Throughout Steinbeck’s naturalistic novel, Of Mice and Men, He portrays two distinctively different men struggling to persevere and survive in an otherwise cruel world. Two migrant workers, George and Lennie thrive off the company of one another and the impossible dream that one day, they will acquire land and make a contented life for themselves. Through their friendship and constant hope for a better life, George and Lennie learn how to survive and cling to aspiration during the harsh Depression era. Steinbeck uses symbolism, irony, and characterization in his classic novel to illustrate the undying hope found in a desperate situation. Steinbeck uses symbolism to portray how people find hope in the direst situations. Although George and Lennie …show more content…
One instance is when Lennie kills the mouse at the beginning of the story merely by stroking it too hard. He is gentle at heart and states that he simply enjoys to, “pet it with my thumb while we walked along” (Steinbeck 7). Although, because of Lennie’s strength, the mouse dies as a result of his affection for it. Furthermore, the mouse is similar to Lennie’s fascination with tending the rabbits in the dream farm. He clings to the hope that he will one day be able to tend to some rabbits of his own, but his innocence and obsession with soft things is what results in his death in the end. Another instance when Steinbeck uses dramatic irony in the novel is when George kills Lennie because of their friendship. He knows that if he does not do it himself, then Lennie will face a much worse death by the hand of someone who does not care how much pain he feels. Although, George only realizes how much Lennie means to him after he is dead, and Lennie’s death releases him of responsibility as he states, “If I was alone I could live so easy”, and “I could get a job an’ not have no mess” (Steinbeck 101). Although George is finally free, he is lonely, and the dream of the farm dies along with Lennie. It is the one thing that solidifies their friendship, but without the other, the dream loses its purpose. Steinbeck illustrates the hopefulness found in a harsh reality and …show more content…
George and Lennie share an unbreakable bond, despite their contrasting appearances and personalities with George being “small and quick”, while Lennie is “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes and sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck 2). Even though they are so different, their personalities complement each other, and their undying friendship gives them hope and companionship in their desperate situations as migrant workers. Furthermore, throughout the novel, it is apparent that George takes care of Lennie through every obstacle he finds himself in, even though he is incapable of doing the same for George. Steinbeck also characterizes Lennie as innocent and animalistic to connect him to nature. He compares Lennie to animals in the barn describing the way he drinks water as, “snorting into the water like a horse”, and saying he “dabbled his big paw in the water” (Steinbeck 4-5). By giving Lennie these childish and animalistic qualities, Steinbeck is illustrating how his immaturity causes him to get into trouble and distances him from the other workers. Although, through all of Lennie’s mistakes, George stays with him because he needs his companionship as much as Lennie does as it brings them both hope and strength in their desperate situations as migrant workers during the
Many characters in the short story Of Mice and Men meet an untimely demise for reasons that were never expected. Characters in the story that met such a fate include Candy’s dog, Curley’s wife, Lennie’s puppy, and Lennie himself. These deaths and the events that lead up to them bear a certain resemblance to each other. Some of these deaths are not directly related to others, but instead use symbolism to convey the idea that many characters in the story have similar characteristics, so despite their obvious differences, the characters in the story often relate to one another in multiple ways. By using a metaphorical method of writing, John Steinbeck is able to show the reader that some characters, though physically opposite, can be very similar
In John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George travel together to work. They discuss the trouble they experience with Lennie's touching things he shouldn't and how that forces them to run, hide, and constantly search for work. Throughout the book, Steinbeck gives just a small picture of all the trouble Lennie has caused and how George continues to guide him to get by. A problem with a girl leads us to chapter 1 and 6, and how they share in setting, but George and Lennie's interactions differ. The similarities and differences of chapter 1 and 6 show how Lennie and George's cohesive friendship with a bright future develops into a loving bond that had to end.
At the beginning of the novel he accidently kills a mouse, and then a puppy, and ultimately Curley’s wife. As he said, “I can still tend the rabbits, George?... I didn't mean no harm, George.” (65), he may have not meant to harm anything or anyone but he did not understand or accept the severity of his actions, instead he was concerned about the tending of his future rabbits. Lennie’s actions solidified Steinbeck’s stance on the true nature of mankind through his diction.
Steinbeck conveys the idea of their friendship by showing their evening together, just that one night showed Lennie and George’s personalities, and relationship to the
Lennie represents as a strong muscular man with a mind of four-year old boy . George is the caretaker of Lennie, George can't go anywhere without Lennie doing something wrong. Lennie likes soft things sometimes Lennie is stronger than he thinks ¨give me that mouse! , I didn't mean to kill it George¨ ( Steinbeck 4). Lennie refuses to give up the mouse Aunt Clara ¨ give you a rubber mouse and you wouldn't want nothing to do with it¨(Steinbeck 5).
Do you ever think about how your actions, past, present and future might change your future? The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, mainly focuses on two characters, Lennie Small and George Milton. The two travel together everywhere and are strongly dependent on one another, but are both very different. The men go to work on a ranch in Soledad, with the dream if getting their own place and ¨livin’ off the fatta the land.¨ Lennie suffers from a lack of intelligence and doesn't know right from wrong until he's done something bad, he is also very strong, and when the traits combine, they set the stage for disaster. Lennie is also lonely, which leads to him not knowing what is right and what is wrong, like I said.
Throughout Steinbeck’s story, Of Mice and Men Steinbeck introduces two opposite characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. These two characters show a unique friendship that can inspire others. Steinbeck puts their friendship to the test many of times. Somehow these two opposite characters continue would do anything for each other, but somehow enough may not be enough got the unlikely pair. Steinbeck shows that Lennie has some sort of brain disorder but that doesn’t stop George from being his father figure.
George holds a strong will to accomplish his and Lennie’s dream of some day own their own land. George can also be easily frustrated by having to continuously having to look after Lennie but will forever have his back. Lennie on the other hand is a larger male who is so easily fascinated with small animals and is a happy and hard working. Lennie is loyal and stays true to George even though Lennie is aware that he has complicated George’s life causing Lennie to be loving, loyal and apologetic. Lennie is easily scared and when he is he contracts to what ever he has grip on; this getting him into trouble.
Motifs such as lightness and darkness, light representing hopes and dreams while darkness representing reality continue to reinforce the theme of this novella: The American Dream is unachievable to people who are discriminated because of racism, sexism and ableism. The American Dream is unachievable to people who are discriminated because of racism, sexism and ableism. Steinbeck portrays this through lightness and darkness, light representing hopes and dreams and darkness representing the reality.
John Steinbeck the author of “Of Mice and Men” often uses animal imagery when discussing or describing Lennie. He describes him very specific and discusses all his actions similar to an animals. I think that Steinbeck really put thought in all of Lennie’s actions and descriptions so that the reader can really see the comparison between Lennie and an animal. Steinbeck uses this animal imagery when describing Lennie quite often to show how he is helpless, acts like an animal , and is innocent and defenseless just like the mice and the rabbits that Lennie really found a strong connection with. Steinbeck uses animal imagery to show how Lennie is helpless.
In the book ¨Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck¨,George and Lennie have a very strong and brotherly relationship. George and Lennie's friendship matter to the reader because it shows that you need companionship to give you hope. Their relationship affect both character because they depend on each other equally, for example Lennie is mentally challenged and George is like his leader and guide for Lennie in the right track. George also needs Lennie because in the novel Lennie is George's dream and if you don't have a dream you have nothing. The large meaning of George and Lennie’s friendship shows the reader that you need championship to help you achieve your dreams.
Lennie loves George, he is like a role model for him and he admires him. In the novel that is demonstrated when Lennie says to George: “But I would eat none, I’d leave it all for you George.” With those words Lennie demonstrates the admiration and loyalty he has for his best friend. Thus, Steinbeck uses Lennie to demonstrate the purpose of the novel.
Despite this the first mouse that is found is dead, crushing this dream in a metaphorical sense. Not only this, but Lennie keeps it in his pocket to pet. This could indicate that Lennie cares for comfort over death, and thusly implying that a death by his friend was righteous. Another metaphorical interpretation of mice is their smallness, which is similar to Lennie's own smallness. Mice are vulnerable due to their inferior size, and Lennie is both insecure and vulnerable due to his own mental inferiority.
To bystanders, in the book, it is hard to understand how close the pair actually is. For example, when they first arrive at the ranch and they are speaking to the boss, he questions George’s motives for speaking in place of Lennie by saying, “I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?” (Steinbeck 22). The boss does not understand how tight of a bond George and Lennie have; so to him, George must have a different motive for caring about Lennie.
Steinbeck’s characters seem to have lost their sense of purpose in life. A lot of them either developed bizarre behaviors or they simply sit around and mope. As Crooks puts it so well, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.” Obviously, Steinbeck believes loneliness is unhealthy and can lead to terrible consequences. It had not been clear as to what George did after Lennie died, but I presume he simply gave up his dream.