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Classic Characteristics Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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‘Classic’ Novel Essay - By Sarah Sprouster John Steinbeck's critically acclaimed classic novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ is considered one of the greatest American classics. A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. ‘Of Mice and Men’ shows this characteristics throughout the book. The novella deals with themes that everyone can relate to and has been translated into many languages showing how universal it is. Two migrant workers, George and Lennie, were let off a bus miles away from the California farm where they are to start work. George is a small, dark man with “sharp, strong features.” Lennie, is his polar opposite, a giant man with a “shapeless” face. Overcome with a feeling of fatigue, or perhaps they just wanted one more night to lay under the stars, before they have to endure a momentous work load. The protagonist decided to …show more content…

Almost all of the characters, including Lennie, George, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife confess to having an overwhelming feeling of being loneliness or reclusiveness. Steinbeck raises some thought to the reader that the novel would be based on loneliness. The first line read "A few miles south of Soledad". This is a clever concept by Steinbeck because "Soledad" means loneliness in Spanish. The characters are completely left hopeless from isolation and would of endure one of the loneliest time periods in history and even when they are at their weakest. They seek to diminish others that are weaker than they are. A significant example of this savage tendency is when Crooks criticizes Lennie’s dream of the farm and how dependent he is on George when he just admitted his own vulnerabilities. George also repetitively reminds Lennie that life on ranch is one of the loneliest lives to lead. All most all the characters are searching for a friend but George's desire for any some sort of companionship dies when Lennie

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475 Words | 2 Pages

While sitting with both Lennie and George, Crooks quote, “a guy gets too lonely, an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck). The readers gains the knowledge that no one at the ranch talks or interact with Crooks. He has been isolated his entire life. And after the arrival of Lennie and George, he realizes that two men who are different can be close friends. The dream of Lennie and George is to buy their own ranch, live together and have their own

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1353 Words | 6 Pages

Thus, her identity of being a woman during this time period limits her freedom to interact with people, resulting in a situation of desperately needing company. Another characters that Steinbeck uses to develop the theme of belonging is Lennie and George. The successful companionship is exemplified by George's protection of Lennie and Lennie's reliance on George. George appreciates Lennie’s company and says, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Steinbeck represents these struggles of migrant workers through the murder of Curley’s wife. As she lay motionless Lennie tells her, “‘I don’t want ta hurt you,” he said, “but George’ll be mad if you yell.’ When she didn’t answer nor move he bent closely over her. He lifted her arm and let it drop. For a moment he seemed bewildered.

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They are doomed from the start because of Lennie’s fatal flaw—he is developmentally disabled and therefore incapable of bringing the dream to fruition—but his naïveté also allows both him and George to pursue the dream. Lennie’s innocence permits George to believe that the dream might be attainable: “George said softly, ’I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.’” Lennie is the keeper of the dream; he does not question its inevitable fulfillment, he simply believes. Without this innocence, George would be like all the other ranch hands, wasting his money on whiskey and women, drifting aimlessly from one job to the

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1145 Words | 5 Pages

However he first tells Lennie about their dream, about tending rabbits, living off the land from the crops, and shoots him. Friendship and Loneliness is shown here where George is Lennie’s best friend, and everyone else stays away leaving Lennie alone. Other times in the novel the reader witnesses many other characters face this same factor of isolation. Some examples are,

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715 Words | 3 Pages

The relationship between the characters George and Lennie is a strong example of friendship in this novel. George and Lennie had been friends since they were kids; Lennie has always relied on George to get him out of tough situations since he is mentally challenged. When George and Lennie had arrived at the ranch the boss was wondering why Lennie couldn’t speak for himself; and that is when George had to step in, “George said, ‘He’s my … cousin. I told his old lady I’d take care of him.

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977 Words | 4 Pages

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1937) is an intensely-focused novella that deals with friendship, trust, the relationship between good and evil and the role of justice. It is the second book in Steinbeck’s trilogy about agricultural labour, alongside with In Dubious Battle (1936) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939). The title, inspired by a line in the poem The Mouse (1875) by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (The best-laid schemes o' mice an ‘men / gang aft agley), encapsulates the spirit of the narration.

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386 Words | 2 Pages

Through their unwavering support for one another, they find solace and understanding in a world that often overlooks their dreams and aspirations. George's acknowledgment of their mutual loneliness underscores the harsh reality of their circumstances, further emphasizing the significance of their friendship. The ranch's desolate and isolated environment underscores the characters' sense of loneliness. It becomes a breeding ground for social alienation, as the characters are constantly on guard against others and struggle to form meaningful connections. The absence of stable relationships exacerbates their isolation, making them susceptible to loneliness and despair.

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1320 Words | 6 Pages

Everyone on the ranch is faced with the difficulty of not only making money during the depression but also steering clear of loneliness. The novel Of Mice and Men demonstrates how loneliness can negatively affect someone's life by making them feel isolated and alone because they have no one to talk to and are lacking human connection. While on the ranch, George and Lennie meet a black man named Crooks who is shut out by the men on the farm and doesn't have anyone. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and the other men on the ranch don't let him go in their bunkhouses, so instead Crooks lives in a small section of the barn.

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790 Words | 4 Pages

Moreover, the men living on the ranch share mutual dreams: To George, this dream of having their own place means independence, security, working for themselves, and, above all, being "somebody." To Lennie, the dream resembles the delicate creatures he pets: It means to him security, the duty of keeping an eye on the rabbits, and a place where he won't need to be scared. To Candy, it means security for seniority and a home where he will fit in. For Crooks, where he

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864 Words | 4 Pages

In Chapter 1, George and Lennie have a repeated discussion about pursuing their version of the “American dream”, hoping to someday own a farm of their own to live on. He acknowledges the loneliness and otherness being a migrant worker brings. Despite this, George mentions that their life is different. George states, “‘[g]uys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.

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610 Words | 3 Pages

Of mice and men is a prominent book read by most high school students for a long time. Of mice and men is a book written by John Steinbeck. In the book George and Lennie had to run out of weed, so they looked for a ranch to work on. Lennie had issues with liking soft things that lead to him killing Curley's’ Wife and a puppy. To express that the american dream is impossible to achieve Steinbeck uses conversations, conflicts, and events.

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1047 Words | 5 Pages

PLOT Two workers, George and Lennie, have been let off a bus miles away from the California farm where they are to start work. George is a tiny, dark man with “sharp, strong features.” Lennie, his sidekick in

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129 Words | 1 Pages

The setting mainly took place in south of Soledad, California, near the Salinas Valley, during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Salinas Valley had many substantial farms during the Depression. This was essential because colossal farms employed a massive number of workers, often up to hundreds. Since farm workers with no steady employment, would often head to these communities, it was logical that Salinas Valley was George and Lennie’s destination. Migrant farm workers were perfect examples, to highlight the solitude and loneliness engendered by the Depression. These men had no place to call home, and had only a few belongings to call their own.

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1067 Words | 5 Pages

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a short novel that packs a punch and really looks back at America’s past and mistakes. Steinbeck paints a picture of the late 1920s and early 1930s through two men, George and Lennie. George looks after the mentally challenged Lennie and must take action by soon ending Lennie’s life. The characters in the novel all struggle with heartbreaking conflicts but, no one else suffers more than Lennie and George. These conflicts are often supported imagery in the text.

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