ipl-logo

The Role Of Aging In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

436 Words2 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, aging is deemed equivalent to possessing complete weakness when alone, but when accompanied filled with wisdom. As George discusses his past faults with Slim, he informs him about the beginning of his and Lennie’s relationship. George expresses how he took advantage of Lennie’s mental impairment and utilized it in a scoffing manner. At the commencement of their friendship, George instructed Lennie to leap into a river knowing he possessed no aquatic survival skills, later stating, “He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing like that no more.” Wisdom is perceived to be acquired …show more content…

The world treats elderly men, like Candy, similar to old dogs, useless. Once a person reaches a specific age and mentality, they lose respect and stature. As Candy described the hardship of losing his dog, he announced, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me.” Steinbeck showed readers how one’s age is parallel to one’s abilities. Candy talked about how his dog was the strongest dog he had ever witnessed, and people undermined him and his dog because of their physical shape. While reminiscing his dogs astonishing aspects, he was negatively interrupted, which he responded to with, “You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen.” The text shows that with time all people and objects alter and deteriorate due to life advancing. However, others feel a need to express a person’s valuelessness throughout their aging. Steinbeck illustrates an immense amount of ageism through characters such as Carlson due to others inability to process elderlies

Show More
Related
312 Words | 2 Pages

George from George Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” made the right decision of killing Lennie in the story, while other might disagree. George shot Lennie in the back of the head to save him from the suffering and humiliation from a mad and revengeful Curley. George did this not out of hate, but out of the love of their friendship. “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again” (Steinbeck). George is struggling to come to terms that he is going to shoot his best friend.

Read More
634 Words | 3 Pages

In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, two friends, George, a smart but feisty man, and Lennie, a large, mentally unstable man, start working at a ranch. One of the workers on the ranch, Candy, is an old man in the end stages of his life. Due to the his low productivity, the other ranch workers look down upon him. Steinbeck argues that the purpose of Candy’s disability, his old age, is to signify that being old and not helping society eliminates the chances

Read More
937 Words | 4 Pages

George and Lennie share an unbreakable bond, despite their contrasting appearances and personalities with George being “small and quick”, while Lennie is “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes and sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck 2). Even though they are so different, their personalities complement each other, and their undying friendship gives them hope and companionship in their desperate situations as migrant workers. Furthermore, throughout the novel, it is apparent that George takes care of Lennie through every obstacle he finds himself in, even though he is incapable of doing the same for George. Steinbeck also characterizes Lennie as innocent and animalistic to connect him to nature. He compares Lennie to animals in the barn describing the way he drinks water as, “snorting into the water like a horse”, and saying he “dabbled his big paw in the water” (Steinbeck 4-5).

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

Observation of one's actions is a reliable way to study the inner workings of a mind. A deconstruction of John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, specifically the protagonist George, will illustrate Steinbeck's use of characterization and symbolism in order to reveal George's motives. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck contends that moral dilemmas can be solved with an individual's acquired strengths and weaknesses, ultimately revealing their true nature. Having obligations to those around them, the tragic hero becomes a savior to those that need it while enduring moral and physical conflicts. Through trying times, conflict tends to unveil unsolicited grievances in today's society, contrasting the behavior of those in the 1900s, and is presented

Read More
1457 Words | 6 Pages

In order to create a basis of vulnerability, Steinbeck deprives George and Lennie of primordial necessities, forcing the characters to confront the harsh realities of the human condition. Steinbeck beautifully depicts the nature of mankind when Lennie innocently kills mice and rabbits. In a balance of ignorance of accountability and fear of getting into trouble, Lennie whispers "George ain't gonna let me tend to the rabbits." George contains an understanding of the transient nature of life, reflected by his nomadic lifestyle as a result of Lennie’s actions. Although George and Lennie have graduated beyond the years of childhood, we may relate Erikson’s theories to Lennie’s behavior because Lennie remains in a child-like mindset.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

This is in complete relation to Candy as after his dog is killed he contemplates that if he gets fired from his job, his one purpose, the same thing that happened to his dog should happen to him, death. As it is stated, “You see what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me”(Steinbeck 60). The dog itself is a symbol for Candy, but also for all of the elderly.

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

Hadlee Creech Mrs. Lutrell 30 January, 2018 In John SteinBeck 's classic novela “Of Mice and Men” he bestows upon an elderly man a loss of hope for life. The elderly and the handicap are seen useless to themselves and to society; SteinBeck crafted Candy’s character to demonstrate how corrupt society dehumanizes all hope of the elderly and the handicap living the American Dream. Our society shows senior citizens, especially useless senior citizens, are expendable; Society only wants you when you’re young. It doesn’t matter if you contributed a lot when you were young because once you get old, you’re useless.

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” he tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” examines the importance of friendship.. The friends George and Lennie each have their problems, with Lennie being mentally disabled. Lennie is shown to be mentally slow and relies on George to guide and take care of him. On the other hand, George is witty and clever and acts as a father figure to Lennie, taking care of him, getting him out of trouble, and guiding him.

Read More
1370 Words | 6 Pages

George and Lennie are faced with mental and physical challenges that limit themselves from their dreams. This novel should be displayed to high school students because of the major scenarios it provides to students. Steinbeck shows the realistic problems that adults face when

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

Candy is a old man that has one arm. He had a dog that he considered his best friend that got shot by his fellow companion. Regardless of Candy’s disability he insists “ I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be?” (steinbeck 59).

Read More
1368 Words | 6 Pages

When trying to convince them that he could help them in return, he says, “I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some” (Steinbeck 59). Candy believes that he wouldn’t be able to work as efficiently as George or Lennie, and he tells them exactly what he believes. Just like in Mrs. Elliot’s exercise when the performance of the blue-eyed students declined because they believed they were inferior, Candy’s work efficiency decreased because he believed he would not be too useful as he is of old age. This proves that ageism can make the affected person view themselves from a somewhat negative

Read More
1047 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

"You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn 't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody 'd shoot me..." - ( Steinbeck, 60. ) Candy, and his dog.

Read More
1262 Words | 6 Pages

Another form of discrimination Steinbeck portrays is ageism. Ageism is defined as “...stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups on the basis of their age.” (“Ageism”). The main victim of ageism in Of Mice and Men is Candy, the Skinner, who is an elderly man who hurt is hand in an accident and is not fit for most jobs on the ranch. Ageism can affect the youth and the elderly, and anyone in between, but during the Great Depression, it mostly affected the elderly.

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

This week I had to present an activity in the staff meeting on how we perceive ourselves and how others view us. The activity involved writing an introduction speech relating to an award. I think the staff had fun with the activity and I learned more about how the staff perceived themselves. I was able to improve on my presentation skills when communicating in front of team of professionals. At each staff meeting that I attend I have been learning a lot about what other staff members do at the agency.

Read More

More about The Role Of Aging In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document