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Of mice and men literary analysis themes
Of mice and men literary analysis themes
Of mice and men literary analysis themes
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In the novel, ¨Of Mice and Men,¨ the author, John Steinbeck, develops complex characters which opens the story up for interpretation. Steinbeck uses both direct and indirect characterization, which forces the reader to infer important traits about each characters. An example of a character is Crooks, a colored man working on a ranch during the Great Depression. Being the only black man on the ranch, Crooks is often looked down on as a stable bunk, and is not respected as the other men are. Because of this, Crooks is perceived as powerless.
John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, explores the dynamic of human relationships. His main characters, George and Lennie, have a unique relationship that most migrant workers of the time do not have. Many of the other characters do not understand the workings of their friendship because the two have very different personalities. Throughout the novel, the reader sees their relationship grow and how their different characteristics work together and against each other. George and Lennie have very different personalities, however, they compliment each other.
Of Mice and Men Essay Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the 1920’s-1930’s during the Great Depression and rebuilding of America? Lennie Smalls and George Milton got the chance to experience that event straight on in the story “Of Mice and Men”. John Steinbeck, the author, includes many types of themes in his book, but I believe his story is trying to portray how the setting was a very difficult time in America with all the problems that sprung up. Problems in America ranged from the late 1920’s- late 1930’s itself, the Great Depression, and the newly upstarted “American Dream”. This time period was one of the toughest periods America has ever experienced.
The first literary device, I found was a simile talking about them tieing up Lennie like a dog if he does a bad thing “They'll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog." (p.72) George says when Lennie does a bad thing that they treat him like an animal which emphasises the way people treat Lennie. The second literary device that I found was an onomatopoeia that gave good imagery about the horses in the barn and the real sound of when chains make, rattled the actually sound the chains makes “went through the barn, the halter chains rattled, and some horses snorted and some stamped their feet.” (p.82) This is a really good example of imagery that Steinbeck uses to describe the horse in the barn chained up that also ties into the theme of the chapter
1. MLA Citation Shmoop Editorial Team. “Of Mice and Men.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web.
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.
The pristine, white walls seemed to press in on George. Cold air enveloped him, making him feel on edge. The hair on his arms stood up, making his small frame appear a bit larger. George wrapped the pale, blue blanket around himself and pulled it close. Even though he was in Soledad, California, it felt pretty chilly during the winter of 1936.
John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice And Men, follows the lives of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who experience hardships and difficulties due to their status. With the alternate text “The Harvest Gypsies” by John Steinbeck, parallels between the lives of George and Lennie, their peers, and migrant workers are revealed. In Of Mice and Men the two protagonists face challenges while trying to survive, revealing the similarities between real-life migrant workers. After facing many hardships, parallels are highlighted between real-life migrant workers and migrant workers in Of Mice and Men. The difficulties of isolation and the image they are perceived as ultimately reveal how one’s opinion truly affects others, resulting in the unfulfillment
Unfortunately, Lennie’s dream gets crushed when he accidentally kills Curley’s wife. While the horseshoe tournament is going on, Lennie is by himself in the barn holding his dead puppy. When Lennie is in the barn Curley’s wife walks in. She then sits next to Lennie and tries to talk to him, but was told not to talk to her. But since she is smarter she is able to persuade him to talk to her, and she gets information that Lennie likes petting soft things.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men demonstrates some social and political issues in our world today. These issues consist of poverty, fidelity, a lack for mental health support. Steinbeck demonstrates many social and political issues, and treats them with a vision of realism. The United states has a lot of poverty, and during the time of the great depression many people were in poverty, which is the period of time where Of Mice And men takes place.
“Of Mice and men” is a novella written by author John Steinbeck. The novella is set on the west of california in a small town called soledad, in the time where the novella was set there was a drought in america and ranch workers went to the west coast for jobs and money. “Of Mice and men is set in a small American town called Soledad meaning “loneliness” in spanish. Soledad was not just chosen because of it meaning loneliness in spanish but because of its location on the west coast of California where the soil is fertile unlike the rest of America at that time which means that it is perfect for ranches and ranch workers. Firstly Steinbeck writes ‘on one side of the river golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong Gabilan mountains.’
The story starts off with George and Lennie walking on their way to find work. George is a small guy but is like a leader and Lenny is a big guy but isn’t as bright as George. The ranch is a nice place and the first person they meet is a nice guy and is very helpful, the boss is a good guy but can get mad, and the boss’s son is very nosy and don't like the new guys, he is very intimidating to them. Curley is one of them who they meet, he isn’t a very nice guy and gives them a hard time.
Would you kill your best friend if you had the option for a better death? An interesting book written by John Steinbeck, is full of adventure and mishaps, George a small intelligent guy, is best friends with Lennie, an oversized mental man not sure of his own strength. Lennie makes a lot of bad decisions for George to always take care of, and now George cannot cover for him anymore so he has to decide whether or not to kill his best friend or let someone else do it. George ends up making the right decision by killing Lennie his self because Lennie isn’t safe anymore and he gives him a more peaceful death.
The novel contains different themes which help to present Steinbeck’s view of social issues during the Great Depression. From idealism to reality, alienation and loneliness, prejudice and discrimination, “meanness” and class conflict, race and racism, “handiness” in violence and sex, women and sexism. However, the American Dream and loneliness are without doubt the main themes in Of Mice and Men, in parallel with social fitness. How can ageing, weak or physically & mentally disabled humans and animals fit into
SETTING The book Of Mice and Men is set in two different places. It begins beside a stream, near to the Salinas River, which is a few miles south of Soledad, California. It then shifts over to a ranch, where the majority of the story is set. At the end of the novel, the setting comes back to where it began.
