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How Does Steinbeck Create An Allegory In Of Mice And Men

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Throughout the end of the 1930s, The Great Depression sent the world into an economic slowdown. Thousands poured money into stocks as the market rose vigorously throughout the 1920s. Reaching its peak in 1929 the market crashed and panic spread throughout the states. Americans spread the economic downfall to the rest of the world, resulting in a worldwide crisis. More than 20 percent of Americans were unemployed or struggling to keep working. In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the hardships of migrant workers through The Great Depression. With the use of allegory, Steinbeck uses the characters to represent a broader population. This is shown strongly through the main characters; George, and Lennie, as well as the secondary …show more content…

Lennie senses his advantage and again offers to leave and go live in the mountains and never bother George again. Then, as he has done many times before, George sighs and begins, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world...They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to”(13-14). Allegory is used throughout the book and Steinbeck uses each character in the book to represent a part of the population. George represents the average folks, the migrant workers during The Great Depression. Georges character represents a larger part of the population, people that are just like him. He represents the common workers doing what they need to survive. Allegory is woven into the book to show the similarities between the characters and the people dealing with The Great …show more content…

Curley had just yelled at Lennie for not speaking for himself, and accuses George of pulling something over. Candy explains that Curley is very handy and “S'pose Curley jumps a big guy an' licks him. Ever'body says what a game guy Curley is” (26). George replies annoyed “Seems like Curley ain't givin' nobody a chance”(26). Curly represents the small people. He represents the people that have little say so they create an illusion that they are bigger and scarier than they really are. Curley represents the powerless, and the ones who fight over each other to gain power. During The Great Depression, millions were powerless and had to focus on each day individually. This part of the population was small and powerless. Curley is the representation of the small people in the population. Curley’s anger and rage are only a cover up for how small he feels. His bark is worse than his

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924 Words | 4 Pages

Displaying his uneasiness about his size, Curley is portrayed as a small man who is jealous of those that are bigger than him and tries proves himself by fighting against them. When the swamper, Candy, introduces him to George and Lennie he specifies that “‘He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ’em because he ain’t a big guy” (Steinbeck 26). Also after Lennie returns from playing with Slim’s new puppies in the barn, Curley stopped by their bunkhouse looking for his wife and shows his fear of her being with other men at the ranch, especially Slim, asking, “‘Any you guys seen my wife?’

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Curley, the boss’s son, is the antagonist of the novel. He continuously tries to pick fights with Lennie and George and pushes them around because he has more power than them, even though Lennie is physically bigger and considerably stronger than Curley, Curley has more influence due to his position. The theme throughout this novella is that the strongest will be in charge and has all the power, which is why Curley believes he is allowed to take advantage of the other men. While Curley pushes Lennie and George around, it makes the men want to leave the ranch and fulfill their goal of their dream farm even more. In particular, George feels inferior to Curley because he has so much power over him and the other men, “He ain’t no cuckoo. .

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The novella Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck about two migrant farmers in Salinas,California working on a ranch during the Great Depression era. In the novel Steinbeck explores and conveys many themes such as loneliness and the idea of achieving the American dream. He does this through the use of allusion to further develop the meaning of the text in Of Mice and Men. By using these allusions Steinbeck is also able to enhance the characters and their actions in the novel. Steinbeck makes several allusions to the biblical stories Garden of Eden,The Story of Cain and Abel,and The Fall of Man to develop the meaning Of Mice and Men.

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1205 Words | 5 Pages

(Steinbeck, 91) As a result, whatever convenience Lennie had had, became lost. He ran away, and hid. Once the other ranch hands discovered his folly, they chased him down with George running ahead. After laying out the dreams that he, Candy and lennie would never achieve because of Lennie’s vanished usefulness, George “raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head.

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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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During this time period, many people had very little money without a proper home. They wandered aimlessly from job to job, trying to make any money they could. George and Lennie’s future farm represents a happy place where George, Lennie, and anyone else can be safe from the troubles of the rest of the world. John Steinbeck develops this symbol through his vocabulary and diction. When George is comparing himself and Lennie to other ranchers, he exclaims “We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.

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Although these people have never personally attacked Curley, he can’t help but feel like they have more dominance over him because

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Curley does not take it litely and he “stepped over Lennie like a terrier, “What the hell you laughin at? [...] Then Curley’s rage exploded “come on ya big bastard, get on your feet, no big-son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me”(Steinbeck 62). This represents Curley’s rage when he gets his power and dominance over them destroyed and gets his pride torn apart. Even though Curley gets his dominance torn apart he attempts to get in a fight with Lennie to try to get it back. Although he could have fought anybody he decided to pick a fight with the weakest willed person who would panic if he was in a fight.

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Steinbeck portrays Curley as the man who was "superior" to everyone, strong, handsome, and has everything he wants. Lennie is the exact opposite of Curley, isolated from society, not good looking, and doesn't have a lot. It offends Curley when someone like Lennie starts to laugh at him. Curley starts to beat up Lennie to assert his dominance against him, showing the crowd around him that he is the alpha. However, George tells Lennie to fight back and Lennie did, beating Curley and humiliating him.

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2015 Words | 9 Pages

During the 1930s, the United States was ravaged by the Great Depression, a time of economic downfall. The entire population was an uneven social pyramid, the higher class citizens strived, while the lower class citizens were left to struggle, and the competition was fierce. Fifty percent of African Americans were unemployed, and those who were employed had wages 30% less than those of white people. People with disabilities were considered second class citizens and were given practically no rights. Some were just left alone to die.

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992 Words | 4 Pages

In what ways did the Great Depression affect the American people? After a decade of economic prosperity, what seemed like an era that defined the concept of the American dream, quickly came to an end when the stock market on Wall Street collapsed in 1929. The aftermath of the events that occurred on Wall Street would put its heavy mark on the years to follow among the citizens of the United States. Banks closed down, unemployment rose and homelessness increased. It was a widespread national catastrophe that had its impacts on both poor and rich.

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568 Words | 3 Pages

Candy, in the beginning of the book, indicates that Curly is a boxer and likes to make trouble and fights especially with bigger men. He is not very nice towards his newly wedded wife either. The book does not give her a name and refers to her as “Curley’s wife”. In the book, we notice Curley isolates her

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491 Words | 2 Pages

Curley is genuinely angry by the fact that he didn 't speak when spoken too. In Lennie 's case he was only targeted for his stature. We can also tell that Curley is incredibly self conscious about his height which we can see in this character description. The next major example of Curley 's dream of being important is shown when he fought Lennie. Curley did everything in his power to seem important but got knocked down several pegs when Lennie broke Curley 's hand with little to no effort

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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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Understanding that the treatment of gene therapy alternates a patient’s genes and changes the genetic blueprint of life, has raised many debatable ethical enquiries pertaining to this concept. Many people currently today, enquire how it is possible to distinguish the positive and negative uses of gene therapy. Who decides on which traits are normal or regulates a disorder? Is gene therapy only confined to the wealthy? Should there be approval for people to manipulate the treatment of gene therapy for their own advancement?

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