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Personality In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1068 Words5 Pages

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many diverse characters. Every single character portrays a different aspect of the human nature. The naïve, the protector, the calm, the manipulative, the rage filled, the shunned, and the hopeful. Each character is dynamic in their own way. This is a small glimpse into what traits Steinbeck thinks the human race has, embodied into each of his characters’ personalities. To begin with, Steinbeck has created two very different main characters. Lennie is a large, hulking man with unnatural strength. Despite his appearance, Lennie has the mind of a child. This immature mind causes trouble for both main characters. George on the other hand is a short, quick –witted man who has …show more content…

Crooks, the stable buck is the only black worker on the ranch. The contrast of skin color causes all other characters in the novel to look down on Crooks. “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?”(pg. 80). Crooks is threatened for no reason other than the fact he’s black. Standing up for himself, getting a well-paying job, and not getting harassed are all things Crooks can never have because of his skin color. Another character Steinbeck has created is Candy. Candy is a disabled elderly man working as a swamper on the ranch. The only reason Candy still has a job on the ranch is due to the fact he lost his hand at the ranch. “I lost my hand right here on this ranch. That’s why they give me a job swampin’.”(pg. 59). Being disabled leaves Candy not able to do much work, causing him to slowly give up hope on ever getting away from the ranch. Then, George and Lennie show up and tell Candy all about their plan to go own land. This seemingly out of reach idea gives Candy hope to continue working, this time towards a goal. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend to the chickens and hoe the garden some.”(pg. 59). Already excited about the concept of having their own land, Candy comes up with various jobs he’d be willing to do if allowed to go with George and Lennie. In the end,

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492 Words | 2 Pages

In this part of the book Candy proposes, he goes with them and George lets him. John Steinbeck states “Then you an’ Lennie could go get her started an’ I’d get a job an’ make up the rest.” This shows how George is faced with the choice of leaving Candy on the ranch or taking him with them to buy land for a farm. Another example of a difficult choice George makes is when Lennie kills somebody and is being chased by everybody on the ranch; he chooses to give Lennie mercy and kill him there instead of letting everyone on the ranch decide his fate.

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840 Words | 4 Pages

Archetypes are a manifestation of how our minds envision the roles of characters, these characters come in the form of the hero, villain, temptress, damsel, monster, and mentor. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, we follow the story of two men who struggle to pull through to survive horrible times, on their journey they come across other characters that fulfill the roles of the archetypes. The archetype in discussion is the villain archetype which is the evildoer of a story usually a person who commits a crime against society or against a couple of people. One character in particular that fills the archetype of the villain is Curley, he has an aura of evil that resonates from his attitude and his actions, which triggers people

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932 Words | 4 Pages

Steinbeck used accurate words and descriptions to shape the character of Lennie, which I enjoyed. Steinbeck quotes, “Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right.” (Steinbeck, 21). As the reader learns from the

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955 Words | 4 Pages

When Candy is talking to `George and Lennie about their dream, Candy brings up his disability and his status on the ranch: “I ain’t much good with on’y one hand” (Steinbeck 59.) This reveals to readers that Candy struggles with only one hand, Candy might feel inferior to others because of it and constantly downplays himself. In addition to the first quote, Candy goes more into his situation, telling both George and Lennie that he’ll be kicked out of the farm as soon as he’s not useful anymore: “They’ll be pretty soon. Just’ as soon as I can’t swamp out of bunkhouses they’ll put me in the country.” (Steinbeck 59).

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505 Words | 3 Pages

Steinbeck states in the novel, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight?”(60). An example of Candy telling George and Lennie his problems. Candy still feels upset over his dog death by Carlson. But by using that excuse he got George to agree with him, to let him live in the ranch once they earn enough money. With Candy’s help with George and Lennie’s dream, it is easier and now faster for the three of them to get their ranch.

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1627 Words | 7 Pages

In the story, George and Lennie move around looking for work on farms, so that they can one day use their money to buy a house on their own. Unfortunately, Lennie often makes mistakes causing them to leave a job early before making their money. At one farm, they meet a man named Candy who

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1725 Words | 7 Pages

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

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686 Words | 3 Pages

Intelligence, according to Webster’s Dictionary is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Throughout the story, Of Mice and Men, Lennie is faced with many decisions which shows his two types of intelligence levels. In Of Mice and Men, we are presented with different scenes which showing the reader, logical intelligence and emotional intelligence. Lennie is a character with both logical and emotional intelligence because he knows both types of emotions well and he possesses more emotional than logical intelligence.

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945 Words | 4 Pages

f Mice and Men Essay - Essays and Analysis Critical Context and Evaluation print Print document PDF list Cite link Link Of Mice and Men is one of the most widely assigned modern novels in high schools because of both its form and the issues that it raises. John Steinbeck’s reliance on dialogue, as opposed to contextual description, makes the work accessible to young readers, as does his use of foreshadowing and recurrent images. Equally important is the way in which he intertwines the themes of loneliness and friendship and gives dignity to those characters, especially Lennie and Crooks, who are clearly different from their peers. By focusing on a group of lonely drifters, Steinbeck highlights the perceived isolation and sense of “otherness”

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968 Words | 4 Pages

Ranch workers barely make any money at the end of the month, even after having to work for countless hours every day. George dreams about moving to his own farm, but he is economically powerless. He hardly has any money between himself and Lennie. As George and Candy discuss moving onto their own farm, George states, “We got ten bucks between us” (Steinbeck 59). As ranch workers, it is not uncommon to not have much money.

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559 Words | 3 Pages

Within the novel Crooks deals with loneliness, because he is segregated by his skin color. “S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black... A guy goes nuts when he ain’t got nobody” (72). Crooks is black, and in

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977 Words | 4 Pages

Candy lost his right hand in a ranch accident, which is why the owners “give me a job swampin’” as he says (Steinbeck 59). He believes he will that he will be “can[ned] purty soon,” so he wants to go with George and Lennie (Steinbeck 60). When Carlson wants to shoot Candy’s dog, Candy does not want him to. He says “No, I couldn’... I had ‘im too long” and “I had him from a pup” (Steinbeck 45).

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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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1644 Words | 7 Pages

The novellas Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are both often noted as social criticisms. The author, John Steinbeck addresses real-life issues that society is facing. Whether through direct statements and comments, or through a fictional characters’ situation, Steinbeck criticizes just some of the problems of society. He shows the way people are discriminated against, and why. He shows the issues society faces.

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573 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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