heart. At times though that soft heart turns to stone because of his mental health issues. Even though the mental issues were never addressed they were very strongly described throughout the story like when George described him saying “He’s dumb as hell.” (19). Because of his mental problems, Lennie does not understand a lot of the why’s of the story. Why do the men not talk to Curly’s wife? Why does everybody leave her to her lonesome? As Lennie says in the story “George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you- talk to you or nothing.”(43). Ignoring that, Lennie is hesitant to talk to Curly’s wife but gives in because he see’s the loneliness in her. This completely throws away the societal hierarchy in the story of man v.s. woman and rich v.s. poor. This is all because Lennie was able to feel true sympathy for Curly’s wife and because of this Lennie shows and expresses sociological value in the
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.
In Steinbeck’s text, Lennie was described as, “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (Steinbeck, ch. 1). In the movie version, Lennie looked the same as described in the book. He was noticeably larger than the other people around him, and his mental disability was just as noticeable as it was described in the
For my 9th grade Summer Reading Assignment, I had to read “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck and annotate my thoughts, questions, as well as key scenes and literary elements. Below are my annotations.
Ever since the start of the book, Lennie and other pariahs have been treated poorly by the rest of society. Candy's dog gets shot, Curley's wife gets ignored and set aside as an object and crooks were banished to a shed for fear of being looked upon. Because of how outcasts like Crooks, Candy and Curley's wife are treated. George and Lennie could never have achieved their dreams. This essay will go over how outcasts are treated poorly but the rest of society, how candy suffers from the weight of others' opinions and thoughts and Curley's wife is lonely and lastly how Lennie is treated, treats others, and ultimately fails.
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.
When introduced he was described as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders..”(2) Lennie has the mind of a child because of his mental illness. Whenever he talks in the story, his voice sounds innocent to me. At the end of the story Lennie ends up killing Curley’s wife on accident. George had told him to meet him by the Salinas river if he ever gets in any kind of trouble. He started to imagine a voice in his head. It was his Aunt Clara. She explains that he never takes care and that he does bad thing. His response “I tried and tried. I couldn’t help it.”(101) He was saying that he would go live in a cave and he’ll live there so he doesn’t cause anymore trouble. His conscious is saying “you’re always sayin’ that, an’ you know sonafabitching well you ain't never gonna do it.(101) In this chapter it makes me have so much sympathy for him because he’s thinking all these unkind things about himself and he just feels so hated, and lonely.
black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me"
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
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.
Before returning to school, you will need to read Of Mice and Men. The following questions will guide your reading and prepare you for the quiz, discussions and related assignments. You may use this packet for the quiz. A TYPED PAPER COPY of this packet must be turned in to your teacher on the first day of school.
Essay The novel Of Mice and Men addresses four major themes which creates a picture of America in the 1930’s. The things that happened on the ranch where Lennie and George worked reflected four major themes of America in the 1930’s, it talked about the treatment of women, the bullies on the ranch and the mean things they did, isolation not just physically but mentally, and finally Justice and Pease. In the 1930’s, women were usually found at home caring for the children or cleaning around the house. A common job for a woman of this time would be doing something such as working as a school teacher, nurse or stay at home mother.
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.
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.
Steinbeck introduces Lennie by physical description and it gives us an idea of how powerful he is compared to George. “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck, Pg. 2) In this quote, the author is trying to make the reader