Of Mice and Men and The Pearl: Characterization
What is depth, and what does it mean? Depth is the extent, the intensity,
depth is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth.
Steinbeck and Characterization
What is depth, and what does it mean? Depth is the extent, the intensity, depth
is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, a story of two traveling laborers
who are on their way to a job loading barley at a California ranch. The two most
important characters in the novel are George Milton and Lennie Small. They are
ordinary workmen, moving from town to town and job to job, but they symbolize
much more than that. Their names give us our first hints about them. One of
Steinbeck's favorite books when he was growing up was Paradise Lost by John
Milton. In this long poem, Milton describes the beginnings of evil in the world.
He tells of Lucifer's fall from heaven and the creation of hell. He also
describes Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. By giving George
the last name of Milton, Steinbeck seems to be showing that he is an example of
fallen man, someone who is doomed to loneliness and who wants to return to the
Garden of Eden. Perhaps this is why George is always talking about having his
own place and living "off the fat of the land," as Adam and Eve did before their
fall. Lennie is anything but small physically. He is a big man who is often
described with animal images. In the opening scene of the book his hands are
called paws and he snorts like a horse (Steinbeck, Mice 3). Yet Lennie is small
on brains and on responsibility. Someone has always taken care of Lennie and
done his thinking and talking for him. First his Aunt Clara looked after him,
and now George does. He is like a child, a term George uses several times in
describing Lennie to Slim.
Cultures can be considered positive or negative. One example of a negative culture would be street gangs. A street gang may be defined as a group of people who form an allegiance for a common purpose and who engages in criminal activity. Street gangs are also considered an illegal culture. All gangs share common characteristics such as a group name, style of dress, claim to a geographic location, and also associate together on regular bases (Walker). Also, many images of members suggest the use of illegal drugs and al...
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF THE CHARACTERS IN OF MICE AND MEN CAN BE SEEN AS
Driscoll, S., & Konczal, E. (2009). Social Security: Guide to Critical Analysis. Points of View:
A man with a child-like mind can not get far in life. Other characters recognize that Lennie is a child. Lennie has many limitations to live the American Dream, and acting like a child is one of them. On page nine in “ Of Mice and Men”, George takes away Lennie's dead mouse and Lennie begins to cry. “ “ Blubberin’ like a baby!”” (9). Lennie is called a baby because in George’s eyes, a grown man should not cry. With Lennie, he is not like every other average man. When a kid has a role model they try to act as that person. Lennie's role model is George. He will not only imitate George but he will obey him as well. Lennies imitation of George begins on page four when they
Social Security first came about in August 14, 1935 signed by President Franklin Roosevelt it was designed to put money into a fund so that elderly people who have been productive citizens could have a form of income to survive and not have to work their entire life or rely on someone to provide for them. Although this was good at first and did not ...
...ig concepts, such as equality before the law, but he also did what would benefit his country. It is important to understand that since France had just exited a revolution, it was pretty fragile; one big mistake and France might have ended up in another one. Napoleon was not only a child of both the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, he was also a very intelligent person. His cunning and his wits led him to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest enlightened despot of all time.
Social Security is a public program designed to provide income and services to individuals in the event of retirement, sickness, disability, death, or unemployment. In the United States, the word social security refers to the programs established in 1935 under the Social Security Act. Societies throughout history have devised ways to support people who cannot support themselves. In 1937 the government began issuing Social Security identification cards to all citizens. Each card had a unique number that the government used to keep track of a person’s earnings and the taxes collected from those earnings that went to finance Social Security benefits. The Social Security Act is an act in which taxes would be deducted from workers earnings to finance both old age benefits and unemployment compensation. The government began collecting Social Security taxes in 1937 and putting them in a trust fund. It was a fund that the government could use to pay benefits, cover administrative costs, and invest in securities to earn interest.
It stated heavier taxes on the wealthy, new way of controlling banks and public utilities, and a huge work relief program for those people who were unemployed. Social Security has been around for so long, but now people under the age of sixty-five think it will go bankrupt before they retire, according to a new CNN/TIME poll, and most of them do not think they will be able to save enough on their own. Only thirty-one percent say that the system is currently in a crisis; majority just feels that there are problems but not a crisis. The way you feel about Social Security is based totally on what age you are. People over fifty seem to think the system is fair while others feel it is not. In the Industrial Age, a Defined Benefit pension plan meant that the company guaranteed you, the worker, and a defined amount of money for as long as you lived. This made people feel secure because these plans assured a stead...
that he wants to tend. Lennie has been shot by George in the back of
...arly successes and his military brilliance classifies him as a hero in this sense. His political reign was also one of debate. Although he awarded many rights, he challenged them with other restrictions. Overall, France was stable following the horrid Reign of Terror but it also awarded more rights than in the old regime. Finally, the social aspect of France could prove Bonaparte to be either heroic or tyrannical as well. Many social changes transgressed during his reign. For instance, there was an increase in education and an end to feudalism, however Napoleon ruled the imperial catechism and was emperor for life. Overall the social changes were an improvement from the old regime, therefore classifying his as a hero for his time period. Overall, Napoleon was a hero in all three aspects of French life, although there were many aspects which were tyrannical as well.
Throughout the novel, Steinbeck associates Lennie with animal movements, and reveals Lennie’s love of dogs. In the first chapter of the story Lennie is described to us in an odd way. “Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked
John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a social commentary on the reality of life in the 1930s. During the Great Depression many people were left unemployed and homeless. Due to this, the concept of the American Dream became even more idealized. Steinbeck uses characters and events that take place in the novella to display his views not only towards the American Dream but also the social ills of the era.
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features” and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
The birth of the social security program started as a measurement to implement “social insurance” during the great depression of the 1930s, when the New York stock exchange crash in 1929 America then slipped into economic depression with unemployment exceeded 25% so president Roosevelt’s sign the social security act to help the poverty rates among the senior citizen which exceeded 50%, since then social security has became increasingly controversial.