George Haddad
Wide Reading Course Work
In the course of the year I have been reading two stories as part of my wide reading coursework. The first novel was " Of Mice and Men" written by John Stienbeck, the second was a short story "The Withered Arm" written by Thomas Hardy. I am to compare the two stories for their similarities and differences.
John Stienbeck wrote "Of mice and Men" in 1937. The story is about two drifters in search of work. George and his simple-minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other and a dream. The dream is that one-day they will have some land of their own.
Eventually they find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley, but their hopes are doomed as Lennie struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy, becomes a victim of his own strength.
"The withered arm" was written by Thomas Hardy in 1981, and is set in Dorset, south of England. Rhoda Brooke worked on a farm milking cows. She once had a relationship with farmer Lodge and together they had a son.
Farmer Lodge gets married to a woman called Gertrude. Gertrude later appears in Rhoda's dream. Rhoda out of jealousy had a fight with Gertrude. The dream felt so real and as a result of the dream Gertrude's arm became withered. Gertrude went to a conjuror that had a cure for her arm, which would turn and clean her blood. The conjuror suggested that Gertrude should touch a dead man's neck in order for her blood to "turn" and then become clean. Gertrude did what the conjuror suggested, when she touched the man's neck, her blood "turned" too much and she died as a result.
In these two stories the two main characters have an uncontrolled power.
In "of mice and men" Lennie is a simple-minded person but is physically very strong "he ain't much of a talker is he? No, he ain't, but he's sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull, strong as a bull".
In the story, simple Lennie does not know his own strength, this is seen through out the story many times.
In the beginning of the story Lennie catches a mouse and begins "pettin it", he then kills it, "and besides you've broke it pettin it", He kills the mouse by petting it too ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
In "of mice and men" Lennie is a simple-minded person but is physically very strong "he ain't much of a talker is he? No, he ain't, but he's sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull, strong as a bull".
In the story, simple Lennie does not know his own strength, this is seen through out the story many times.
In the beginning of the story Lennie catches a mouse and begins "pettin it", he then kills it, "and besides you've broke it pettin it", He kills the mouse by petting it too hard. Lennie also shows his uncontrolled physical power when he is attacked by Curly. Lennie gets frightened and does not know what to do until George orders him to fight back. Lennie grabbed hold of Curly's locked fist and then squeezed it so hard that curly was left looking "in wonder at his crushed hand".
In "The Withered Arm" Rhoda works on a farm milking cows, she seems to have a supernatural uncontrolled power. Rhoda once had a relationship with Farmer Lodge. Rhoda dreams of Farmer Lodge's new wife Gertrude. In the dream Rhoda appears to be having a fight with Gertrude. After the dream Gertrudes arm becomes withered. Gertrude visits Conjuror Trendle hoping to get a cure for her withered arm. A Conjuror is like an exorcist who exorcises bad spirits out of people. He suggests to Gertrude that she should touch a dead person's neck so that her blood in her arm turns clean. This is supernatural and also an uncontrolled supernatural power as the blood in Gertruders arm turns, too much which is the cause of her death.
In both stories there are uncontrolled powers. However the uncontrolled powers are very different. In "Of Mice and Men" there is a physical uncontrolled power. "The Withered Arm" has a strange supernatural uncontrolled power. The power in both stories fit in nicely with the settings and dates, also how and what people thought in these periods as well.
Dreams play a great role in both stories. "Rhoda's" dream is very important in the story. In the dream Rhoda appears to be having a fight with Gertrude, "the sleeper struggled" "Rhoda in a last desperate effort swung out her right hand". I believe the fight occurs because Rhoda is jealous of Gertrude marrying Farmer Lodge. The dream that felt so very real make Gertrudes arm withered. Without the dream in this story there would not be a story.
Lennie and George's dream was very important for them. The dream was that George and Lennie would one day "get a jack together and gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an'a cow and some pigs and - " "An' live off the fatta the lan',". I know that the dream gives George and Lennie inspiration because ranch workers used to have no family, no friends and used to waste their money. But George and Lennie had each other. This was never seen before between two ranch workers. "Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the in the world. They got no family. They don't belong to no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake." "With us it ain't like that".
Both dreams are very different. "In Of Mice and Men" the dream gives a sense of hope, and a life worth living for. "The Withered Arm" has a strange dream that makes you unsure if it is a dream or if it has really happened.
Both stories have tragic endings. At the end of "Of Mice and Men" Lennie dies this is a very tragic ending because I believe Lennie did not deserve to die.
Lennie understood what he had done wrong but did not understand why Curly's wife happened to die. This is because Lennie does not know his own strength. George shot Lennie in the back of the head because Curly was going to do it anyway. I think this was very tragic ending for Lennie because he was nice person at heart and always tried to please George by obey his instructions, he did not deserve to die.
"The Withered Arm" also had a tragic ending. Gertrude dies at the end. Gertrude is a victim of this very realistic dream, which ends up killing her. Gertrude is very unfortunate because she thought she was doing right by going to a conjuror and following his instructions it ended up killing her. Gertrude died by touching a dead mans neck. This was supposed to cure her by "turning" too much had ended up killing her." She "held it so that her arm lay across the dead mans neck." "The turn o' the blood' predicted by the conjuror, had taken place." "But she never reached home alive," due to the blood "turning" too much.
The tragedies are not the same. Although both are sad, the situation in "Of Mice and Men" when Lennie dies is different. This is because George, Lennies best friend killed him. However in the "Withered Arm" Rhoda was consumed with jealousy and this triggered her witchy powers, this ended up killing Gertrude. But both are similar in the sense that Lennie and Gertrude are both innocent people.
Both stories are set in similar rural places. "Of Mice and Men" is set in California, where many rural places are mentioned such as the "ranch" and the "bunk house". These rural settings are important because important situations arise in these areas. In "Of Mice and Men" important situations arise in the bunkhouse such as the death of Curly's wife. In the "Withered Arm" important situations arise in the cottage such as the dream of Rhoda.
Both stories have different accents and dialects. "Of Mice and Men" has a strong old Californian dialect which is seen throughout the story in all the characters for example "that means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin a gut".
"The Withered Arm" has a strong, old 1890's south-western accent. This is seen throughout the story, "He do bring his bride to-morrow", "Tis the work of an enemy"
Thomas Hardy was born and lived in Dorset. Most of what he wrote was set in Dorset. His family lived in an isolated building on a heath for which he invented the fictional name "Egdon heath"
Thomas Hardy used to listen to many stories from which he obtained his inspiration for the "Withered Arm and other tales".
John Stienbeck was born in Salinas California in 1902. He grew up in a fertile agricultural valley, these ended up serving as settings for his fiction. Stienbeck celebrated friendship in his fictions such as "Of Mice and Men".
When I read "Of Mice and Men" and "Withered Arm" I believe I am asked to acknowledge the inevitability of a situation in which certain characters, each with a particular weakness and need, cling on to the margins of an unforgiving world. They are parables about commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss, drawing its powers from the fact that these universal truths are grounded in the realistic context of friendship and a shared dream.
3