ipl-logo

How Does Steinbeck Use Light And Dark In Of Mice And Men

815 Words4 Pages

Of Mice and Men Essay Light and dark themes are used all around us even if we cannot see them. We see them in life and death, in joy and anger, and even in the setting of the sun. John Steinbeck uses light and dark imagery that is present in aspects throughout the novel Of mice and men Death is undoubtedly a horrible thing, but there can be light because of that darkness. Mercy killing is an example of this. When life has gotten so bad that death is a kindness, some light can come from darkness. We see this idea in mice and men when Candie's ancient dog is being put down. Slim told candy that his dog “ain't no good to himself. [he] wisht somebody'd shoot [him] if [he] got old an' a cripple” (Steinbeck 45). Slim has realized that the dog has …show more content…

He loves animals but repeatedly kills them because of his size and clumsiness. Lennie is given a puppy in hopes that he can pet it without it dying. Puppies are more resilient than some smaller animals. Lennie accidentally killed his puppy and got angry because of it. When Lennie realized his puppy was dead “Suddenly his anger arose. "God damn you," he cried. "Why do you got to get killed? You ain't so little as mice." He picked up the pup and hurled it from him”(Steinbeck 83). Lennie is extremely caring towards animals. Seeing Lennie get so angry at his dead puppy shows us that he has a dark side. We see throughout of mice and men Lennie repeating this theme of getting angry or scared for little things. For the most part, Lennie is harmless and innocent. After Lennie had realized what he had done his “ woe came back on him. ‘Jus my pup,’ he said sadly. ‘Jus' my little pup”(Steinbeck 84-85). Even though a second earlier he was yelling at the puppy now he is regretting it. Lennie’s sporadic behavior represents the light and dark of human nature. Even though Lennie really cares for his puppy he couldn’t help getting mad at it. We see the jump from darkness to light over and over again in Lennie throughout this

Show More
Related
608 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
1447 Words | 6 Pages

“I remember a lady used to give ‘em to me--ever’ one she get...I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead--because they was so little” (Steinbeck 10) Lennie’s aunt used to give him mice to pet when he was a child, but he always ended up killing them. Lennie and George discuss this as they’re sitting in the clearing and George discovers that Lennie has another dead mouse he is petting in his

Read More
268 Words | 2 Pages

When lennie killed that little puppy is completely an accident. He didn 't and still doesn 't understand that he has incredible strength, and that he needs to know how to use it. He killed the puppy by trying to pet it but he was too aggressive with and and hit the dog giving it flight. He went into panic mode because he knew

Read More
483 Words | 2 Pages

It playfully bit him and Lennie hurled the puppy across the barn. He didn't mean to kill the puppy. this was foreshadowing of Lennie's inability to control his own strength. Lenny cried " Why you got to get killed. You ain't so little as mice."

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

Lennie says, “Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 85). Lennie is talking to a puppy that he killed by accident while playing with it. Lennie is a big man who does not know his strengths and harms things without knowing how he does

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
383 Words | 2 Pages

(82) Once Lennie accidentally kills the puppy he appears to be unaware of where to put the dead puppy. Steinbeck indicates Lennie burying the puppy is like a child trying to hide away a mess. In conclusion, Steinbeck draws attention to Lennie’s acts which made him appear to have a childlike personality because of his incomprehension

Read More
442 Words | 2 Pages

He's visibly confused about why the puppy died. He doesn't understand that what he's doing to these animals and eventually humans is dangerous. Lennie never meant to hurt anyone; he doesn't comprehend the fact that he is stronger than most and can easily hurt others.

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

Lennie was too strong for his own good, his obsession with petting soft things was a danger to others. The “trouble with mice is that [Lennie] always kill ‘em” (13). Lennie’s inability to control his strength made him a danger to society, meaning the only option was to kill him in order to prevent Lennie from harming others. Additionally Lennie has no ability to think for himself making him easy to manipulate and control making it easier to force him into doing bad things. George turned “to Lennie and says ‘jump in’ An’ [Lennie jumped].

Read More
1059 Words | 5 Pages

Later in the book, Lennie accidently kills his pet puppy, which he had just been told he could have a day earlier. Lennie becomes very fearful of punishment, thinking George will infuriated with him. Lennie fearfully claimed, “An’ he’ll say, ‘Now jus’ for that you don’t get to tend no rabbits!’”(85) Lennie, like a young child, is more scared of being reprimanded for his actions, rather than being of afraid of what everyone on the ranch would think. Lennie’s childlike way of acting causes him a substantial amount of grief, which is one of the reasons we feel sympathy for

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

At the beginning of the novel he accidently kills a mouse, and then a puppy, and ultimately Curley’s wife. As he said, “I can still tend the rabbits, George?... I didn't mean no harm, George.” (65), he may have not meant to harm anything or anyone but he did not understand or accept the severity of his actions, instead he was concerned about the tending of his future rabbits. Lennie’s actions solidified Steinbeck’s stance on the true nature of mankind through his diction.

Read More
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.”

Read More
1378 Words | 6 Pages

Desmond Tutu, a South - African social activist and retired Anglican priest once said “ Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”. Of Mice and Men is a novel which revolves around the lives of struggling farmers and how they still maintain hope despite their hardships. The symbolic representation of light embodies the hopes and the American Dream, whereas the dark epitomizes the harsh realities and truths of their lives. Steinbeck uses light and dark to foreshadow the upcoming events in the forlorn lives of the migrant workers. He also combines aspects such as the setting and characters with light and dark to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind as to how the world of the migrant workers looks like.

Read More
446 Words | 2 Pages

In Of Mice and Men, Lennie likes to pet the mice, but he often ends up killing them because he doesn’t know his own strength. This represents how Lennie doesn’t always realize how his actions can hurt others. “‘Uh-uh. Jus’ a dead mouse, George. I didn’ kill it.

Read More

More about How Does Steinbeck Use Light And Dark In Of Mice And Men

Open Document