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A book report, "In Cold Blood
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Inequality in the Presence of the Dream
Inequality is as dear to the American heart as liberty itself. - William Dean Howells
This quote holds true for both works of Of Mice and Men and In Cold Blood. Of Mice and Men is novella written by American author John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men is a tragic fiction that takes place in the 1930s in Soledad, California. The story follows two migrant workers George Milton and Lennie Smalls and their quest to make a living during the 1930’s Great Depression. The next novel In Cold Blood is a true crime novel written by Truman Capote. The novel tells of the murder of the four members of the Clutter family and the killers who did it. Capote reconstructs the murder, the capture, the trial, and the execution of the killers. Though both novels tell of tragedy and despair, Capote and Steinbeck still have an underlying message. Both novels speak of the faultiness of the American dream. Therefore, the literary works Of Mice and Men and In Cold Blood both argue the American dream is a dream that many hope to achieve and very few accomplish due to the enormous amount of inequality; however, John Steinbeck of Of Mice and Men does a more effective job of arguing this theme.
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definition, the American dream is theorized by the idea that all people can succeed through hard work, and thus, all people can have the potential to live happy and successful lives. However, the American dream can never be truly achieved due to the fact that inequality still exists in everyday society. Both authors of In Cold Blood and Of Mice and Men mainly focus on the inequality of the American Dream. Capote in In Cold Blood believes in the inequality of the American dream. Capote shows evidence of this dream when he describes the Clutter family in the town of Holcomb, Kansas. In the novel, the Clutters are described as the perfect family. Mr. Clutter is described as a good father and honorable man on page 6 (Capote). The clutter kids Nancy and Kenyon Clutter are described as perfect smart children as well. Nancy is said to be “the town’s darling” (Capote 7). Kenyon is described as an intelligent student. The Clutters also own a nice home with a good amount of land. All in all, the Clutters seem like a financially in shape perfect family. There are other families discussed in the novel, but they are not praised and highly thought of like the Clutter family. The Clutters are also located in the town of Holcomb, by description, seems like an isolated town. Since the Clutters are treated like royalty in their society, they are obviously a symbol of the American dream. Capote from the beginning of the novel puts the Clutter family on such a high pedestal and makes their surroundings beneath them. So when the Clutters are murdered, it is literally killing the American dream. Capote being anti-American dream makes the Clutters being a perfect, rich, and powerful family and the American dream a sin and must be purged from society. The social-economic imbalance from the rich and powerful to the poor and less powerful. The American dream’s inequality is one of the major reasons why Capote shows a disliking to the dream himself since he was affected by the dream’s inequality by being an openly gay man. Capote also shows the American’s dream inequality when he describes the murders of the Clutter family. When Capote describes Dick Hickock and Perry Smith’s background, he is very empathetic about the men’s past. Capote describes Perry’s childhood as Perry being an abandoned and neglected child who never received desperately wanted schooling. He also describes Dick as not having the best life either. Dick is said to have been in a car accident resulting in a negative change in his behavior (Capote 292). Capote’s description of the men makes the readers feel very sympathetic for them even though they are murders. Capote even makes the reader question whether the men’s life could have turned out better, if not for their background and their life experiences. Capote wants the audience to see that achieving the American dream is not that easy, especially if life circumstances make it hard to achieve. Capote makes the American dream look like a lottery. Some are fortunate enough to win the lottery and become like the Clutters while others are not fortunate enough to win the lottery and become murders. Capote sees this socio-economic imbalance, and therefore, strongly pushes this idea in his beautifully written true-crime novel. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck argues the American Dream is hard to achieve in the presence of inequality.
Steinbeck proves this point through the description of his characters. Steinbeck, in the beginning of the novel, focuses on Lennie. Lennie is one of the main characters of the novel and is often picked because he is mentally disabled. On page 62, Lennie is seen being bullied by another rancher who dislikes Lennie for no apparent reason (Steinbeck). Lennie is working at the ranch to hopefully make a better living for himself, but he is beaten brutally. Steinbeck uses Lennie, a mentally disabled person, to show that no matter who a person is, there are always going to be societal obstacles along the way stopping a person from pursuing their
happiness. Steinbeck further argues the American dream’s inequality when he describes the other minor characters in the novel. Candy is an old ranch hand. After hearing about the Lennie and George’s dream to own a farm, he offers to pay the majority of the price only leaving a small price left. In exchange, Candy could live and help on the farm. Candy knows since he is getting older that his use at the ranch would be no longer needed. Candy sees evidence of this on page 45 when the other workers on the farm want to put down his dog for being old and of no use (Steinbeck). So, Candy’s dream of living on a farm and helping Lennie and George by being their ranch hand would signify that he is still useful. Steinbeck uses Candy, an old worker, to show the restrictions a person might have for just being old. Candy may be a good worker and still very useful, even though he is old, but the attitude the ranchmen have towards the old, stops Candy from continuously pursuing his dream. Crooks shares the same dream Lennie, George, and Candy has of owning a farm. Crooks is a black stable hand and works in the stable with the animals. Crooks is the only black worker on the farm, and he is aware of the prejudice he receives due to his skin color. Because of the prejudice, Crooks is to live in the stable alone by himself. When Crooks is told about the dream farm, he is pleased and immediately starts imagining a life on the farm. However when Curley’s wife comes by, she crushes Crooks dream and reminds him of his limitations of being a black person and how inferior he is to even her, a woman. Steinbeck uses Crooks, an African-American worker, to show if a person does not meet the qualifications of race, he or she is restricted from pursuing their dream. Curley’s wife has dreams and ambitious too. She wanted to be an actress, but her dreams did not take off. This results in Curly’s wife marrying Curley, even though, she does not like him very much. Curly’s wife even goes down a list of things that she could of done if she had an ability to follow her dreams on page 86 (Capote). However since Curley’s wife is a woman, she did not have a lot of options and opportunities to do as she pleased. Instead of pursuing her dreams as an actress, she had to pick a life of stability which consisted of marrying Curley. Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to show how women were limited in their decisions. This results in women being restricted from being able to pursue their dream. By examining both works of literature In Cold Blood and Of Mice and Men, it is apparent that Steinbeck did a more effective job of describing the inequality involved in pursuing the American dream. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck makes his characters and their situations universal. Steinbeck achieves this by using characters of different demographic backgrounds. Steinbeck uses a mentally disabled person, an old man, a black person, and a woman to show how minority groups are restricted in pursuing their American dream. He displays how each character has the rugs pulled out from underneath them, as they come to terms with their status in their society. For example when Crooks was conversing with Lennie and Candy about the farm on page 78, Crooks spoke freely and felt like a regular human being (Steinbeck). However when Curley’s wife started reminding Crooks of his societal circumstances, Crooks lost his happiness and felt the restrictions put on him for being a black man. On page 78, the novel says, he “seemed to grow smaller” in response to Curley’s wife comments (Steinbeck). Steinbeck sees these social issues and is not afraid to call them out even when equality for minority groups was not popular at the time. By Steinbeck using characters such as Crooks, Curley’s wife, Lennie, and Candy, it makes his novel more relatable, and thus more universal. Steinbeck’s style of writing also makes his novel effective. Steinbeck’s style is descriptive, yet simple. This can be seen when he describes his characters and the setting of the novel on page 3(Steinbeck). Steinbeck’s use of diction also shows that he has an understanding of his setting and of his time period. For example, instead of Steinbeck using proper grammar for his character’s speech, Steinbeck uses western 1930’s slang. By doing so, Steinbeck truly embodies how a person who may have lived in the time of the Great Depression may have spoken and may have behaved. Capote is also effective when describing the inequality of the American dream in his novel In Cold Blood. However, Steinbeck provides more case studies of the inequality of the American dream happening making Steinbeck more effective, and his novel more relatable. In conclusion, both works of Of Mice and Men and In Cold Blood show the inequality involved when pursuing the American dream, and the difficulty it is to achieve it. Even though, Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was more effective in displaying the themes. Both works allow the audience to pull a lesson and a meaning from the two different stories.
Lennie Small, a mentally impaired man, is first introduced to us traveling with George. George, however, is not related to Lennie. Lennie travels with George because no one else understands him like he does. Lennie says, “Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie believes if George ever left him that he could live in a cave by himself and not bother anyone again (Steinbeck 12). Lennie realizes he would be alone without George, but he never has known anyone else to depend on but George, and from that, they have a bond, a friendship. This shows Lennie’s need for his relationship with George.
Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. The story is about these two men, George and Lennie, and they find work at this ranch. Within a few days, Lennie, a tall bulky man with the brain of a young child, gets in trouble, making his traveling buddy, George, do the unthinkable. George shoots Lennie to make his death a more "joyous" one than the one he would've received from Curley, the man that wanted to kill him the most. It was right for George to shoot Lennie because Lennie died suddenly, was thinking about the dream, and was shot by a friend.
At the beginning, the author describes his movement using a metaphor, as Lennie “[drags] his feet… the way a bear drags his paws” (p.2), to show that he is much alike a bear physically. In addition, Steinbeck uses a simile to emphasize Lennie’s animal-like behaviour, as he “[drinks] wit long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (p.3). By comparing his physical and behavioural characteristics, this can foreshadow that the author implies that Lennie is seen as more animal than human because of his metal disabilities. George further makes it evident when he infers that “somebody [would] shoot [him] for a coyote if [he] was by [himself]” (p.12). This shows that people are scared of him and his unpredictable, animal-like behaviour because of the lack of understanding about mental health during the early 1900s. Furthermore, this can be the foundation for the theme where the lack of communication and understanding with the mentally disabled can lead to dire and tragic
The theme that John Steinbeck amits from the novel Of Mice and Men is not everyone’s american dream can come true because one wants it to. This alludes to a famous poem by Robert Burns called “To a Mouse”. The theme of this poem is the greatest schemes of mice and men often go astray. Meaning that things do not always go as one plans it to. The novel is set in the Great Depression (1929-1939) in Southern California (near Soledad). Characters in the novel such as George and Crooks have obstacles that hold them back from achieving their own american dreams. George is held back from his by having to care of Lennie, who cannot take care of himself. Crooks is held back from his american dream because of his skin color.
What Steinbeck does so well is to show people's struggle for simple human decency in the face of meanness and ignorance. He toes a fine line, but there is no romance or pity in his work. He loves his characters, warts and all, as an author must. He shows those who polite society might find wretched and despicable to have real humanity. The bums and whores of Cannery Row. The lost imbecile of Of Mice and Men.
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 perspectives of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredible strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story. Also, his thinking pattern is rather awkward or odd for someone of his age because what keeps him concentrated is this depiction of a farm where they will ¨tend the rabbits..build up a fire in the stove¨ (Steinbeck 14) which makes him mentally ill. When something is said to him about animals, he would instantly recognise with this desire, but for everything else, he is pretty much a useless man but other people who were willing to listen like Slim and Crooks who get to know him understood that he is if anything vulnerable which is what many characters were even
These devices are incorporated into the journey of two companions working their way towards a dream. Steinbeck uses symbolism to complement his words to depict a higher meaning. As experienced readers will discover, the relationship between the intelligent, but small and weaker George Milton and the mentally handicapped, but large and stronger Lennie Small is symbolic. Even Lennie expresses this relationship “because I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you, and that's why” (14) .This suggests that they are not alone-they have each other. While George complains in the first chapter that he does not know why he keeps Lennie around, George argues "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail"(11), he later explains the importance of Lennie's friendship -:“I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't' have no fun. After a long time, they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time” (41). Although he is often irritated with Lennie, The reader can infer George stays with Lennie out of his promise to Lennie's aunt or the reader could look deeper and understand George cares about Lennie and that, meaning in life depends on upon sharing. This idea is central to Steinbeck's theme of brotherhood and how men are better if they are not alienated because, if alienated, they become mean and cruel out of their fear of vulnerability. The strength to oppress others originates of weakness, Steinbeck tells his readers. Most importantly for both George and Lennie, Lennie is the keeper of the dream. Without the child-like Lennie there is no dream of a ranch and rabbits and "livin' off the fat of the land." It is for Lennie's sake that George repeats the dream of them owning land. At first George does not really believe that this dream will come to fruition. But, with his childlike friend's
The American Dream is a dream that everyone imagines to be picture perfect. The American Dream means having freedom, equality and opportunity’s to achieve the dream that you conceptualize to be right by you. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck did not want to just illustrate the American dream as being easy, but he wanted to point out the American Dream as being difficult too. Steinbeck made a work of art by composing a great novel to make the reader understand that life can be difficult and at times dreams are hard to achieve. Of Mice and Men was written and based on the settings of the Great Depression (Anderson). The Great Depression was a very dire time that left multiple of people despondent and the unavailing to move on with their lives. The Great Depression created a world where everyone had to seek and survive for themselves. In the novel Steinbeck wanted to explore and point out how powerless people where during the time of the Great Depression. Steinbeck purposely incorporated his characters to depict the life struggle of what people go through during grim times. In the novel, Steinbeck illustrated a great set of characters Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses handicaps, hardships, and friendships of the characters.
One of John Steinbeck’s most famous works tells the tale of the continuing troubles of George and Lennie, two opposite personalities who form an unexpected relationship. The book takes place on a southern farm in the 1930’s where the two friends plan to save enough money to buy their dream—a piece of land for themselves. In the story, there are several characters with “disabilities,” both physical and figurative in the meaning of the word. Lennie is an ignorant, overweight gentleman, Crooks is black in a predominately white environment, Candy is crippled due to an accident on the farm, and Curly’s wife is accused of being overly provocative. Curly, the boss’ son, often quarantines his wife in their home because he wants to keep her his own; she is a very attractive young female on a farm with mostly male workers. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the characters in Chapter 4 are brought together in Crook’s room by the fact that they are all outcasts, but instead of taking the opportunity to become friends, they begin to take advantage of each other’s handicaps and hurl insults at one another.
Strengths and Weaknesses play a huge roll within the story. Steinbeck explores different types of strength and weakness throughout the novel. As the novel begins, Steinbeck shows how Lennie possesses physical strength beyond his control, as when he cannot help killing the mouse. Great physical strength is valuable in George and Lennie's circumstances. Curley, as a symbol of authority on the ranch and a champion boxer, makes this clear immediately by using his brutish strength and violent temper to intimidate those who look down on him. Lennie means no harm at all. The reason why George and Lennie had to leave in the beginning of the novel was because it was believed that Lennie attempted to rape a woman there. Rape was not the case at all, when Lennie expressed his love for the touch of soft things, such as a dress or a mouse, this panicked the woman causing a chain reaction, and causing Lennie panic also. When Lennie accidentally kills the mouse, it foreshadows the future of Lennie and Curley's wife.
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
Lennie's greatest difficulty seems to be remembering; and it is the lack of the ability to remember that ultimately leads to his tragedy at the end of the book. In the novel, Steinbeck seems to reinforce Lennie's characteristics of strength, kindness, childlike manner, and somewhat animal-like personality. In this paper, I will focus on these characteristics. Strength Even though Lennie's last name is Small, he is, physically, just the opposite: a large man with great strength. This strength is represented numerous times throughout the novel.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men portrays the
The book of mice and men is a fiction written by john Steinbeck (1902-1968). John Steinbeck writes mainly short stories and novels, he was born in Salinas California, which is the same area where the book of mice and men is set. He is became widely known thanks to his peace: tequila flat. Steinbeck's novels have themes of social criticism in them, a lot about the economic problems in rural labor. Good examples of books written by John Steinbeck: dubious battle (1936), of mice and men (1937), the long valley (1938) and east of Eden (1952).
He clearly calls for women and the disabled to be treated and cared for better, as well as to be understood for their differences. He demonstrates through Curley’s bitterness that the selfishness of the elite is disadvantageous to the elite themselves. He also sends a clear message that pain inflicted onto one person or group of people can make them want to inflict pain back, a clear warning to the perpetrators of this pain onto minorities and the poor during this era. This is evident when Crooks jealousy says to Lennie, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain 't wanted in my room” (Steinbeck, 68). Lennie’s response of confusion emphasises that hatred and bitterness is not pure, since Lennie in many ways has the mind of a pure child. In the time since The Great Depression, African Americans, women, and the disabled have all gained greater rights and, in most cases, the general public has learned to accept these people as the equals they truly