...Prior to writing the book, Steinbeck took a “four week journey from Bakersfield to Needles in which he lived and worked with Depression migrants.”(Reuben, Paul P) During World War I, wheat prices were high so most farmers plowed the grassland and planted dry land wheat as “bushel of wheat sold for $1 in 1929.”(The Farmers Plight) Because of over production, wheat dropped to “$.30 cents in 1932” and farmers were not prepared for the phenomenon of the Dust Bowl. (The Farmers Plight) Steinbeck’s novel begins by detailing the dust bowl that hit Oklahoma, "Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes."(Steinbeck pg. 3) Drought and soil erosion brought on by over farming turned the agricultural land of the Great Plains into a giant dust bowl during the 1930’s. The once rich grassland turned into a giant dust bowl during the 1930’s “due to drought and soil erosion brought on by over farming” (Divine, APP). Herman Goertzen, a Midwestern farmer experienced one of the most devastating storms first hand, “It was like a black wall that went over that area, south of us, there. It went through and it was just like shutting a barn door.”(Goetzen) He states, “The iron guard bit into the house corner, crumbled the wall and wrenched the little house from its foundations so that it fell sideways, crushed like a...
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...Analyzing the Theme of Of Mice and Men Keith Everitt English III March 11, 2015 Biography John Steinbeck John Steinbeck is one of the most well-known authors of the modern era. He has many works that are at least basically known of by almost all Americans. He is one America’s most iconic writers from the 20th century. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He was the son of a county treasurer and a schoolteacher. At the beginning of his life, the only kind of work that he knew was working with ranches in the Salinas Valley and the Monterey coast. When he was through with high school he went on to study at Stanford University. He was not much of a college guy though. After he was through with that he had many different little jobs. Until, finally he published his first novel in 1935 called Tortilla Flat. After Tortilla Flat, he began to build a successful career out of his writing. He published a best-selling novel in 1937, Of Mice and Men, a story about poor ranch hands in California. He had great sympathy for the “Okies”, migrant farmers from Oklahoma, which led to him writing The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath became a best seller and it won him a Pulitzer Prize. This novel is ultimately what launched him to the level of fame he had. Not all of his works take place in California though. Some of his other famous works are The Moon Is Down, taking place in a Nazi controlled Scandinavian village, The Pearl, dealing...
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...Guadalupe Dominguez June 3, 2011 Humanities 303 Mrs. Nyhan Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a book that told the ultimate demonstration of love George had for Lennie. The first instant that George demonstrated that he cared for Lennie was when he asked Lennie to give him the mouse he had pulled out of the river. When Lennie gave George the mouse he began to cry so George said “Aw, Lennie!” “George put his hand on Lennie’s shoulder” (Of Mice and Men). “I ain’t taking it away just for meanness” (Of Mice and Men). “That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie; and beside, you’ve broke it petting it” (Of Mice and Men). Here George demonstrated he cared about Lennie’s feelings. He wanted Lennie to understand that he was not taking the mouse from him just because he didn’t want him to have it; it was because it was died and he could get sick. George showed compassion toward Lennie when George places his hand on Lennie’s should as a way to comfort Lennie because the mouse was taken away from him. Another instant when George demonstrated he cared about Lennie was when Lennie got in trouble for the first time in Weed. Lennie said “jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress---jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse---Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress?” (Of Mice and Men). Because Lennie grab this girl’s dress and wouldn’t let go he got accused of raping this girl. Since, no one was going to believe Lennie didn’t do anything...
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...Loneliness and Alienation The feeling of ‘loneliness and alienation’ is the most terrible emptiness of life. The Short story, “The Chrysanthemums” by John Stein back is about the woman protagonist Elisa Allen. In addition, in a single stanza haiku” The Strange Beautiful Woman” by Marylyn Nelson, is the poem about the woman in the mirror. Both women have intensive desire of the fulfillment in their life and struggling in their inadequate world to overcome the feeling of Loneliness and Alienation. “The Chrysanthemums” is a story of a Woman’s proud and emotion. Elisa is a strong woman who feels frustrated with her present life. Her frustration stems from not having a child and from her husband’s failure to admire her romantically as a woman. The garden of chrysanthemums is the only outlet to relive her frustration. Steinbeck symbolizes the chrysanthemums as Elisa’s children. She handles her garden and tends the chrysanthemums with love and care, as she would nurture her own kids as a protective mother. She places a wired fence around her flowers; She assures “no aphids, no snow bugs, or snails or cutworms” are there. Her terrier finger destroys such pests before they can get started” (228). Elisa‘s ability to grow such flowers reinforces the fact that the flowers are the replacement of her children. Feminism in Nelson’s point of view, “A strange beautiful woman” at a first glance, seems innocent which does not let her accept her identity. Nelson introduces...
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...(2-3 min) • What are the parts of the critical lens essay? (5-10 min) o Label the parts of the introduction (REAL) o Make a list of the parts of the body paragraphs • Be ready to share out your findings. (2-3 min) “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.” -Anne Frank Anne Frank said, “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.” This means that even if people do bad things, deep down they are still good people that care for other human beings and have feelings. I agree with this statement. In the novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck and the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the characters Kino and Gene are still good at heart despite the bad things they may have done. In the novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino is a young Mexican man who finds a valuable pearl. Before finding the pearl, Kino has a peaceful life with his wife, Juana and his son, Coyotito. Kino finds a pearl and people try to take advantage of him to get their hands on the pearl. Because of this, Kino is driven to do things he normally would not and the mood of the story turns dark. He beats a man who tries to attack him, he beats his wife for trying to get rid of the pearl and the bad luck it is causing Kino’s family and finally, he kills a man who tries to take the pearl away from him. This story is told from a third person point of view that allows the reader to get to...
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...Of Mice And Men In the masterful story Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck there is a looming theme of loneliness. This theme is told to you through the words and actions of the characters in the story . This story is told through two characters Lennie and George. The setting is 1930’s America. The story involves traveling ranch workers that live only for the one purpose to get paid and waste their money on a few drinks and some pleasure. These men are consumed with loneliness. The care for nothing but themselves. They are very unlike George and Lennie who have each other and a dream. Lennie is a big man with the brain of a child. Lennie never meant to hurt anybody but managed to get himself and his only true friend George into trouble. George is a small smart man who has known Lennie all his life and knows to well that Lennie could not survive on his own lets him travel with him as a favor too Lennie’s aunt Loneliness is defined as Without companions; lone. I will use this definition to describe different aspects of Steinbeck’s treatment of loneliness in this novel. Steinbeck’s use of loneliness is in this novel is very noticeable in some of the dialogue like when Lennie accidentally stumbles into Crook’s home in the stable and they talk. "You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go to the bunk-house and play rummy ‘cause you was black...
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...her husband and their home. But as you read on, Steinbeck uses symbols that give deeper insight to Elisa, her marriage, and her feelings. It is realized that there is more to Elisa than initially thought. Elisa is sexually repressed and held captive by a male dominated society that thinks of women as nothing more than mothers and housekeepers. The first significant symbol is the discussion of the weather. Steinbeck describes the winter fog, and how it sits over the valley like a lid on a pot (para 1). This can be seen as a metaphor to describe Elisa feeling trapped in her boring life. There is the mention of the sun shining around the area, on the fields nearby, but no sun in the valley where Elisa lives. The sun is generally associated with warmth and happiness. The fact that it is not present in Elisa’s environment symbolizes that she isn’t happy. The most obvious of symbols is the chrysanthemums. The chrysanthemums are representation of Elisa’s being. She is isolated in the valley; there are no neighbors to speak of. Her husband, his ranch-hand and their dogs are the only people around. She takes pride in her chrysanthemums. This is obvious in the way she cares for them. She is meticulous in the way she trims each plant, killing any creature that may do them harm and prevent their growth. Even though Elisa gets immense pleasure from her flowers, they are still not enough to contain her nature. This is reflected when Steinbeck says “even her work with the scissors was over-eager...
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...07/10/12 Karla Roman Ms karigian “of mice and men” book summary The novel opens with two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, walking to a nearby ranch where harvesting jobs are available. George, the smaller man, leads the way and makes the decisions for Lennie, a mentally handicapped giant. They stop at a stream for the evening, deciding to go to the ranch in the morning. Lennie, who loves to pet anything soft, has a dead mouse in his pocket. George takes the mouse away from Lennie and reminds him of the trouble Lennie got into in the last town they were in — he touched a girl's soft dress. George then reminds Lennie not to speak to anyone in the morning when they get to the ranch and cautions Lennie to return to this place by the river if anything bad happens at the ranch. When he has to take the dead mouse away from Lennie a second time, George chafes at the hardship of taking care of Lennie. After calming his anger, George relents and promises Lennie they will try to find him a puppy; then he tells Lennie about their dream of having a little farm where they can be their own boss and nobody can tell them what to do, where Lennie will tend their rabbits, and where they will "live off the fatta the lan'." Lennie has heard this story so often he can repeat it by heart. And George emphasizes that this dream and their relationship make them different from other guys who don't have anyone or a place of their own. They settle down and sleep for the night. The...
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...“Of Mice and Men” “Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is the shocking story of two friends, George and Lennie, who have nothing but each other and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own and no longer have to wander round the country in search of work. The direction in which the story is heading becomes clear as it draws to a close. When George kills Lennie because he believes he must take responsibility for him. “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied, he pulled the trigger.” George realizes that he must be the one that kills Lennie and not the other ranch men. In the same way that Candy should have taken the responsibility for his dog, George believes that he must take responsibility for Lennie. He must have realized that even if they were to run away again, Lennie would get into trouble and they would have to run away again. It really must have killed George inside when he saw Lennie lying dead at his feet. He and Lennie were portrayed as having been together a long time. Now George is on his own and no different from any of the other ranch men , he no longer dreamed of having a house of his own, that dream died when Curley’s wife was found lying in the hay. George tells Lennie how different they are compared to the other ranchers. “Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They...
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...Michael Emminger Ms. Wanczuk English 9 Honors Period 3 11/21/13 Character Analysis Essay A time of sickness, bankruptcy, and underground liquor runs; the 1930’s were a devastating time in which our protagonists lived. Of Mice and Men is a classic book by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, this tale shows the adventures of two poor men, George and Lennie, who are suffering in the Great Depression. The book goes through a portion of their life through different places and roads. Lennie, I believe, is the most interesting character. Lennie shows his strengths and flaws from Of Mice and Men by having a big heart but bigger hands, helping keep George sane, and accidentally killing animals and people. Lennie has extraordinary physical strength, but his mind does not have that type of power. His head and heart did not know what to do when Curley started punching him and: “he was too frightened to defend himself… Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand” (69). Lennie’s brain could not comprehend the events developing around him and his body initially shut off in the process. If it was not for George yelling at him to fight back Lennie could have been really hurt. Some might say fighting is wrong all together, but if it is not possible to walk away from it then it is important to defend yourself. Even though it took him a while to be convinced to hit Curly...
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...conquer the 'American Dream'. Steinbeck incorporate s many themes such as loneliness, dreams and friendship as well as the characterisation of Lennie, Curley's wife and Crooks to place the reader back into the depression era so that we can feel the differences of the past and present which allows the us to see the world differently. Steinbeck perceives loneliness as a longing or desire of friendship or companionship. Characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife demonstrate loneliness in the novella. Their desperation for someone to talk to is clearly evident through Crooks as he whines about 'A guy needs somebody to be with them' and 'A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody'. As a reader Steinbeck incorporates Crooks as the character that shows that it is tough being alone and juxtaposes it to the tight friendship of Lennie and George to let the reader know and understand the true feeling of loneliness. Curley's wife also expresses her longing to talk to someone when she blurts out 'Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?'. The guys on the ranch don’t understand Curley's personality or mentality due to her flirtatious behaviour which leads to the guys trying to stay away from her which puts Curley's wife in a lonely situation. Steinbeck shows the audience that being lonely is hard and explores loneliness throughout the novella so everyone can see the world differently. Steinbeck cleverly illustrates the recurrent...
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...Explore the ways in which characters are isolated or lonely on the ranch. John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ portrays several characters as isolated or lonely whilst living on a ranch. By portraying the characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ lonely, loneliness would affect their personalities such as how they think and how they behave giving more reasons to think they are all somewhat isolated even though they all live in a large group. In Crooks case, loneliness has made him a very bitter individual; he is treated differently compared to the other workers on the ranch mainly because of his race but also because of his low status job. Other workers can’t relate to him unless he is working because he is black. Crooks emotions are displayed towards the audience when he has a conversation with Lennie in his room, he talks about how he has no one to talk to and no one to relate to, and he talks to Lennie about George and says “S’pose you didn’t have nobody S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cuase you was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him” this may suggest that Crooks doesn’t have anyone to have a general conversation with whether or not it was an animal, family or friend. He mentions this to Lennie to give him the idea of what it is like to feel isolated and have no one to talk to. He tells Lennie this based on his own experience and by having no one talking to him and treating him differently eventually making him feel lonely, which was the inevitable...
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...Steinbeck creates sympathy in Of Mice and Men. Discuss in relation to one character Of Mice and Men is a novella set on a ranch in the Northern western state of California written by Californian novelist John Steinbeck and then published in the late 1930’s. Set in the time of The Great Depression and The nationwide effective Wall Street Crash the book features characters all around who have depressing lives but focusing in on two paradoxical characters that are always juxtaposed to one another. Steinbeck has placed us with two characters that we are able to connect with, being able to sympathise with their dilemmas and problems as the two being long-time companions with a strong relationship but also being a priority to George as he must look after Lennie seeing as he has a mental dis-order. George Milton & Lennie Small being the two ranch workers who always find themselves fleeing from town to town, ranch to ranch; never being able to settle down they find themselves moving up northwest after Lennie gets himself into a bit of trouble back in their previous location Weed. As of after he winds up in a situation where he saw a red dress of a nice fabric that he had liked and decided to grab, this frightening the woman and resulting in her screaming rape and leaving Lennie and George with no other option but to run away as he too would have faced the death penalty as being an accomplice of Lennie. Steinbeck describes George as the more complex character(Quote) for the reader...
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...In The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, the narrator explains how a social issue affected the Joad family. The realistic novel mimics life and offers social commentary too. It presents many windows on real life in Midwest America in the 1930s. Throughout the 1930s, America was trapped in the worst economic era ever—The Great Depression. The Joad family is struggling to find salvation during this tough time period. Because of this, they must travel from Oklahoma to California in order to start a new life. The Great Depression affected everyone in the United States, some people worse than others. Steinbeck uses several different strategies to interpret the social issue during this time period. By using the literary techniques of setting, tone/mood, and dialogue/language, Steinbeck composes a creative commentary on the Great Depression and how it affected the lives of Americans. One way Steinbeck produces creative commentary is through the use of different settings. The setting is where the story takes place, and in this story, the setting shifts several times as the family travels across the country to California. The story opens with an illustrious description of the setting. Through the description, “A day went by and the wind increased, steady, unbroken by the gusts. The dust from the roads fluffed up and spread out and fell on the weeds beside the fields, and fell into the fields a little way…” (Steinbeck 2), it reveals a horrible event. It sends the Joads and other tenant...
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...M. Loeffler Regents Prep 11. English 11 In The Histories of Herodotus, Herodotus states that “…men are at the mercy of events and cannot control them.” There are two novels that I have read that this quote applies to. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two migrant farm workers, George and Lenny, who get into trouble due to the fact that Lenny is slow minded and huge in physical stature. The other novel that comes to mind is Night by Elieser Wiesel. In this novel, Elie is part of the deportation to Nazi concentration camps during World War II. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses characterization to portray the characters and help the reader get to know them. In this book, Lenny is a very large man but is mentally handicapped. George, his friend since childhood, takes Lenny under his wing and tries to keep him out of trouble while still saving up money for their dream. The two men’s dream consist of buying a little farm house far away from everybody while having animals and “living off the land.” This dream is almost within reach until Lenny makes a life changing mistake and accidentally kills his boss’s daughter in-law by strangling her trying to keep her quiet. Then, all of the farm hands are sent out in a search party to find Lenny. George finds Lenny first and ends up shooting him in the back of the head while Lenny is in the middle of a day dream so that...
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