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Human Condition In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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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.
George, Slim, Curley, and Lennie exemplify the human condition through the priorities they set in life. Lennie, on one hand, mostly cares about soft, furry animals which shows his childlike life due to his mental disability. But …show more content…

“But little Mouse, you are not alone,” is a quote from the poem by Robert Burns, To A Mouse. This quote directly relates to how some of men treat Lennie, Slim and George want to feel like Lennie’s companion. However, Curley feels very intimidated by Lennie because he is big and gets special treatment from the men. In chapter 3, Curley picks a fight with Lennie and instead of stopping Lennie from hurting Curley the men egg Lennie on, Lennie ends up breaking Curley’s hand. Crooks and Curley’s wife have another point of view on Lennie, both of them at different times try to show Lennie that George might not always be as faithful as he has been. On page 72 Crooks says, “Well s’pose, jus’ s'pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?” Curley's wife tries to persuade Lennie to not do exactly what George always tells him to do. The characters in Of Mice and Men show many different sides of the human condition. Living in the American Depression molded some of the ideas, but, also the men's companionship with each other affected their way of living. People today still are molded by society and companions whether they recognize it or

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Chapter Five Constructed Response John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” was inspired by Robert Burn ’s poem “To a Mouse.” This means his novel has a similar meaning to Burn’s poem: animals have no dreams, but still experience melancholic feelings along with the human dreamers. The title “Of Mice and Men” is also a quote straight out of “To a Mouse.”

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Lennie has the most obvious handicap, since it greatly affects his ability to function. Lennie has the mental capacity of a child, and he can’t take care of himself. Lennie loves to “pet” things, but he is unaware of his own strength. This results in a dead mouse, puppy, and eventually, woman! Lennie is enthralled by the idea of living on a farm with George, and he uses this picture-perfect image almost as a moral guide.

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At the beginning of the novel we see that Lennie had killed a mouse and was carrying it in his pocket. The mouse that Lennie carries in his pocket can be seen as a representative of Lennie. A mouse is generally seen as insignificant, not important and occupies a low space amongst other animals. It is frequently reviled as being undesirable and destroying it generally causes no concern. Much the same can be said about Lennie among his own species.

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In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men,George and Lennie are two guys that are heading to their next job. Lennie is a giant and forgetful guy who does not always know what he is doing. George, on the other hand,is the opposite. He is short and knows what he is doing when it comes to work. Lennie was dangerous to everything around him and he also liked to pet soft things.

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In the historical fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George’s decision to kill Lennie at the end of the novel was justified. Lennie Smalls is always with his best friend George. He is incapable of doing many things because he is mentally disabled. George normally makes decisions for him and in this case, it’s about Lennie suffering and staying alive, or ending his life peacefully. Curley is a character that played a big role.

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In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, the reader feels more sympathy towards George, rather than Lennie or Curley's Wife. Steinbeck depicts an authentic representation of the Great Depression's challenging times and how they impact people like George. The hardships he experienced surpassed those of Lennie and Curley's wife. George had Lennie, a responsibility which caused him unnecessary trouble. He ended Lennie's life and thus lived with it on his conscience.

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Steinbeck 's characters show different types of inhumanity. Every character feels isolated and lonely, which causes some to attack those who are weaker than they are. Loneliness and the cruelty of others caused George and Lennie to stick together during many hard years, but the violence of their fellow workers overcame George’s good intentions to care for Lennie.

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The book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is about two friends that are always working together. One of the three main characters, Lennie, is mentally handicapped, who has a muscular body, strong and tall. His other friend, George, is intelligent but unlike Lennie, he has a small body and he is smart. They move around and work together. Lennie and George try to find new jobs because they have been fired from their previous job that causes them to move to another city.

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Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story about discrimination due to someone being different in any way. The reader learns how people were treated and discriminated in 1930s during the great depression. This is important because this issue continues even to this day. This problem has been around for a very long time. Steinbeck uses Archetypes,Symbolism, and Setting to convey the theme of discrimination.

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Lennie Small is the main character in the novel Of Mice and Men. He is facing mental adversity. He is tall and mentally disabled man who can’t clearly understand things and can’t control himself. For example, when he’s petting the puppy, he thinks that there’s nothing wrong with this, until the puppy died. He doesn’t know what he had done.

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Crooks is trying to show Lennie how unfair the segregation and racism is, especially in that last sentence. He is also trying to get him to see how the other workers think of Crooks because Lennie is so innocent he doesn’t understand why Crooks would be treated differently.    3. In chapter 6, after George shoots Lennie, Slim separates from the pack of workers and comforts George. "

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Soledad, California is where John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men takes place. A tale of two friends George Milton and Lennie Smalls trying to reach a what most people during that time had , a dream that was with each passing day seemed more and more impossible. Through his writing Steinbeck illustrates his characters personalities , particularly Lennie, who is kind loyal and innocent , through their dialogue and actions. Lennie Smalls is described as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck 2) in contrast to his partner the bony and defined George Milton. His appearance comes off as frightening but is soon shown to be mentally disabled, giving off a wave of innocence.

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Survival is often introduced as a concept of endurance, persistence and perseverance, a textbook idea about simply living or dying. At the inception of human life, merely surviving was imperative and existence was something that humans fought for on a daily basis. But, as we flourish independently, as societies and as a race, the concept of survival is warped, and growth as an individual, as well as coping with everyday hardships and not just traditional examples of adversity such as poverty and destitution are prime examples of survival. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the reader is presented with the idea that survival is not synonymous to staying alive, and moreover, that cultural and societal struggles shape self in accordance with the way we face them. Survival of the fittest is the primordial notion that only the fit have the power and strength to live, and more importantly, thrive in their environment.

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The book, Of Mice and Men, features many different types of people that are seen in today’s society. Each character has their own set of disadvantages that makes their life a little more difficult. Some characters have true struggles that cause them to have a more challenging life than others. Curley, Crooks, and Lennie cause readers to feel compassion towards them because of their disadvantages in society. Everyone has witnessed bullying at least once in their life.

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581 Words | 3 Pages

Undoubtedly, the two characters Lennie and Curley’s are very contrasting characters; nonetheless they both share the feeling of being different and alone. Lennie is different due to his mental condition and Curley’s wife is different because she does not act like other women do. Lennie cannot control his mental condition and Curley’s wife cannot help her desires; therefore although they feel different, there is nothing

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