More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay about the life of john steinbeck
Economic impacts of the great depression
Topics and themes of John Steinbeck's works
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
During the 1930’s, around 200,000 people fled to California to escape poverty. Now just imagine how crowded that must have been. Finding jobs at this time was very difficult, and those that could be found did not pay very well. George and Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men are a couple of those poor people. They had a dream to own their own land, where they can raise crops, and not work underneath anybody else. Unfortunately, being ranch workers, this dream is just too great to be true. This conflict of this story is caused by a couple of different factors, and it is obvious that the protagonists have many gains and losses from it. In Of Mice and Men, there are two main identifiable causes of George and Lennie’s conflict. The first one is that Lennie is not bright, so he causes harm without even meaning to. Lennie is like a hyper dog playing with a small kitten, even though he does not mean to hurt anyone, he still does sometimes. This is shown when he kills one of Slim’s pups (Steinbeck pg 62). The other cause of this conflict is that George and Lennie can not earn all of the money that they need. The farm that George has in …show more content…
One of their greatest gains is that Lennie learns from his mistakes, and his memory seems to be always getting better. One example of this is when Lennie remembers to go to the wooded area by the creek, if he ever gets in trouble (Steinbeck pg 72). This helps George quickly find Lennie after he accidentally kills Curley’s wife. Another more grim gain is that George gains his freedom. Some people might say that Lennie was a burden to George, but now he has nothing holding him back. Even though it is clear that Lennie is George’s best, maybe only friend, George still did complain about how exhausting it is to take care of him. Throughout the conflict, these are some of the only things that the protagonists
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the trouble in weed and George explains “Well he saw a girl in a red dress and a red dress and he just wanted to feel it and when he touched it the girl just starts yelling and all he can think to do is hold on” ( Steinbeck 41). The quote states or explains how Lennie can scare or harm people.
Lennie is depicted in a very childlike manner throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Accordingly, he acts in a manner that is persistent with a child in that his motivations precisely lead to his actions. He does not act in a pure sense of dishonesty, reflective of the purity that is peculiar to someone who is like a kid at heart.
What truly led up to this, and how would the story have gone differently if George had not killed Lennie? As aforementioned, they lived in the Great Depression, a time where achieving the American Dream was almost impossible to do, especially with all the farms being lost in Oklahoma. Most of the character's perspective of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredibly strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story.
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
George taking care of Lennie affects his life in many ways, for the better and for the worst. Lennie's memory effects his actions because he repeats some things that he forgets that he has done in the past. Lennie’s disability is misinterpreted by others because they see him as more of a burden than a good addition to society, because of his mental disability. But other people may not think about his disability like that, they might think he’s crazy in general. Lennie’s disability affects the way he thinks because it changes what he believes, what things cause him to worry, and what things cause him to
A coon dog and a tick, an oak tree with moss on the north side, a termite and its internal bacteria, and a shark with tiny fish that eat the extra meat chunks in between the teeth all have one thing in common: symbiosis. Defined as the interdependence of organisms, symbiosis is the basis of the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One type of symbiosis helps both parties while another type involves one organism being hurt by the exchange. The dog is hurt by the tick while the termites and the bacteria benefit from each other’s presence. These types of symbiosis can occur in humans and are evident in “Of Mice and Men.” Both types of symbiosis exist between George and Lennie in the novel.
The beginning , or near beginning of "Of Mice and Men" , starts at a
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
The characteristics of mice are simple and feebleminded. A mouse is helpless, timid and oblivious. Few characters in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men possess such characteristics. Throughout the novel, Lennie exhibits the qualities associated with mice.
At first Lennie can benefit George by being a second set of hands working at the ranch with him, he would’ve given over whatever stake he made there to George due to his blind obedience. Once Lennie kills Curley’s wife he loses the possibility to finish his work on the ranch and collect his stake for George, so George kills Lennie instead of running away and helping Lennie. Throughout the novel George does not benefit Lennie, he only contributes to his poor mental state, Page 10 Lennie says that he always killed the mice he pet “because they was so little”. George only offers to get him larger animals to fix this problem instead of trying to get Lennie to control himself, as a result Lennie blames whatever he kills for their own death instead of recognizing that he is at fault for their killing, this is proven page 85 when Lennie says to his dead dog “Why do you got to get killed? You ain't so little as mice”.
George wanted to be alone, away from Lennie because he could earn a lot more money without worrying about Lennie. George wants Lennie gone so he could live life without getting into so much trouble like Lennie does. When Lennie gets into trouble then they both get into trouble. George needed Lennie gone in general weather he had to kill him or
In the Salinas River Valley, after the Great Depression, there were a large number of unemployed workers seeking jobs. In the fiction novel "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is among one of those men. Lennie and his friend George both have just received jobs on a ranch as farm workers. What brings the two together is their dream to someday own their own land. Lennie has a lot of character and personality traits that define him. One trait that he has is he is very forgetful. Another trait he has is he is very curious. A final trait he has is that he is very reliant. Although he might not be the intelligent person in the book, he has a very well developed personality. Lennie demonstrates his personality and character traits throughout the novel.
Doing careless things can lead to the downfall of an individual. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie does careless and thoughtless acts that lead to the downfall of himself and others around him. The careless actions of Lennie were apparent through Lennie and the pups, Lennie and Curley’s wife, and Lennie and George.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.