“The Salinas River drops in close to the hill – side bank and runs deep and green. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them.”
Another example is what the characters look like, when reading, that is very important, as you read about their actions. We also need to know what they look like. George is one of the most important characters in Of Mice And Men; here is his very detailed description, “A small quick man, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp strong features. Every part of him was defined; small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.”
Another, is when reading to what the characters are saying, they tend to speak in a “local” language, where it is very slang and free – everyday talk.
“I’m tryin’ to find Curley, Slim,”
“Well, you ain’t tryin’ very hard. I see him gong in your house,” this technique is used in both books and is called colloquial speaking. This is used in both books and is very effective in helping in both books writing techniques as it shows how they speak and communicate with other characters.
When looking at the comparison between narrative techniques that are used, there are a few things that catch the reader’s eye. Firstly being, the order that the book’s are written and read in. Of Mice And Men is written in a way where you read from the beginning through to the end, chronologically. When reading the Ostler you begin by starting at the end then read what has happened previously. Although it is a difference in the reading and writing techniques. It provides the same amount of suspense, description and excitement.
There appears to be many bonds in both books and when looking at bonds, the two characters that have the most recognisable and strongest bond in Of Mice And Men have to be George and Lennie. George and Lennie have been together since Lennie’s aunt died. They have been together irrespective of Lennie’s disability, and George often thought that it would be beneficial for him to leave and not have to look after Lennie. But the fact was that whatever happened, they always stayed together. They had a father and so type relationship. Lennie’s disability often jeopardised their relationship. He was slow in the head; he forgot everything that he was told. This always got him into trouble and then Lennie ended – up relying on George to get him out of trouble.
In The Ostler, Isaac has a very close relationship with his mother whilst she is alive; they have a very tight and strong bond. Isaac also has passionate bond with Rebecca. What Isaac does not realise at that point is that she was the woman in his dream. His mother is the one that points out angrily that she is the woman that tried to kill him in Isaac’s dream some years ago. When Isaac remembers this, he is shocked and upset. The fact that Isaac forgets also symbolises that Isaac also has the disability of remembering things and that he forgets things quickly – Similar to Lennie in Of Mice And Men.
In both books there are dreams. These dreams either help the character or dishearten them. In Of Mice And Men there is a “Workman’s dream,” where the workers have a dream of owning their own plot of land and being self – sufficient and content with life and not having to work all day, everyday.
“Guy’s like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guy’s 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, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their trail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to, with us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit I no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go.”
There is also a dream in The Ostler, it is not a dream where it is helping men and women to work harder, it is more of the opposite. The dream turns Isaac’s into hell. He is left scared and upset and traumatised. His mother is petrified as to what may happen to her son. It turns the whole family upside down in terror and anguish. There is a lot of suffering. Even though the group of dreams is a similarity, the way that they are put across is a real difference.
This brings me on to the next fact that in both books, women suffer and cause suffering. In Of Mice And Men, Curley’s wife was a woman that was talked about in a very bad way. No one liked her and she was known to be a flirt. Lennie killed her, when she asked Lennie to feel her hair and then Lennie did not want to let go. He put his hand on her mouth and broke her neck. She was instantly dead.
“She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free. As she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her; and her body flopped like a fish, and then she lay still.”
Similarly, Rebecca caused suffering in The Ostler when, she appeared in Isaac’s dream and tried to kill him. They meet in real life and soon get married, but Rebecca’s behaviour changes drastically for the worse. She becomes a drunkard and is not very kind towards Isaac. Rebecca then goes and buys a knife and tries to kill Isaac. She fails.
“She drew the knife out to the foot of the bed; stopped there for a moment looking at him; then came in – with no sound following the stealthy footfalls – came onto the right side of the bed where he now lay. As she approached, she raised the knife again. She struck, right into the mattress, with a deliberate, perpendicularly – downward of the arm. Missing Isaac as he moved swiftly and quickly.”
Then Isaac decides to move away. He cannot sleep at night as Isaac thinks that Rebecca may come back and kill him. And this shows that how a woman, all innocent to begin with, can cause so much suffering in a mans life.
In a good story, the ending is very important. I both books the endings are ambiguous. An ambiguous ending is when the author stops writing at a certain point. Then it is up to the reader to imagine what they think is going to happen.
“He pulled the trigger… Slim said ‘ you hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.’ He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway.
Curley and Carlson looked after them. And Carlson said, ‘Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”
By comparing the two books, I have understood that even though there is a large time difference between the publishing of the two books, the writing styles have not changed much and there are many similarities. I have highlighted the differences between the two books.
