Comparison Between John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1. Does the story involve an epiphany of insight, revelation, or self-realization for the protagonist- or perhaps for the reader? How does the moment of realization contribute to the resolution of the work and/or the development of the protagonist?
What’s an epiphany?
It is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something.
Insight- perception
Revelation- something that has happened
Self-realization- realizing yourself
Yes, the epiphany is the point when one of the protagonists named Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife in the barn. The moment of realization that he has done something wrong, when Lennie says in page 91, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” This quote clearly illustrates the evidence that Lennie understands exactly that he is in trouble.The resolution to the epiphany is when George finds Lennie where Lennie promised George to be in the clearing when he gets in trouble and, while retelling the story of life on their farm, shoots him in the back of the head, saving him from certain punishment for the death of Curley's wife. To make the resolution a proper one in the eyes of the people, George tells him the dream, as it helps Lennie feel better, and as people say, dieing happy is like dieing a natural …show more content…
We are given a peek into only one character’s consciousness, and even then only once, when Lennie is in hiding by the river and imagines his Aunt Clara and a large, hallucinatory rabbit. This deliberate withholding of insider information was probably a result of Steinbeck’s intention to have the story be more of a play than a novella. In plays, the audience can only know what the actors are saying and doing – they cannot have access to their thoughts. This means the narrator of this novella is omniscient (all knowing), but to a rather limited
What’s an epiphany?
It is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something.
Insight- perception
Revelation- something that has happened
Self-realization- realizing yourself
Yes, the epiphany is the point when one of the protagonists named Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife in the barn. The moment of realization that he has done something wrong, when Lennie says in page 91, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” This quote clearly illustrates the evidence that Lennie understands exactly that he is in trouble.The resolution to the epiphany is when George finds Lennie where Lennie promised George to be in the clearing when he gets in trouble and, while retelling the story of life on their farm, shoots him in the back of the head, saving him from certain punishment for the death of Curley's wife. To make the resolution a proper one in the eyes of the people, George tells him the dream, as it helps Lennie feel better, and as people say, dieing happy is like dieing a natural …show more content…
We are given a peek into only one character’s consciousness, and even then only once, when Lennie is in hiding by the river and imagines his Aunt Clara and a large, hallucinatory rabbit. This deliberate withholding of insider information was probably a result of Steinbeck’s intention to have the story be more of a play than a novella. In plays, the audience can only know what the actors are saying and doing – they cannot have access to their thoughts. This means the narrator of this novella is omniscient (all knowing), but to a rather limited