Of Mice and Men

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Craig Fryer

English

John Steinbeck – Of Mice and Men

For my coursework, I am going to write about how John Steinbeck, Announces and presents the two characters George and Lennie in the book; Of Mice and Men; and how the relationships between the characters make the story as good as it is.

Steinbeck uses a high definition of detail to introduce the two men, George and Lennie: by using similes, personification and metaphors; he gives a large imagery effect of what the people look like (George and Lennie).

‘Small, quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features.’

 

By using informative text like this you get the idea if someone is small they are generally about 5ft tall he hasn’t been able to wash for a while due to dark of face (or this fellow hasn’t been a rich person and has worked all his life), with sharp strong features must mean he has been working, maybe as a labourer or a outlaw. The second figure

‘a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely’. 

The second fellows description gives me the idea he is slightly retarded; the way his arms do not swing and the way he uses features of a bear – I find it that bears haves docile features, e.g. the use of there paws and the expression on the faces. He is also the follower.

Steinbeck puts it across that the large person has no perception of danger; the way he flung down his blankets and drank from the surface of the green pool. Then the small fellow starts shouting his name,

‘Lennie! Don’t drink so much’

; hinting he has awareness that they maybe danger with the pool being green. The way he drinks from the pool also gives the impression that he is slightly retard long gulps, snorting, and like a horse all strong descriptive words, makes the reader think hand on what is the guy a animal or a human? He gives him animal (inhuman) qualities.

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Steinbeck puts Lennie across as a child making his splashes of rings across the pool and George the leader. And again when Lennie goes to take a sip from water he is giving him the characteristics of a animal

‘dipping his large paw into the water’

 George is put across to have a strong bond with Lennie helping each other is the key to the story.

The link between the characters is they are together in the early 1900’s men didn’t generally go around together them days, it was everyone for themselves with the American dream ...

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