Chapter 5 of John Steinback’s book, Of Mice and Men, vividly depicts Lennie immersing in a world of anger, sorrow, and worry after he tragically killed a little puppy. Lennie strategically employs passive voice to mask his responsibility for the dead puppy and his word choice shows his ambivalence towards the puppy. It’s evident that Lennie goes through a spectrum of emotions. Chapter 5 starts out with Lennie mournfully “[Stroking the dog] clear from one end to the other” (85).
Irony is the most powerful literary device used in the short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. First, a good example of irony in the story is “They were burdened with sashweights sand bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in.” (P,2 Line, 11-13) This quote is Ironic as it tells how this system was designed to hide beauty, yet beauty was still shown by the amount of restraints on the person. Second, another good example of irony is, “The spectacles were intended to make him not only half-blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.
The problem with this is that Lennie is always getting in trouble because he loves petting soft things, but he would always end up hurting what he was petting or possible killing it. Lennie ends up killing a puppy that one of the ranch workers was going to let him have and he is scared George will be mad at him, when Curley’s wife, who is the wife of the ranch owner’s son, tries to comfort
If you think about when a dog is in pain or extremely sick to the point where you cannot make them feel better, you put them down to take that pain go away. George was taking away Lennie’s pain, his pain may not have been physical but mentally it was there, and it was what made him hurt so many people even if he did not mean to. If Lennie was not euthanized by George, he may have gotten in a lot of trouble with Curly. Lennie does not understand what he did wrong and may have gotten beaten to death which would have been long and extremely painful. Instead, George took his life fast so that he did not have to suffer.
The fact that the house continues to do its daily tasks without knowing the residents have perished is the overshadowing example of situational irony in the story. The fact that the house survived a nuclear fallout yet ends up being destroyed by a fire caused by a tree branch falling is a perfect example of situational irony in the story. Finally, the poem used by Ray Bradbury is ironic because it was one of Mrs. McClellan’s favorite poems and it happens to describe the present situation in the story. All of these examples of situational irony engage the reader in a very unique
Moral Ambiguity An obscurity knowing of a character leads readers to think more about the person’s position in the book. Moral Ambiguity is when it is not clear that a person is positive, nor villainous. The character is portrayed as a vindictive person to the readers but a good person to themselves. In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, Curley's Wife, is portrayed as a morally ambiguous character.
In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys land on an uninhabited island in the midst of an unnamed war. Jack Merridew, the leader of the choir boys, insists on the boys following rules in the beginning and still inhabits the mindset that there are consequences and rewards for actions. Jack attempts to be leader but Ralph, a fair-haired 12 year old boy, wins the vote. Jack makes it his job to hunt and get meat for the rest of the boys. Jack becomes so invested in the hunt that he neglects the fire and ruins their chance to get home because a ship was on the horizon.
This came up many times, the first being when Lennie killed the mouse after trying to pet it, while they were walking on the path. Then, Lennie accidentally killed a pup while trying to pet it and then killed Curley’s wife by shaking her too hard and stopping her from breathing. None of these deaths were on purpose, but Lennie just kept unintentionally putting things and people to harm. “I di’n’t mean no harm George.” (pg 65) The repetition of Lennie’s murders is important because it was emphasized so many times in a range of only one hundred and seven pages, so clearly there is a reason Steinbeck included them.
Where in the dogs case it got shot because it was old and smelly while in Lennie’s case it was his harm to others. It was a sad conclusion but they justified it for the good of the group that no more harm was done to both the dog and
The unconscious acts of Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck lead to terrible incidents. Steinbeck exemplifies in the book how even good people can act in violent ways. John Steinbeck uses Lennie’s action of killing Curley’s wife to communicate to the audience how he isn’t killing her with malicious intent, but how he is a good person who acted violently. Curley’s wife is intrigued by Lennie and his infatuation with petting soft things. She giggled at him realizing how he was on the strange side, even so he seems harmless, and with his intentions he is.
Many books have irony, but no book utilizes it more than L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Some of these numerous ironic things include, Scarecrow having no brain but solves most of the problems. Tin Woodman has no heart, yet he still feels emotions. Cowardly Lion says he has no courage, but he is incredibly courageous when he needs to. In the book, these supporting characters encounter their ironic internal conflicts along their journey through Oz.
This trait of Lennie 's affects the story in a bad way because since he likes to pet things so much, he pets them too much that he kills them on accident. Lennie has done so much to ruin his world in the book. When Lennie gets to a new place to live, he accidently kills mice, a puppy, and a person, but says he 's sorry which makes him seem sympathetic. Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because he cares about everything and will always be there for George but other characters keep sizing up to him and he doesn’t know
Imagine, a small, nearly silent hospital room filled with quiet apprehension about what is about to happen; the silence masked only by soothing voices trying to bring the room to a state of peace. A man lies in bed, only kept alive by the life support that his been sustaining him for days. Then in a moment, the life support is gone and so is the man, released in a harsh act prompted by mercy, compassion, and good intentions. In John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men, a another situation is prompted by compassion, but the result is a cruel act. Lennie attempts to show caring and tenderness to Curley’s wife, but it leads to her death in an example of situational irony.
Irony is often used in literature to illustrate certain situations to the audience. In some pieces of literature that might be pointing out an unjust system, in others that might be to add a comedic effect, but whatever situation the author wants to illustrate, irony is very beneficial. Through small and witty, one-liners, or a bigger dramatic irony situation contrasting two very different situations, irony can be very beneficial for the reader to understand the story. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins have a corrupt dystopian society. Through the use of irony, the author can portray the corruptness to the audience.
The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.
