Themes Surrounding The Title Of "Of Mice And Men"

Of Mice And Men Title: In this presentation I will talk about the title "Of Mice And Men", and the significance of various themes incorporated into the story in relation to how they associate to the title, such as the subject of Lennie's treatment of the mouse in the beginning, and how the animalistic deaths that transpire throughout the novel could be seen as an admonition to later events, in which Lennie is killed by George and conclude by answering if the title is effective in indicating the themes that are prominent in the novel. The title of the novel "Of Mice and Men" is an intertextual reference as it is a quotation from a poem written by Robert Burns, in which he speaks of a homeless mouse which is in fear following the destruction of its house. A quotation from the poem, "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" means that everything, no matter how well deliberated or considered, is questionable to failure. Steinbeck took the title of the novel from this quote, as the two pieces of text are easily comparable in their matters, as in the novel, Lennie and George's plan to find a little place, how they wanted their dream, and yet it never materialized. On Page 7, George makes the discovery that Lennie is carrying a dead mouse in his pocket. Lennie wanted to keep the mouse because he loves to pet small, soft things. Sadly, such is his brute strength,

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How does John Steinbeck use animals to structure the novel 'Of Mice and Men'?

How does John Steinbeck use animals to structure the novel 'Of Mice and Men'? Animals are used throughout John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" to structure the novel in a way that constantly foreshadows towards the climax at the end of the story. The way in which Lennie kills a mouse before they have reached the ranch, gives the reader an idea of his brute strength, and Steinbeck reinforces this with the fact that Lennie kills a small puppy as well. The American dream in the novel is for Lennie and George to own their own farm, and Lennie only wants this so he can have 'plenty rabbits'. The first mouse encountered in the story is a dead one. Lennie has kept it in his pocket 'to pet', and soon kills it as he does not know his own strength. Steinbeck is already using animals to foreshadow the rest of the novel, as Lennie is comfortable with death but he is so kinaesthetic that he continues to pet the dead mouse. Mice are obviously a source of comfort for Lennie, and he holds connotations of mice with Aunt Clara. The book is based around the fact that George and Lennie are only temporarily working at the ranch until they have enough money to own some land where they could work 'maybe six, seven hours a day' and 'live off the fatta the land'. Steinbeck structures the novel around this simple dream and allow others to join such as Candy. Steinbeck increases the severity of the

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What do the first four paragraphs of Chapter 4 in Of Mice and Men tell us about Crooks?

What do the first four paragraphs tell us about the character of Crooks? In the first four paragraphs of chapter four, we already know how lonely and broken, physically and mentally Crooks is. Yet, he is clever and proud. Crooks is a very lonely man, which we can see from the fact that his bunk is separated from the other workers', as shown in "Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room." He is isolated from the other workers because he is a black, and the only black, therefore is not considered important enough to have a living space separated from the working space, and this isolation takes away his chances of communicating to the other workers, which results in his loneliness. In the fourth paragraph, we know that it is Saturday night and sound of moving horses and feet stirring can be heard. We can understand from these that all other ranch workers had left for town, but Crooks is segregated and could not go with them. He can only stay in his bunk, which tells us that he is not accepted in the society. The imagery "a small electric globe threw a meager yellow light" also highlighted his loneliness, for the contrary between the dim, still light inside the barn and the lively noises in the dark outside created a sense of abandonment. The use of word "small" and "meager" also suggests that he is insignificant to the other workers. His loneliness can

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The Slave's dream

'The Slave's dream', written in 1842 by the white man H. W. Longfellow, tells of the final dream of a black slave before his death. It is set on a plantation in America where the slave has stopped in the middle of a day's work, giving up hope of freedom in life, believing only in freedom by death. 'I, too' was written later than 'The Slave's Dream by Langston Hughes. It is about the hope for equality of a black servant after the abolishment of slavery in America. Written during the abolitionism movement, 'The Slave's Dream' helps to raise awareness of the immoral injustices black people had to face. This reflects the mood of the era as people at this time were trying to change the public's opinion of slavery and get it abolished. As the most important people at this time were whites, Longfellow must have used the colour of his skin to get people to listen to his point of view through his poems. H. W. Longfellow uses this poem to show that black people had lives before slavery, but that the white race had taken them away. The type of life that followed the taking of black people's freedom is reflected in the poem's rhyme scheme and stanza patterns. The poem has a very rigid structure. The rhyme scheme is regular and the lengths of lines have a repetitive pattern. The poet has conformed to such a rigid way of writing poetry, as a slave in America would have to conform to their

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Conflict is often shown throughout the novella of 'Of Mice and Men'. Usually, it is a result of the strain that the Great Depression placed on the people who lived through it.

Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is set in America during the years of the Great Depression. The depression, that was caused by the Wall Street Crash 1929, left people without a job or house. People had barely enough money to afford necessities such as, food, water and clothes. The pressures of the Great Depression led to many different forms of conflict. Steinbeck shows a variety of these conflicts throughout the novella. One form of conflict shown in the novella is Jealousy. The fact that Lennie is a 'huge man', results in Curley's jealousy towards Lennie. While describing Curley, Slim says, 'He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he aint a big guy'. This foreshadows the fight between Curley and Lennie in which Lennie crushes Curley's hand. The adjective 'mad' connotes the irrationality of Curley's simmering anger. Curley's covetousness towards Lennie's size represents that the world of Dust bowl America was a harsh and unforgiving place, where physical strength was especially valuable. The adjective 'mad' has specific connotations which is why, Steinbeck chooses to use 'mad' rather than a word such as, angry to maybe suggest that Curley is slightly insane for picking fights with men considerably bigger and most likely stronger than him. 'Mad' also means that Curley is simply angry towards taller men because he envies them.

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How does Steinbeck present the character of Crooks in the novel 'Of Mice and Men'?

How does Steinbeck present the character of Crooks in the novel 'Of Mice and Men'? Within the time period of the 1930's, many non-white people kept themselves isolated from others and stayed out of trouble, to avoid the risk of being lynched. Segregation, isolation and racism was a normal lifestyle led by those who were black; one of the characters that embodies this theme in the novel is the character of Crooks. Other themes of the novel are the American Dream; which is never achieved by any of the characters, this suggests that Steinbeck believed that the dream was unbelievable. This is the same belief which Crooks has. Friendship is another important theme, as the reader sees the desperation Crooks has for friendship and the affect of loneliness has had on him. Steinbeck set the novel in Soledad, California, 1930's during the Great Depression. This is an ironic setting because the term 'Soledad' means isolation and loneliness in Spanish, reflecting the life led by Crooks. Also the reader follows the protagonists Lennie and George as they struggle financially. In addition unemployment rates were high and pension rates decreased; making life hard especially for the middle class. Many men left their families and travelled across the country to find work and support their families. But life was harder for black men as they were seen as savage animals and were not wanted;

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Of Mice And Men

Of Mice And Men John Steinbeck uses animal imagery to express and introduce characters, events and themes in 'Of Mice and Men.' Steinbeck also uses nature, to convey events and settings in a subtle way. In section one of 'Of mice and Men' Steinbeck uses various colours to help the reader visualise the clearing as a tranquil and peaceful place. By describing the Salinas River as 'deep and green' the reader instantly envisages the water to be refreshing, mysterious and untouched. In addition, Steinbeck suggests that the clearing is full of sunlight: 'The water is warm too, for it slipped twinkling over the yellow sands.' Yellow, in this context, is calming because the words 'warm' and 'twinkling' are used before it. Steinbeck also uses alliteration to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere: 'south of Soledad, the Salinas River.' The repetition on the soft's' sound is calming and subtle. Steinbeck repeats this technique: 'the water is warm too.' As with the's' sound, the soft 'w' is calming. In this setting of absolute calm and serenity, Lennie and George are introduced. Steinbeck uses extensive animal imagery to describe Lennie: 'dragging his feet in the way a bear drags his paws.' This gives the impression that Lennie is large and cumbersome. However, the main reason that Steinbeck uses this form of imagery in describing Lennie is to portray him as amoral and therefore

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The Outsider (Of Mice and Men)

The Outsider Of Mice and Men is a classic novel written by one of the world's most illustrious writers, John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck wrote a naturalistic novel which dealt with many powerful and universal themes including the value of dreams and goals, friendship and also "outsiders", which means individuals who do not fit into the mainstream of society. The novel also illustrates the significance of moral responsibility, the veracity of social injustice and also solitude. His novel "Of Mice and Men" is a story taking place around the 1930s during the Great Depression in California where the New York Wall Street stock market collapsed, and the rate of unemployment was very high. The great depression affected everyone, including both the rich and poor, industrial workers, farmers and so on. This novel however, portrays the life of two farmers, George Milton and Lennie Small. The themes of the novel are important because they depict human life in a remarkable and comprehensible way relating to the dreams and constant struggles faced in life. All the characters played in the novel "Of Mice and Men" are lonesome, living an empty life everyday consisting of mainly hard labor. The characters all live a very disheartening life, with the lack of happiness, love and affection in their lives. This can be seen also when George mentions that 'ranch workers are the loneliest people

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Impressions of Curely's Wife

Impressions of Curely's Wife John Steinbeck sees Curleys wife as 'nice girl' and not a 'floozy' however in the novel 'Of Mice and Men', Steinbeck introduces the character of Curley's wife; she could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel. In the novel Curley's wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch, the way she looks and acts lead others on the ranch to see her as a 'tart'. Additionally Curley might be the reason of Curley's wife behavior; Curley's wife is clearly lonely in the novel because Curley doesn't pay much attention to her. The lack of attention from Curley forces her to seek it elsewhere. She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. This essay will go on to look at the character of Curley's wife and how characters perceive her. When first introduced to Curley's wife in the novel she comes into the bunkhouse, when both Lennie and George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curly but she already knows that new men have arrived. Steinbeck gives a detailed description of her as she stands in the doorway of the bunkhouse and talks to Lennie and George. She is 'heavily made up', with red fingernails and wore a 'cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers'. This clearly shows that Curley's wife was wearing quite a lot of red. Wearing might

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Relationship between George and Lennie in Of Mice of Men

Discuss the Relationship between George and Lennie in the book "Mice of Men" The novel, "Of Mice of Men" portrays the deep relationship of George and Lennie. As the book progresses, the reader plunges deeper into their relationship. The curiosity of George and Lennie friendship is intriguing for the reader and is very thought-provoking for the reader as it very complex and full of twists and turns. Undoubtedly, George has come to like Lennie and feels a sense of duty and responsibility towards him. Lennie needs George, but it is equally true that George needs Lennie as well. George was also a harsh, mean and derogatory to Lennie, however, it is also very evident that George never left Lennie despite his life would have mean much easier without him. Lennie is George's hardship, but George loves him regardless. Since the death of Lennie's Aunt Clara, George took it upon himself to take responsibility of him and his special needs by finding him jobs, feeding him, and making sure he is safe. Their mutual dependence on one another is what keeps George and Lennie together. Lennie stays with George because he has no other option. His only family, his aunt, has passed away, and he has the mind of a very young child. He would not be able to survive on his own: it is because of George that he is able to find work, and it is George who ultimately cares for him. George stays with

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