RELATIONSHIPS AND LONELINESS IN "OF MICE AND MEN"
RELATIONSHIPS AND LONELINESS IN "OF MICE AND MEN" The story "0f Mice and Men" was written by John Steinbeck and set in America in the late 1920's early 1930's, in California near Soledad. The story is based around migrant workers in California usually male with no roots a very solitary existence. Migrant workers life was hard. It was gruelling, challenging, and often unrewarding. Just as George and Lennie dream of a better life on their own farm, the other migrant farm workers dreamed of finding a better life in California. The state's mild climate promised a longer growing season and, with soil favourable to a wider range of crops. Very few found it to be the land of opportunity and land of plenty which they dreamed about. Steinbeck 's theme's within this story are loneliness and relationships, the migrant workers usually travel alone moving from job to job as season and circumstances dictated an almost thankless existence having no place to call their own or families to go home too. Most of the characters admit, at one time or another, to having a deep sense of loneliness and isolation. . George sets the tone for these confessions on page 15 "Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place." When he reminds Lennie that the life of a ranch hand is the loneliest of lives. Men like George
The importance of dreams in of mice and men
Describe the importance of dreams to different characters in "Of Mice and Men" In the novel "Of Mice and Men" dreams are very important to different characters. Dreams keep the migrant workers going, these dreams give the workers going and make them work harder in the belief that one day their dream will come true. George and Lennie's dream is the main dream in the novel, They dream of owning their own land, and being able to be their own boss, they want freedom and the ability to do what they want when they want. Lennie dreams of tending the rabbits and "Living of the fatta the lan'". Candy the old crippled farm hand joins their dream and he gives money to help buy the land, This fuels the dream and makes them believe it more, Candy needs this dream to give his monotonous life some hope. Other characters have dreams as well, Curley's Wife dreams of becoming an actress, he has this dream to distract her from the hardships of being the only woman on the farm and the reality of the man she has married. George and Lennie's dream is a version of the American Dream, A dream of being successful and being your own boss, it was an escape from the unfulfilling life that they lead this was a dream that many migrant farm workers had, This novel was set at the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The Dust bowl affected farming as the series of terrible droughts in the south
Of Mice and Men is as much a commentary on the lives of migrant workers and the society of the time as it is about Lennie and George. Discuss!!
Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men is as much a commentary on the lives of migrant workers and the society of the time as it is about Lennie and George. Discuss!! The novel 'Of Mice and Men' based in the 1930s during The Great Depression revolves around the thought of 'The American Dream'. Life during the Great Depression was very harsh and difficult for the American workers as they had to travel long distances to find suitable jobs. The author John Steinbeck describes the lives of two migrant workers travelling together in search for work. The American dream was the belief in freedom that allows American citizens to pursue their goals in life through hard work and bravery, this was seen to be the main factor that motivated most of the migrant workers to continue to find jobs and later on fulfil their own dream and live a happier life. In the book 'Of Mice and Men' Steinbeck has made the ranch a micro representation of the society of the time because it contains all the elements of society. George and Lennie's only hope was to move around the country to achieve their dream due to The Great Depression, the dream was a typical American dream where there is a large piece of land with a small house and many different farm animals, throughout their travel George would usually use the their dream to control Lennie's actions and behaviour. 'Say's I can't tend no rabbits if I talk
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores many cultural and social issues during the era of the great depression.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores many cultural and social issues during the era of the great depression. Of Mice and Men is a novel about two migrant workers and their dreams which never become true. In this text the learning experience for the reader is that, dreams are unattainable and hard to accomplish. Steinbeck utilises character archetypes to demonstrate the injustice the marginalised suffer in society. The reader incorporates from this novel that the marginalised in society have dreams which never come true. George and Lennie are two itinerant workers who have a dream to be, "living of the fatta the lan", and to be independent. Candy was also involved in the dream to buy land as was Crooks. At first Crooks disregarded it but then he became allured by this dream. All these characters could now see their dream getting closer until Lennie, accidently kills Curley's wife. A question brought up by Candy shows his uncertainty of achieving their dream, "You an' me can get that little place, can't we, George? Can't we?" Even though these characters put in effort to save up money, to be able to buy land, they were unable to achieve their dream because of the lack of opportunities available for the marginalised in society. The author foreshadows their dream as he gave away slight hints earlier in the novel which hinted to the readers that the characters
Curleys Wife: Miss Dynamite or lonely victim?
Curley's Wife: Miss Dynamite or lonely victim? Throughout the book Steinbeck changes Curley's wife in different ways. He makes the reader feel hatred, sympathy, annoyance and love for Curley's wife. These different interpretations create an unusual feel for this character. It is difficult to pinpoint one particular character that she is, as our opinions change regularly in the book. Since the beginning of the book Curley's wife has come across very confident, lustful and bold. She puts on a confident, troubling image to start but as the book progresses she slowly reveals the lonely, apprehensive woman she really is. This image gets her in to a lot of trouble and makes her come across bad. She isn't liked by the farm-workers, and they treat her very badly. At the start of the book George refers to her as 'Jesus, what a tramp' and '...no piece of jail bait worse than her,' these comments show how she comes across to the new characters and how little respect she has on the farm. The hierarchy on the farm is one of the main problems through the book. It causes jealously, rivalry and trouble. Curley's wife status on the farm is right at the bottom. I feel that throughout the book she's always thriving to reach some sort of status or level within the community on the farm. I think this because in the book when she asks what happened to Curley's hand and they don't tell her she
Comparison of "of mice & men" film to the novel.
Comparison of "of mice & men" film to the novel "Of Mice and Men" was written by the author John Steinbeck and published in England in 1937. It tells the story of two very contrasting characters trying to live out the American dream in the farming lands of North California. " A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green". The novel starts with a description of the location George and Lennie are staying the night, "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". This quote tells us that the mood is very quiet and peaceful. Steinbeck uses a great deal of description including metaphors and similes to describe the landscape around him. These give us a clear vivid picture of the natural world surrounding the characters. This technique is used in the first and last scenes in the forest near the river. This scene is remembered the most clearly as its placed at the two crucial points where readers will be reading every word in detail to gain a good understanding of the book. The film adaptation of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" opens with scenes of a woman in a red dress, running through fields in desperate escape from some undefined terror. Her flight frames the movie, as though she is running, headlong, into the nameless dread of
Communication in Of Mice And Men
In Of Mice and Men characters rarely communicate in a straightforward fashion and rely on gestures. They find it hard to express their feelings and can't talk to others about it. Nobody is related to each other so don't communicate much, except for George and Lennie. The best communication is between George and Lennie, because Lennie listens to what George says. They understand each other and get on well because they have good communication. Even though George and Lennie have the best communication in the whole book, George still doesn't tell Lennie some things. George tells Lennie off lots of times and tells him that he would be living a better life without him, but in fact he actually likes Lennie a lot but doesn't tell him. To keep Lennie happy he tells stories about rabbits, which shows that he actually loves Lennie, so matter how much he scolds him. Curley's wife doesn't tell the other men in the ranch that she is lonely, but flirts with them. She can't tell the others that she is in a loveless marriage and can't socialise, because there's no more women in the ranch. Instead she just comes into the bunkhouse and talks to the men and she can't bear her lonely soul to the men around her and they think she is a mere woman. When Carlson was telling Candy to kill his old dog and put him out of his misery, Candy made excuses and changed the subject, because he loved his
Foreshadowing is the essential part of Steinbecks style in Of Mice and Men
"Foreshadowing is the essential part of Steinbeck's style in 'Of Mice and Men' " Steinbeck, in my opinion, has one of the most unique styles of writing which is not only effective but also inspirational. The fact that he puts the whole plot and the ending right in front of us (at the beginning, in every section and even in the name) and we don't recognise it easily is truly fascinating. Hints of the 'grand finale' could be found nearly everywhere in the novella. In the beginning of the play we learn that Lennie likes to pet soft things. He starts off by petting a mouse and then petting a puppy, of which he kills both as a result of his unrecognised brutal strength. The puppy was all innocent and fragile and Curley's wife was seen in the same way which foreshadows the killing of Curley's wife. The idea of Curley's wife knowing the history of Lennie with pets and his blindness about the strength he possesses and still allowing him to stroke her hair was particularly considered peculiar by me. The only way I managed to justify this was that perhaps she was unaware of the dangers at that particular time as she was too caught up in the moment of perhaps she wanted to be rid of her depressive and oppressive life. Perhaps she was just fed up of her failure of her dreams and living a life of such misery that she thought of death to be the only way out and maybe death by the hands
Explore the relationship between George and Lennie in Chapters 1-3 with relevant comparisons.
Explore the relationship between George and Lennie in Chapters 1-3 with relevant comparisons. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men deals with the plight of migrant labourers in California during the Great Depression, with the focus on two random migrant workers, George and Lennie. The first chapter sharply establishes the relationship between the two primary characters. George is a realist who must care for the simple child-like Lennie. George consistently reprimands and gets angry with Lennie for his actions, while Lennie strives to please George. We see this in the scene by the pool where Lennie imitates and copies George's every move. Their relationship can be immediately compared to a father-son relationship. The arguments between the two characters reveal a great deal about each of them. George is careful and controlled; he formulates a plan for every situation and acts to prevent any bad occurrences. His careful planning comes from past experience; Steinbeck implies that Lennie has placed George into so many precarious situations that he must now consider every possible tragedy that might occur. "Well, look Lennie - if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush" Although George and Lennie are similar in age, George acts as a parental figure. He guides Lennie through almost every situation, supplying
Explore the ways Steinbeck presents relationship between the characters in "Of mice and men".
Essay On Of Mice and Men The relationship that Steinbeck presents between George and Lennie is quite turbulent but to an extent, the relationship is founded on love and trust. George in various occasions is seen as being a parent, saviour and an ambassador for Lennie. Due to, Lennie’s mental immaturity he is totally reliant on George and places his trust in George. As George has the intellectual capacity to think and to find a job on the ranch for himself and Lennie, George doesn’t have to have Lennie as a companion especially as account of Lennie that George loses his job, as he clearly states in chapter one, “God you’re a lot of trouble... I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail.” Here when George is reprimanding Lennie he later resents his anger, which shows that, George has dreams and hopes as well as Lennie this might suggest that, George chides Lennie out of love as a parent would do. Also further in the novella ‘in a panic Lennie looked at George for help.’ Lennie automatically looked for George for help and reassurance as George is his saviour. This is typical of what a child would do when they feel threatened. However George needs Lennie for companionship. As he admits to Slim when discussing their unique relationship. ‘It’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know.’ George doesn’t mind coming across as
