Discuss How Steinkbeck uses Two of his Characters to Explore the Role of Power in the Novel
Nicole Gooding 10e Discuss How Steinkbeck uses Two of his Characters to Explore the Role of Power in the Novel The two characters that I have chosen to examine for exploring the role of power in the novel are Slim and Curley. Slim is a highly skilled mule driver and the acknowledged "prince" of the ranch. Slim is both respected and admired by all of the men he works with. In the book it says that "Slim's opinion in law" and that "Slim don't need to wear no high-heeled boots" to say that he is superior over the others because that's how the men see him anyway. He is seen as the leader in the bunkhouse because his word is final, for example, Slim has the last word in the situation of whether to shoot Candy's dog or not. Unlike Curley, Slim is also kind and compassionate. He explains to Candy that it was cruel to keep his dog alive, suffering, and tries to console him by offering him a newborn puppy. Being the son of the owner of the ranch, Curley has considerable power over the men. Curley chooses to abuse the power he has rather than try to befriend those beneath him. The men know this and dislike him for it. Curley knows this and desperately wants more authority on the ranch. Curley wears high-heeled boots to show that he isn't a working man. Curley also married an attractive woman and as none of the other men are married this makes him feel that he is better than the
The death of Curley's wife and Lennie are shocking events. How convincing and predictable do you find the last two sections of the novel?
Chloë Baylis 5th December 1999 GCSE English Coursework Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck The death of Curley's wife and Lennie are shocking events. How convincing and predictable do you find the last two sections of the novel? The last two sections of the novel are what the whole story is leading up to - the death of a fellow human being (Curley's wife) caused by Lennie and then finally, the death of Lennie himself. These two events are both tragic but the killing of Lennie most probably would have been impossible to avoid, and therefore the reader believes it to be realistic. Quite soon into reading the book you could take an educated guess that Lennie would die at the end of the story. Lennie is childlike in some ways in his personality, for example, at the start of the story when he is madly drinking from the pool like an animal. He is unknowingly powerful and has a very short memory. When Curley's wife comes into the story it is also rather predictable and inevitable that Lennie would either scare, harm or kill her, by accident. We know this because you find out early on in the story that that an incident similar to this had already happened. George and Lennie are running away from Weed because Lennie had frightened a girl by touching her dress. There are other clues that are preparing us for the event of Curley's
From your characters point of view, what do you think of the events which happened and who do you feel to be responsible?
From your characters point of view, what do you think of the events which happened and who do you feel to be responsible? From the view of Curley: I knew that big Bastard was trouble as soon as I saw him in the office that first day they both arrived on the ranch. When I saw him turned away from me I knew what his sort was like, big guys who thought they owned the place jus' cos of their size. An' he didn't even answer my question, jus' stood there like a big lump staring at me. I knew they was gonna cause trouble. I heard from the other guys that Lennie was a good worker I give him that but he still was odd, never was with the guys always by himself, with George or with that damn pup that Slim gave him. Carlson always said he never said a word unless George was there or if he allowed it, stupid Bastard. I mean I heard things about guys like that who were big and smart but this guy, Lennie, was different altogether he was almost like a child I didn't know he was capable of mangling my hand, let alone kill my wife. But you never know looks can be different than what is genuine, you get to know these things when you see these bastards come work and then leave, you see it all the time. Since Lennie first come to the ranch I had a hunch, and when he did what he did to my hand I knew that he was not only mean but he was dangerous. I never told about my hand before, I know what
Tension in Of Mice and Men
Tension in Of Mice and Men The episode I am going to use to show how tension is created in "OF Mice and Men" is when Curley has a fight with Lennie. This section starts near the end of chapter three. It is obvious that somewhere within "Of Mice and Men" Lennie is going to have a confrontation with Curley because of the clues earlier in the book. For example when Lennie and George first meet Curley he is some what unwelcoming and confrontational, "He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists." This seems like Curley is preparing himself for a fight and certainly isn´t the way I would act when I first met someone unless I was highly intimidated by the person, which I think Curley is. After this we find out, from Candy, that Curley does not like big men, "Curley´s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys." Candy later says this is probably because he isn´t a "big guy" himself. He also says that Curley spends most of his time picking scraps with big guys. Yet again in chapter two George is warning Lennie to fight back if Curley starts anything, "You keep away from Curley...if the son-of-a-bitch socks you - let 'im have it." This shows that even George has realised that a confrontation is imminent, unfortunately Lennie is too dumb to understand what the danger is. This is a realistic reaction by
'The Pearl' by John Steinbeck.
THE PEARL 'The Pearl' by John Steinbeck begins in a brush hut by the sea where Kino lives with his wife Juana and his son Coyotito in absolute poverty. Although they live this poor life, Kino and Juana are very happy and desire no change in their life. At this point in the story they both have no ambitions and have a good family life. Because of this Kino hears the song of the family, "In Kino's head there was a song now, clear and soft, and if he had been able to speak of it, he would have called it the song of the family." Kino hears the song of the family when he is around his family living his simple, happy life. After Coyotito had been stung by the scorpion while lying in the hanging box where he slept and after the doctor had refused to cure him, Kino and Juana, with Coyotito in her arms, went out to sea in Kino's canoe for him to do his daily work as a pearl fisherman. This canoe was all that Kino owned. It had been passed from Kino's grandfather to Kino's father and so to Kino. Now because of the need for money to cure Coyotito, Kino and Juana both had a desire to find a pearl, "And because the need was great and the desire was great, the little secret melody of the pearl that might be was stronger this morning." This was the first time that Kino and Juana had ever desired anything. On that morning while out at sea, Kino found an oyster that contained a
An Analysis Of A Section Of The Film Of Mice And Men.
GCSE MEDIA UNIT Film Analysis-An Analysis Of A Section Of The Film Of Mice And Men The scene of Candy and his dog is one of the most moving and emotional scenes in the film as it portrays a mans love for his life time and loveable dog which he has raised since it was a little pup and the trauma when he must choose to end the life of his life time companion. The scene starts of with Candy walking in with his dog, which is focused on by the camera when the dog enters then the focus moves to Candy. The mood that Candy is in is shown as when Candy enters he first of all asks for a drink and this shows that he must have had a tiring day and that he needs a drink to calm him down. Then Carlson starts to talk about the dog and that it is getting old and it needs to be put out of its misery and at this time Candy is taking this as a joke and he thinks the same about what Carlson as he says things like " that dog is getting too old and is no use, it should be put out of his misery " and this shows that Candy wasn't taking any of it serious because he was no way going to let that happen to his dog. Then it begins to sound more serious as Carlson stands up and goes over to Candy and his dog and the camera angle at this point over shadows Candy giving the impression that Carlson has got total power control at this point and so do the lighting at this point as they go off focus off
Candy's Dog being shot dead
Candy's Dog being shot dead I believe that Candy's dog being shot dead is one of the most important parts of the novel and should definitely be included in a film version. In this scene Carlson starts moaning about how much Candy's old dog smells. He then suggests that Candy should shoot him and even offers to do it himself. But it is the things that Carlson says in order to justify himself that are important for the readers because it helps us to see why George decided to do what he did at the end of the book. For example, when Carlson says, "This old dog, just suffers hisself all the time," and "you aint been kind to him, keeping him alive," when he is trying to convince Candy that it is almost cruel to make him live life any longer. Carlson also describes how Candy could kill the dog in a quick, humane way. He says, "shoot him right in the back of the head - he'd never know what hit him." This is particularly important because George kills Lennie in this exact way. It is where he got the idea that 'mercy killing' was even an option. Slim is then asked to give his opinion and he agrees with Carlson saying, "That dog aint no good to himself." As Slim is the only person on the ranch to have natural authority, and his "opinions were law." Candy reluctantly agrees to let Carlson shoot his dog. If this scene was left out we would not understand why George would even
Curley's Wife
Discuss/ Write About the Significance of a Character of Your Choice: Curley's Wife Of Mice and Men is not kind in its portrayal of women. In fact, women are treated with contempt throughout the course of the novel. Steinbeck generally depicts women as troublemakers who bring ruin on men and drive them mad. Curley's wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress, seems to be a prime example of this destructive tendency-Curley's already bad temper has said to be only worsened since their wedding. Most of the ranch workers brand Curley's wife as a "tart". In fact she is portrayed as such whenever she appears, obviously playing up to and teasing the men. She is cruel to Crooks, Candy and Lennie in Crooks' room, and later on she tempts Lennie, letting him stroke her hair in the barn. She walks round the ranch dressed inappropriately and seductively. She admits to Lennie that she doesn't like her husband and regrets marrying him. She seems to be of limited intelligence, as she was taken in by other men's promises of film parts. She is frequently associated with the colour red, a colour symbolizing an impure woman, as well as one calculated to enrage a "bull" such as Lennie. It is partly her desire to be petted and admired and allow Lennie to stroke her hair, which in turn leads to her death at Lennie's hands. Throughout Steinbeck's novel, she is only ever known as "Curley's wife" who
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - The death of Curley's wife and Lennie are shocking events. How convincing and predictable do you find the last two sections of the novel?
GCSE English Coursework Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck The death of Curley's wife and Lennie are shocking events. How convincing and predictable do you find the last two sections of the novel? The last two sections of the novel are what the whole story is leading up to - the death of a fellow human being (Curley's wife) caused by Lennie and then finally, the death of Lennie himself. These two events are both tragic but the killing of Lennie most probably would have been impossible to avoid, and therefore the reader believes it to be realistic. Quite soon into reading the book you could take an educated guess that Lennie would die at the end of the story. Lennie is childlike in some ways in his personality, for example, at the start of the story when he is madly drinking from the pool like an animal. He is unknowingly powerful and has a very short memory. When Curley's wife comes into the story it is also rather predictable and inevitable that Lennie would either scare, harm or kill her, by accident. We know this because you find out early on in the story that that an incident similar to this had already happened. George and Lennie are running away from Weed because Lennie had frightened a girl by touching her dress. There are other clues that are preparing us for the event of Curley's wife's death. We know that Lennie cannot control his own strength. We learn this
Do you think that the ending to 'Of Mice and Men' is satisfactory?
Do you think that the ending to 'Of Mice and Men' is satisfactory? To make a decision on the satisfaction of the ending to this book it is necessary to look through the book and pinpoint aspects that affect then ending. One of the key characters in the book is Lennie. From the start of the book, the writer uses anthropomorphism to describe Lennie, "He dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers". This gives a great picture of the enormous strength that Lennie has. Although Lennie is really strong, he is gentle and a little mentally handicapped, he is just like a child. Lennie has a fascination with animals and soft things. In Weed Lennie was entranced by a little girls dress he then continues to feel the dress and stroke it. The little girls get really worried and then starts to scream as Lennie is simple minded he freezes up and just clings on to the dress. This raises alarm and he and George are forced to hide in a pool of water before they could run away at night. Lennie is a very strange person, not only is he very simple minded but he is also very complicated. He can be very gentle and then flare up with emotion. For example, after George threw his mouse away Lennie started to cry "Lennie's lip quivered and tears started in his eyes." Although he may be simple minded he very much possesses a conscience. After he has killed Curley's wife he