John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, clearly and sharply creates his characters so that they can be interpreted - without surrendering individuality - as various archetypes. Steinbeck uses archetypes to enhance the fact that these characters do not belong in a normal society. On page 13, George says, “guys like us...are the loneliest guys in the world.” They move from ranch to ranch looking for jobs but never “belong [to] no place.” A normal society contains people engaging with the trends and agreeing with the mainstream; contrarily, these characters are similar to outcasts.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay People’s realities are shaped by their experiences of failing while trying to achieve their dreams. For years people have shaped and/or destroyed their reality by trying to catch their dreams. People strive everyday to achieve their dreams, but in reality they never will. John Steinbeck uses many rhetorical appeals to help the reader understand how the American Dream can be with his experiences using ethos, paradox, and repetition.
Without seeing Curley’s wife or Amelia, the reader can easily characterise the two figures in their minds. This effect is created by powerful imagery. Both characters are viewed as promiscuous and flirtatious; evidenced rough their obsession with alluring clothing. Similarly the phrases "and now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three" of the Ruined maid and “ostrich feathers in Of Mice and Men have very similar connotations. The synonymy in presenting them both as birds signifies the writer’s intentions to portray them as glamorous, with a natural almost animal like confidence.
John Steinbeck uses meaningful diction to expose the different manners by which vile humans and humble animals benefit from the forest. In the first two paragraphs of Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck describes the magnificent nature before introducing humans to the scenery. The scene takes place in spring right after winter, when nature is blooming again and it is at its best. Then the transition is very contradicting as the author uses adverse diction to display the careless humans. Steinbeck uses very mean and pessimistic diction to portray the humans as destroying and unhelpful.
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.
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.
In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, many important ideals regarding life are addressed. Steinbeck uses literary devices to enhance his style and quality of writing. “Of Mice and Men” includes many literary devices such as similes, personification, and imagery. “On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray statues,” (Page 2). This quote describes the setting at the beginning of the novel.
In modern society, most men follow the social construct of masculinity. Although men care about other men, social norms force them to repress emotions and feelings. However, in John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, the characters George and Lennie defy this stereotype. Despite typical conventions, both men travel together and care for one another. Steinbeck uses the bond between these characters to reveal that true companionship could endure difficulties and hardships.
Of Mice and Men was an excellent novel about two migrant workers traveling in Southern California, trying to make enough money to fulfill their dream of attaining their own plot of land. They have trouble accomplishing this goal when Lennie, the big and clueless on of the two, consistently makes mistakes, some of them being vital. The author, John Steinbeck, uses great techniques and literary devices that build up to the climax and resolution. Throughout the story, he describes how several characters all have/had dreams or goals, but none of them truly achieved those dreams. All of these literary devices, techniques, and the entire plot lead up to my thesis statement.
Steinbeck, in addition to demonstrating the loveliness of his novel in his use of figurative language, uses contrasting descriptions to emphasize striking details of the text. For example, the author highlights the opposing traits of George and Lennie by describing the two in rapid succession. Steinbeck shows Lennie’s submissive nature by immediately identifying that he follows closely behind George as they walk together (Steinbeck 2). He next details George’s small stature and “sharp features”, and then quickly relates it to the opposing traits of Lennie and his towering frame and “shapeless face” (2). Lennie trudges heavily, “dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws,” hardly trying to keep up with George’s brisk pace (2).
Author John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men, using vivid language and concrete examples to emphasize the treatment of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. The novella conveys the deep isolation and fear experienced by the disabled working class and different races. John Steinbeck used social realism to depict the severe realities of life for the working class. George and Lennie’s dream of working hard and saving enough money to buy their own farm and “live off the fatta the land” (57) symbolizes the concrete ways in which the American dream serves as an idealized goal for poor and working-class Americans. Steinbeck argues that throughout American history the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” through the American
In the novella, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck illustrates a ranch in the 1930’s during the great depression where those who fit into mainstream society run the show, and those deemed “outcasts” are rendered useless. Steinbeck depicts characters with setbacks that diminish their value in the eyes of society, and contrasts them to characters that have no difficulties conforming to the norm. Crooks, being a black man isolated by his race, and Candy, a elderly man limited by his age and missing limb are examples of Steinbeck characters that experience hardships because of the differences. The poor treatment of Crooks and Candy by the other characters, and their chronic unhappiness in a place that doesn’t value them, comments on how
One of John Steinbeck most notable works, Of Mice and Men, a novella based on American life in the 1910s, tells the story of George and Lennie. Two ranch workers based in California who travel around the state trying to find work during the Great Depression. As George and Lennie are hired at a new farm, concepts such as friendship and violence appear in the novella. Steinbeck develops these ideas using elements such as imagery, syntax, and details. Towards the end of chapter one, Lennie and George had gotten into an argument, an argument bad enough for Lennie to suggest that he leaves.
Throughout Of Mice and Men there are many instances when Steinbeck uses figurative language as literary devices to depict an ulterior message. Specifically with an African American character named Crooks. Steinbeck uses this style of writing to depict an internal conflict by contrasting mood. This is reflected in the passage starting on pages 69-70 of the novella with lines “Crooks scowled” and ending with “Set down on the nail keg.” From the passage, the author is conveying a message of internal struggle within Crooks by using figurative language as literary devices which are mood and internal conflict.
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.
