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Comparing Bestial Imagery In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1444 Words6 Pages

John Steinbeck once said, “A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it.” (Brainy Quote). This lack of control can be seen in Of Mice and Men, which was written during the naturalistic period. The naturalistic period was a literary period during the 1930s about individuals having no control over their lives. The use of these naturalistic elements can be seen in Of Mice and Men such as Lennie’s lack of self control which leads to death. On the flip side, Kafka wrote The Metamorphosis during the surrealism period. The surrealist movement took place during the 1910’s and was the opposite of naturalism, focusing on people’s ability to decide their own fate. Kafka used his childhood experiences to shape the way he wrote. As a young boy, he had a poor relationship with his father. This is reflected in The Metamorphosis, as Gregor's dad is extremely cruel to him. In Of Mice and Men and The Metamorphosis, Steinbeck and Kafka use bestial …show more content…

George describes Lennie to their boss: “‘...he’s sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull.’” (Steinbeck 22). Lennie’s size and strength help him to be a good worker, but he cannot control this strength and it often times leads to disaster. Even though he tries to control himself, his animal instincts often get the best of him. This lack of control takes a toll on George because he has to babysit Lennie to make sure he does not hurt someone. Eventually, after having to constantly take care of Lennie and move around due to his foolish actions, George snaps and shoots him. They had been like family, but fate said otherwise. There is no way for Lennie to have normal relationships with people because they are always in danger of being hurt. Lennie’s animalistic tendencies lead to him unintentionally breaking down his relationship with those around

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210 Words | 1 Pages

There are many reasons why George had to kill Lennie, many of the actions Lennie made contributed to the painful decision George had to make in the end. George knows just how easy his life could be without Lennie, since Lennie is constantly making mistakes and can't tell right from wrong. Often George and Lennie find themselves running from lynch mobs, or looking for new work because due to lennie's actions. Lennie has all intent of being good, but he has the mind of a child what is often getting Them in trouble. Having the mind of a child makes George a role model for lennie, but George finds it hard to control lennie.

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803 Words | 4 Pages

In a way, George was like a parent or a big brother to Lennie. He scolded Lennie and yelled at him, but, all in all, George was just looking out for him. Readers see how George is like a guardian to Lennie in the first chapter when George says, “Lennie!... For god’ sakes don’t drink so much... Lennie.

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316 Words | 2 Pages

Lennie is a big man with mental disabilities; he is very strong and has a good heart. Lennie likes to touch soft thing, especially pets. Due to that he likes to pet them he has killed many animals because he doesn’t know his own strength. For instance on page 9 George takes away Lennie’s mouse because it is dead, for stroking it too hard. But later on, his strength increases with anger and cause more problems.

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337 Words | 2 Pages

Steinbeck’s introduction of Lennie infers he has animalistic characteristics that he’s ‘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’s vocabulary in this phrase teaches us a lot about Lennie, for example we can understand he is a physically big person from the adjectives like ‘huge’, ‘large’, and ‘wide’. Also describing his eyes as ‘pale’ could be indicative of the knowledge behind them, or more accurately the lack thereof. It suggests that in reality he has a tendency to be absent-minded. Within this description of Lennie, we come across the first piece of animal imagery, where Steinbeck presents Lennie as a bear who ‘drags his paws’.

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1822 Words | 8 Pages

Of mice and men (final) Johns Steinbeck’s 1937 masterpiece “of mice and men” gives insight to the lives of ordinary people affected by the great depression in America, during the 1930s. In the novella the themes of loyalty and disloyalty are a key part of the plot. Steinbeck explores the seminal themes of loyalty and disloyalty by careful use of setting, structure and development of complex character constructs. Also the use of language and imagery in the novella depict the reality of the great depression for many people and the challenges they faced everyday. At the beginning of the novella author John Steinbeck opens with a description of the idyllic natural setting, where “the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.

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1630 Words | 7 Pages

The novella ‘of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s. It is set in a difficult period of time when America was sunk in deep depression. However, themes of loyalty shine brightly throughout the novella. He shows that even though Americas economy is in tatters, loyalty can still be as prominent. There were also distinct themes of disloyalty, mainly between characters.

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461 Words | 2 Pages

Lennie was mentally ill so he didn’t think before he did some stuff and he was to big to do some stuff. On page 15 the author stated, “ The struggle with mice is that you always kill them.” This means that every time Lennie tries to pet a small animal he kills it, not on purpose but by accident. Another example is on page 80 and it says, “ Lennie sat in the hay looking at the little dead pup lay in front of him.”

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1050 Words | 5 Pages

Animal imagery shows to represent valuable meaning to Steinbeck’s work through brutality, foreshadowing of death, and misery. Of Mice and Men is a novel published by John Steinbeck in 1937. Animal imagery goes on to play a key role in a small town in California, as Lennie Smalls and George Milton dive into the hardest times of the great depression. Situations will be to be hard, but animal imagery must facilitate the reader’s views about the life. Brutality is the definition of acting or being compared to an animal or beast, consequently acting with little intelligence and a high altitude of violence.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

After all the anger that George has shown towards Lennie, he utters these words now so Lennie can die with a sense of peace. George does not want to pull the trigger, but he knows that the further consequences of Lennie’s actions will only worsen. To save Lennie from Curley’s wrath, possible imprisonment, and perhaps years of suffering, George takes Lennie’s

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962 Words | 4 Pages

Before George killed Lennie, he made Lennie feel even worse about himself and said, “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl” (120). George made Lennie feel even more guilty throughout the story, and this has a lot to do with Lennie’s behavior. Lennie never really had support from George, and he was already dealing with a mental disorder. So, on top of that, Lennie could never feel any sense of belonging, which led to his poor decisions, which then led to George having to kill him, before he was killed by

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880 Words | 4 Pages

Lennie’s strength and his childish mind is his biggest struggle that affects many people on the ranch and himself. Lennie is overprotective of George and about being with him he would do anything for the guy, so when Crooks tells him, “S’pose he gets killed or hurt so he can’t come back. ”(71) Lennie then contradicts his opinion”This ain’t true. George ain’t got hurt.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a novella about the American Dream two friends have. The novel describes the lifestyle of two poor workers who have long-term plans to live a happy and successful life on a farm ranch. Steinbeck demonstrates in this novella that sometimes to get to the ultimate destination, there can always be a bumpy road along the way. In the novel, there were several examples of actions with good intentions giving tragic outcomes. Those are examples of bumps on the road.

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737 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.

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1469 Words | 6 Pages

This relates back to naturalism, because Lennie gets himself into a situation that he cannot control. He does not understand that he has to be very careful with the puppy because it is so small, and he does not know his own strength. “What is clear is that Lennie’s body wins out over his mind repeatedly,- in the end with tragic consequences”(Keener 1215). Lennie is very kind- hearted, and never wants to hurt anyone. This quote explains that Lennie’s strength wins over his intentions.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

Although described as a rather large man, Lennie’s role between the two men is very childlike. Lennie is treated like a child by George because Lennie does not have the maturity or mental capability to make decisions for himself. For example, George must continuously remind Lennie of the spot he must come to if in trouble because Lennie cannot focus long enough to process this information. Lennie is also fairly unintelligent and blindly loyal to George. This loyalty is seen when George tells Lennie to jump into a river, and Lennie obeys even though he is unable to swim.

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