How Steinbeck Sustains Interest in Of Mice and Men In 1937 John Ernest Steinbeck wrote 'Of Mice and men' the tragic story of two itinerant farm labourers yearning for a small farm of their own. Steinbeck makes the novel extremely entertaining by sustaining the reader's interest throughout by using several factors. Firstly, Steinbeck's characters are a key point in sustaining the reader's interest in the novel. The description of the characters is brilliantly descriptive; it makes the reader almost feel as though they know the characters. Leading to the reader caring to what happens to them, therefore increasing the passion for wanting to read on and learn of their fate. Lennie is introduced to us as big and animal like 'dabbled his big paw in the water' 'dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws' but most importantly as extremely strong and equally unaware of it, 'I'd pet 'em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead'. This is an important hint of what could happen as Lennie is so unaware of what he is doing he might do something a lot worse, therefore making the reader to want to find out what. George is an extremely quick-tempered man. He gets quite annoyed with Lennie forgetting things 'you're a crazy basterd' he is also quick tempered when he thinks Candy is listening to his conversation with Lennie. He is also quick to defend Lennie 'He ain't cuckoo' George's defensiveness and quick temper makes the reader feel worried of what he might get angry at and what he will do if he does. Candy is a friendly man, he is also extremely interesting he knows all the facts about everyone and loves to gossip. He gives the impression that he gossips to gain companionship from the over ranchhands. Because of Candy's knowledge of the other characters we get an insight into what they are like, even if it sometimes untrue. Candy describes curly's wife to George 'well, I think Curley's married…a tart' this
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
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.
Lennie is broken and incomplete in many ways. He has a mental disability which differentiates him from the others. He depends on George for everything and cannot do things on his own even though he is a grown man.
Lennie has always been told what to do by George. 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
John Steinbeck explores human experience in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ in friendship, loneliness and marginalisation. He does this through the characters as explained thought the paragraphs below.
Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But poor Lennie is an innocent person who means no harm to anybody. When he and Curley get into a fight Lennie is too shocked to do any thing. He tries to be innocent but, when told to by George grabs Curley’s fist and crushes it. George is Lennie’s best friend and Lennie does every thing he tells him to do as demonstrated in the fight with “But you tol...
The quote that inspired John Steinbeck was the best laid schemes often go off track can be seen in the novel of Mice and Men. When Curley's wife met a man in her childhood that offered her to be an actress but the chance went away and she later died. Then Curley wanted to be a professional boxer but the dream never happened and he became a farmer then got his hand broken for trying to be tough. George and Lennie were going to buy a farm to live off the fat of the land then Lennie had to get in trouble and George had to give up the dream and kill Lennie for what he had done.
Steinbeck uses the text Of Mice And Men to emphasise the importance of persistence in situations of struggle, however the main message sent forth by Steinbeck is mainly showing how persistence affects opinions and actions that span over time which is shown many times in the text. Such as when George and Lennie are conversing at the green lake on their way to the ranch and George begins to explain their dream which results in “... Lennie’s face broke into a delighted smile” (5). This shows how Persistence and adaptation can affect situations, because if George was made unable to adapt or remain persistent the conversation would have kept a more intense or serious tone instead of changing into a upbeat or happy conversation which results in Lennie
This is a novella written by John Steinbeck in 1937, about two men that lived during the depression. They were migrant workers, who wanted to buy a farm. ()
One of Lennie's many traits is his forgetfulness. He easily forgets what he is supposed to do, but he somehow never forgets what he is told. An example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he has the mice in his pocket and when he went to pet them they bit his finger. “Lennie picked up the dead mouse and looked at with a sad face. When they bit him he pinched them, and by doing that he crushed their heads” (page 5) . This is important because he knew that if he squeezed their heads they would die, but since he is forgetful, he squeezed anyway. Another example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he grabbed Curley's hand and crushed it. “ Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. Lennie squeezed on until George came running in shouting ‘let go’. The next moment Curley was on the ground wailing while he held his crushed hand” (page 64). This event is important because Lennie had held on, not knowing what to do next, until George told him what to do. A final exampl...
knows it makes Lennie happy and he wants Lennie's last thoughts to be of his
that he wants to tend. Lennie has been shot by George in the back of
Man needs companionship and has difficulty maintaining it because no humans think the exact same or have the exact same beliefs. To maintain a companion you must have things in common, you must be able to disagree with a sort of respectful understanding, and finally you must care legitimately about that person. These three requirements to preserve a companionship are at times arduous to keep true. Some people do not have the time, concern, or the ability to sustain a veritable friendship with a companion or companions.
There is only one way an author can get their readers to cry, laugh, and love or just enjoy their master pieces. That one way is through the uses of literary devices such as similes, metaphors and personification. These are the small things that brings the author`s thoughts and ideas alive. The author`s ability to use literary devices through the book helps in direct characterization and lets readers get a better understanding of Lennie and George, the two main characters Of Mice and Men. It also helps in keeping readers thinking on their feet and constantly questioning George and Lennie`s next move while in Salinas, California. John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice and Men, makes use of similes and foreshadowing to keep readers in touch with the characters and at the edge of their seats throughout the story.
As mentioned above, Lennie does not have very much control over his own life and behavior. His brutal actions are never intentional.