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Color Red In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck. This novella shows a lot of emotion through the pages and gives the reader a lot of emotion in just about 100 pages. It gives anger to the reader, can be offensive at times, and the book shows a lot of power characters have over others. This is why I chose the color red. The color red best represents the novella Of Mice and Men because red portrays emotions such as offense, power and anger.

First, the color red can portray offense. There are many quotes in this novella that can appear to be offensive to readers. One example is "This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?" (Steinbeck 39). Many people find the n-word offensive because of the history behind the word. Should it be removed from the book because it is offensive, or should they keep it because it’s part of the classic’s history?

Second, the color red can portray anger. This novella gives the reader anger and characters anger. One example from the book is "So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bastard!" "I forgot," Lennie said softly.” (Steinbeck 14). This quote can give the reader anger because of how rude George is to Lennie. This quote also gives George anger because he is yelling at Lennie. …show more content…
This novella gives George more power over Lennie because Lennie is mentally challenged, while George takes advantage of Lennie and expects him to do things. One example from the book showing power is “Lennie said gently, "George… I ain’t got mine. I musta lost it." He looked down at the ground in despair. "You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of ‘em here. Think I’d let you carry your own work card?" (Steinbeck 22). This quote shows how George has power over Lennie because he has to take Lennie’s belongings so Lennie won't lose them, and he takes advantage of that power by calling Lennie

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