ipl-logo

Examples Of Naturalism In Of Mice And Men

964 Words4 Pages

Naturalism is an indifferent force acting upon the lives of human beings. It depicts the harsh realities of life and the universe’s lack of mercy. It is seen by the deterministic view of the world where individuals are subject to the forces of nature, rather than choosing their path and destiny. The characters in the novel are limited by their circumstances and how life was for men like them in the 1930s. The truth about human existence is portrayed in the story and how individuals are shaped by their environment. They have no say about their future as the universe’s force is stronger than any dream. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrates aspects of literary naturalism. Steinbeck illustrates man’s fight for survival in an amoral (having no …show more content…

This is argued when Lennie unknowingly kills Curley’s wife and, “Lennie glared at her. And then he whispered in fright, "I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing." Since Lennie is mentally challenged and not as bright as everyone else, he acts on instinct rather than common sense simply because he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. His instinct was to softly stroke her hair as he would a mouse or puppy, but got frustrated and frantically tried to get her to stop yelling. This simple act led to something as tragic as death, and Lennie was quick to regret his decisions as he knew George would be furious. This also ties into another instinct that Lennie has when the sudden realization of an event occurs, it is about how George would see the situation and likely be angry with him. Furthermore, this is proven when George says, “Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse.” Lennie’s first instinct was to innocently feel the girls dress, just as he was trying to stroke Curley’s wife’s hair. Since he lacks simple knowledge, he depended on his impulse which resulted in the girl screaming and causing commotion. Lennie could not control his gut feeling and the actions that were sent to his brain, leaving the result in the hands of the universe. Instinct often takes over as one’s destiny is not their

Show More
Related
773 Words | 4 Pages

One situation Lennie gets himself into is killing Curley’s wife, Curley gets very mad at Lennie for this and wants to kill him

Read More
2099 Words | 9 Pages

Naturalism lives as another philosophical movement of this time. Naturalism complements Realism by examining how heredity, economic circumstances, physical abilities, and environment shape people. Most often Naturalism works have a pessimistic tone with characters who face struggles they cannot overcome. Realism authors illustrated gender role inequalities, environmental struggles, and limiting social expectations to display the idea of realistic literature, by

Read More
740 Words | 3 Pages

When George talks about Lennie always feels remorse when he accidentally hurts or kills things; further showing that he didn't want to kill anything in the first place. Even though Lennie killed Curley's wife. At the end when Lennie talked to George for the last time he was crying and he said. "I done another bad thing. " Lennie was clearly very upset about what had happened.

Read More
424 Words | 2 Pages

However, George could have stood up for Lennie instead of killing him. There is other options other than immediately killing. Lennie was not very smart and George knew that, George was not thinking of Lennie he was thinking of himself. In the passage, Of Mice and Men, George says “He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy.” This shows that George knows that he is not stupid.

Read More
956 Words | 4 Pages

But what people don’t really pay attention to or think about is why George did it, but if you look at their background story and everything, it shows that George and Lennie were best friends for a long time, some could even call them brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife. George understood that Lennie didn’t mean to kill Curley’s wife, just like he didn’t mean to kill all those mice. George also knew that Curley’s wife was tricky, sly and good-looking. George realized that Lennie like her, especially with her soft hair.

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie didn’t know what he was doing was wrong. George goes on to tell Slim “He just wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time.” (Steinbeck 42). George seems to take pity on Lennie and protect him because he doesn’t understand what is wrong or right. George keeps Lennie around for many reasons, including his connection with Lennie’s past.

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie is Autistic which makes it difficult for him to understand social communication and interaction. He also has poor self-awareness making him not know his own strength, because of that at the start he kills a mouse by petting it too hard, when the puppy bit him he smacked the dog too hard, and Curley's wife, Lennie went to touch hair because it was soft, but it frightened her causing Lennie to become scared when she started screaming. Even though Lennie didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t mean to do it, it would probably happen again putting Lennie and others in danger.

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the novel Lennie seems to have no sense of self control, which in turn causes George to take away his control and force Lennie to learn the hard way. When they were up in a town called Weed, Lennie saw a girl wearing red dress. When he went to touch it the girl freaked out. Once he let go the girl told the police she had been raped. So they had to run away.

Read More
445 Words | 2 Pages

Even though George never talked to Lennie about dying, he did kill him out of love. George cared deeply for Lennie, they were best friends, so he would not have hurt Lennie unless he believed it was the only way. Lennie was not aware of how strong and overpowering he was. Even when he thought he was being gentle Lennie’s strength caused harm. Neither George nor Lennie wanted to hurt the anyone.

Read More
1678 Words | 7 Pages

In Chapter 1 George brings up the incident that has happened in Weed to the absent minded Lennie giving information to the reader stating “Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress - jus’ wanted to pet it like a mouse…”. This gives basic information the Lennie may have a strong compulsion to soft materials, but in looking further into what George says is give a key point to an event that will happen in the future. George explains that Lennie has a possible problem with things being wild or making loud noise like when the girl screams Lennie clings to her like she is a mouse trying to squander her from moving and further and making more of a commotion. This is a relevant key that leads to the death of Lennie’s puppy. Whilst Lennie plays with the puppy it creates a quick and sudden motion as if the puppy was about to bite Lennie.

Read More
1096 Words | 5 Pages

(Page 91). Lennie is unable to comprehend that he needs to let go of her hair; instead, he grabs it tighter and muffles Curley's wife's cry so he does not get in trouble. Lennie is unable to come up with solutions since all he focuses on is what shouldn't happen, which causes Curley's wife to die. Many, however, could argue that because of his mental impairment and lack of knowledge, it is not his fault. This is partially correct as George explicitly instructed Lennie to not interact with Curley's wife, yet Lennie disobeyed him, demonstrating his inability to grow and learn.

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
426 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the novel, Lennie's innocence and childlike demeanor are emphasized, as well as his tendency to unintentionally cause harm. This evidence shows that Lennie's actions were not deliberate, and he should not be held fully responsible for them. Lennie is portrayed as an aloof and childlike

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Naturalism is a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Naturalism took place from 1890-1915. Some characteristics of Naturalism include: Survival of the fittest, violence (force vs. force), animal imagery, determinism, and taboo topics. Also, Naturalism is aimed at the lower class and is about the darker side of life. Ethan Frome is a novel written by Edith Wharton in 1911.

Read More
1469 Words | 6 Pages

An innocent conversation between Lennie and Curley’s wife tragically results in her death. Lennie playing around with a small puppy and mice result in the puppy’s death and countless mice relates back to the concept of naturalism because Lennie cannot control his strength. His situations spin out of control, because he does not know what he is doing. George says that, “‘Lennie never done it out of meanness,’... All the time he done bad things, but he never done one of em’ mean” (Steinbeck 95).

Read More

More about Examples Of Naturalism In Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document