...ohn Steinbeck presents the relationship between George and Lennie by using different techniques and devices in the first chapter. Their relationship is shown in different ways through âOf Mice and Menâ, and is such, that George is protective and makes decisions to prevent Lennie coming to harm. Also, Steinbeckâs presentation of relationship between the two men changes through the novella as they attempt to fulfil their dream-The American Dream. The first paragraph focussing on the two men (page 4) describes as one being a leader, and the other a follower. âThey had walked single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other.â Immediately, Steinbeck portrays the essence of George and Lennieâs relationship through the quote, that this relationship had a hierarchy; it was a leader and follower relationship, with one guiding the other. In the quote, one of the main words is âsingle fileâ, which suggests that George and Lennie are both children, because a group of children normally walk in a single file line. Furthermore, children always have dreams, which George and Lennie have-The American Dream, which is ironic because they are built and strong men acting like children. Another word which is important in the quotation is âopenâ, because we can infer from that word that Lennie chooses to walk behind George instead of beside, even though he has the choice. This can be because Lennie takes George to be the carer or the person who will guide Lennie to their...
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...Explore the way the writer presents the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” Of Mice and Men was written in the 1937 by John Steinbeck, he other well know books as the Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, h also received a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. This book is set in the 1930s and set in California, his home region. During this time, the USA was suffering from a great depression, this meant that it was hard to find job because the economy was very weak, so to find job the men were disposed to go anywhere and the bosses would exploit their workers. The itinerant ranch workers where very lonely people because they had to move from place to place and tis meant that they could set up a stable life with a wife and children. Another reason that suggests to us that they are lonely is that at the end of each month they take their money and they go to “cat house”. The character of George and Lennie are very unusual and contrasting, this is because they have a strong relationship between them and they also have a dream, a dream of buying a house and some land to become independent and to life together for the rest of their lives. But the reader knows from the beginning that this will not happen and it will have a tragic end, and this is suggested in the title “Of Mice and Men” that comes from a from Robert Burns poem “The best laid schemes o’mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley” and it means: the best laid schemes of mice and men/ often go awry. As soon as the...
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...major motif of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is the American dream and the drive to attain it. The life of a ranch hand is grim, yet the characters in the novel are still vulnerable to dreams of a better life. The dream of owning land, called the American dream by some, is what motivates George and Lennie in their work on the ranch. It is their friendship that sustains this dream and makes it possible. While the dreams are credible to the reader, in the end all dreams are crushed, and the characters are defeated by their circumstances. The characters in Of Mice and Men have very little to look forward to as migrant ranch hands. They travel from ranch to ranch with all of their possessions in a bundle, looking for work for fifty dollars a month, and that work does not usually last very long. If a man is a good worker, he might be kept on at the ranch indefinitely and wind up as Candy does, old and crippled, just waiting until he is no longer useful. George explains the despair of a ranch hand to Lennie: Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to. (Steinbeck 13-14) Despite their destitute state, many of the characters in Of Mice and Men are prone to dream. George and Lennie...
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...Which significant Cultural Issues evolve during the course of the novel? Give Specific Reference to the themes present in the text. "Of mice and men", by John Steinbeck is a classic novella with containing pages filled with awe-inspiring literature, that has brought smiles as well as tears to all of its readers. There are several cultural issues that Steinbeck incorporates into this text, using effective techniques and a very articulate writing style to make this novella one to be remembered long after the final pages have been read. The main cultural issues that evolve through the course of the novel include racism, alienation and the constantly evolving issue of hope. The main cultural issue that evolve during the course of the novella is discrimination and prejudice. There are three main people in the novella who are discriminated against in this text. They include Curley's wife, Lennie and Crooks. Crooks is an American African and because of his skin colour he is constantly discriminated against throughout the novella. As Lennie enters Cooks' room for the first time, he becomes very defensive as he says, "You got no right to come in my room. This here is my room. Nobody got any right in here but me". Lennie, as innocent as he is, does not know about racism and does not, through the entire novella understand or use racism against Crooks. Lennie, who does not know of racism, "smiled at helplessly in an attempt to make friends". Crooks realises that Lennie is mentally...
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...The Teachings of John Steinbeck, Through the Novel Of Mice and Men During the 19th and 20th century, modernism was introduced. Modernism was a movement that sought to break ties with the classical and traditional ways of life. Many Authors during this time moved away from the American lifestyle and even the country. John Steinbeck was no exception to this movement. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the author uses a simplistic writing style to present the two characters “American Dreams”, while also using symbolism to connect the reader to the characters and the plot of the story. Throughout the book there are many symbols, and each symbol has a story to be told and a lesson to be learned. Candy’s dog for example, represents everyone who...
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...How does Steinbeck’s writing make this such a powerful and revealing moment in the novel? Steinbeck makes this passage such a powerful and revealing moment in the novel as it highlights main of the themes throughout the book, the main theme being friendship. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways. Steinbeck makes this such a powerful and revealing moment in the novel as it is the first time Curley is introduced and meets Lennie. Curley's character is described in a very wealthy style, convincing the reader that he does not live the life of a ranch hand. This is presented in the first line when Steinbeck presents Curley as a “young man”. On its own, this connotes naivety, as though he is fresh to the job, lacking experience and altogether slightly out of place compared to the other ranch workers. The extract continues, to portray him differently as “like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots”. At this moment Steinbeck makes the reader feel as if Curley is...
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...Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Exam style practice questions for AQA GCSE English Literature Teaching notes The following questions are designed to meet the assessment objectives for Of Mice and Men for GCSE English Literature Unit 1, Section B: Exploring cultures. Where we have created practice questions, they follow a similar structure and wording to the questions that have been set for examination. Questions are provided for each section of the text, according to the passage focused on in Part (a). It is not necessary to have completed a reading of the whole text in order to answer Part (a) of each question, so you may wish to use one or more of these with students as they study a particular section. Part (b) of each question requires reference to the novel as a whole. Where available, past paper questions have been identified for you to use as possible practice questions for that section of the text. These can be downloaded here: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-9710/past-papers-and-markschemes. Please note that for copyright reasons past papers are moved to the Secure Key Materials of the AQA website after three years, with copyright extracts removed. Please also note that the passages focused on in Part (a) of the practice questions below have not been reproduced, again for copyright reasons. Section 1 Foundation Read the following passage and then answer Part (a) and Part (b). Extract from p.2, ‘For a moment the place...
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...Of Mice and Men Set in the 1930’s during the harsh Depression, John Steinbeck’s emotional novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ successfully explores the theme of friendship within a harsh environment. He portrays this through the characteristics and relationship between the protagonists, George and Lennie. The novel centers these characters who are two childhood friends who travel around together looking for work and face many struggles due to Lennie’s disabilities. Steinbeck initially presents the reader with a clear image of the central characters, who are complete opposites. George is told to be “small and quick” with a thin figure. He is seen as being short-tempered but a loving and devoted friend. He always makes Lennie’s protection his primary purpose despite sometimes coming off impatient towards Lennie. Lennie on the other hand, is very large with ‘sloping shoulders’ which leads the author to compare him to “the way a bear drags his paws”. Lennie is a very strong man with a child’s mind and this is the main problem that George and Lennie face in the novel. I think that Lennie is the least dynamic character as he is very flat and undergoes no significant changes in the novel and appears in the end exactly the same as when we first meet him. At the start of the novel we can clearly see that the author seems to have set Lennie up for disaster. These very different qualities of the characters George and Lennie show the peculiarity of their friendship...
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...careful planning and precision, fate will be a leading factor of one’s outcome despite hard work and effort in John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s use of extended metaphors displays fate as unpredictable and unavoidable despite careful planning and work. “Heron stood...motionless, and waiting” (Steinbeck 99), revealing fate as patient and unpredictable, but is also inescapable, never truly escaping from the “legs of the motionless heron” (Steinbeck 99). Steinbeck’s use of extended metaphors writes down the relationship between Lennie and the water snake and fate and the Heron. The heron symbolizes fate as powerful and inevitable, only having one path in which it takes. The bird simply attacks with no hesitation, just...
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...‘Of Mice and Men’ serves as a reminder that dreaming is futile. How far do you agree with this representation of the text and its key themes? To first answer the question we need to define a key element, what are dreams? When we dream we contemplate the possibility of doing something or indulging in fantasies about something greatly desired. Yet they are necessary to keep the levels of hope high in people to stand for what they believe in whether it be the inadequacies of society or something else. Furthermore without incorporating dreams and having something to achieve in our life will result in an endless stream of days that have little connection or meaning. The representation of dreams occurs via prejudice and stereotypes- Crooks, because he is black in a racist culture- seems to be no hope for him; Curley’s wife, only woman on the farm and regarded as a tart- will never feel wanted, another hopeless situation; Candy, one-handed- can’t do the same work as the others and is old- can’t socialize with anyone, lonely and isolated. These situations give reason for dreaming as it becomes a paradise for those who wish for something more in their life and acts as a beacon of hope yet over time dreams either materialize or they question reality and in the book no one achieves or has achieved their dream- Lennie and George, Curley’s wife and Curley. Dreams will always be a source of hope but if they are not achieved you begin to realise that they are futile which is why to some extent...
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...Katie Oliveira February 22, 2013 Essay #3: Of Mice and Men The American idea of justice sometimes operates under a layer of mythology. Our “innocent until proven guilty” principle predicates itself on the idea that those accused of a crime will have a fair trial and will be justly judged by their peers. It is an elaborate system established to thwart prejudice and to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era story Of Mice and Men, justice is carried out without a trial. No laws are taken into consideration, but instead an angry mob of men with guns is present. Mobs react with violence for real or imagined crimes at their own discretion, not waiting for legal justice to take course. Steinbeck expresses the idea that when justice fails people take matters into their own hands through George’s decision to kill Lennie. On the surface, the answer seems obvious to most people. Of course George should not have killed Lennie; murder, after all, is wrong no matter what the circumstances. Yet it is not as simple as that. Throughout the book, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and wrong, and this makes him a burden to George. Every time Lenny did something bad, they had to quit their jobs and start somewhere else. If George had let Lennie live, Lennie would not have been able to look after himself properly. Lennie couldn’t look after a puppy – let alone himself. Lennie...
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...‘Of Mice and Men’ is written by John Steinbeck, published in 1937. The novel is set in the 1930s during the great depression in California. The two protagonist characters, George and Lennie are farm workers who have a dream of one-day owning their own ranch. They find work in a ranch near Soledad, after escaping from Weed because of George’s incident. They are met by different characters on the farm that all have a dream. To be lonely means to lack friends or companionship and to feel isolated. Most of the characters are lonely and the only thing that keeps them alive is their dreams. Some of the loneliest characters they meet are Candy, an old man with only one hand, Crooks, a black cripple and Curley’s Wife, a woman who has no identity, she is lonely even though she is married. Although they are all on the ranch together, they are lonely because of who they are and their history. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is an emotional story with many different themes and characters. This essay will describe the way loneliness is portrayed in ‘Of Mice and Men.’ George Milton and Lennie Small are friends who travel together. They both share the same dream, which is to one day own their own ranch. George is quick-witted and intelligent. He takes the parental role of looking after Lennie, a simple-minded man who in the book is described as a giant. Lennie is kind hearted with huge physical strength. He does not know how powerful he is and likes to pet animals. The other men on the ranch find their relationship...
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...02/10/12 How does Steinbeck represent the relationship between Lennie and George? H/W Steinbeck uses many techniques to present the characters of Lennie and George in ‘Of Mice and Men’. This in turn then reveals many insights into what may happen to the two characters as the novel progresses. The reader can tell lots about Lennie through the description of his character’s physical looks and actions ‘opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face.’ From this physical description, the reader can analyse that Lennie is the uncivilised character. He is featureless, an image of an animal with the basic instincts to stay alive. He is extremely strong and very large. However, we can see that his brains are only a tiny proportion to his build. The fact that Lennie is walking behind George mirrors their relationship, Lennie is in tow following. The reader’s beliefs that Lennie is not smart are confirmed by actions soon after: ‘dabbled his big paw in the water and wiggled his fingers so the water arose in splashes. ‘This shows a very childlike image of Lennie. He looks like a brute yet his mind hasn’t entered the basic stages of adolescence. That is why he is fascinated by water splashes, or touching fur and soft material. Thus, this foreshadows the fact that when Curley’s wife offers Lennie to play with her hair, he will not refuse and get into trouble. The reader can also see that Lennie does not know his own strength: ‘I pinched they’re heads a little and they was dead.’ The reader...
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...In this essay I will be discussing the point,” How does Steinbeck explore the use of dreams in Of Mice and Men”. I will review what each main character’s dreams are and how they attempted to fulfil or fulfilled their dreams, and how Steinbeck displays different emotions and sways how the reader feels about the novel. After this, I will compare how the irony of the title to how the book ends. The theme of the novel is set in the 1930’s, and the novel plays out over a period of around 3 days, with it starting with best friends George and Lennie out in the wild, with nothing. The first character I am going to review is George and what his original dreams are, and how far he has come to them by the end of the novel. He is the first character introduced and shows simple understanding of basic common sense (something which his partner-in-crime doesn’t have), “Lennie, for God’ sakes don’t drink so much”. Lennie at this point is drinking from a “green pool”, and George immediately realises the dangers and tells Lennie what to do, which is a sign of things to come. Georges dream is basically a carbon copy of the “the American dream”, and he realises that it is possible for himself and Lennie to achieve the dream – because he thinks (and perhaps more to the point hopes) that a combination of his brains, and Lennie’s brute force (which is plain to see throughout the novel) will lead them to where they want to be. Although at the end of the novel George has to kill Lennie, he decides to...
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...How Does Priestley Present Mr Birling Priestley presents the character of Mr Birling as a symbol of the capitalist ruling class and the need for socialist ideals. Priestley begins by presenting Mr Birling as a successful, albeit 'hard-headed businessman'. It is clear from the stage directions which describe 'The dining room... of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer' that Birling is rich and materialistically successful. In terms of capitalism, he is therefore a role model in the fact that he has reached the capitalist goals of making a financial profit. Once Birling's worldy success is established, Priestley undermines his character through presenting Mr Birling as ignorant. With the play being set before WW2, dramatic irony is used when Birling exclaims 'there isn't chance of war'. Here the audience know he is wrong, and therefore realise that Birling's confidence is misguided- he is an ignorant man. This is further proven when he claims that the soon to sail Titanic is 'absolutely unsinkable'.The audience may feel there is a contradiction in this character - worldly success and power coupled with stupidity and ignorance. However, Priestley has deliberately presented Birling in this way to criticise the capitalism for which Birling stands. Being a co-founder of the Socialist Commonwealth Party, Priestley felt that his political views on socialism were very important and the play 'An Inspector Calls' is his vehicle from which to promote these...
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