Preview

Dead Men In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
122 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dead Men In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
When one of the protagonists, Lennie breaks Curley’s wife’s “neck”, he in turn kills his dream of a better life with George, his only hope in the world. Crooks foreshadows that their dream will not come true, saying that he has “seen hundreds of men come by on the road, an’ that same damn thing on their heads” … “ever’body wants a little piece of lan”, but none of them get it. Lennie’s “dead puppy” also foreshadows Lennie killing Curley’s wife, and in turn George and his dream. George and Lennie want to “live off the fatta the lan”, but in the world that Steinbeck has created, all hope of a better life is killed, like the dead mice in Lennie’s paws.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know"(Steinbeck 106) -George…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “If you ever just happen to get in trouble like you have always done before, I want you to come right here and hide in the brush.”(doc B) In the story Of Mice and Men there are two main characters, George and Lennie. George is average sized and intelligent, and Lennie is tall, very muscular, and below average. George and Lennie have a farm dream that they will own land, so they go to work on a ranch to earn money. A worker there, Candy, offers to go in with 300 dollars. Everything is looking good until Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, and Curley is a hothead. He wants to kill Lennie very painfully, but George gets there first. He has to shoot him in the back of the head. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to indicate the deaths of the farm dream, Curley’s wife, and Lennie.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck tells the story of two best friends living life on the run, struggling to keep a steady job working as ranch hands. George and Lennie are faced with many obstacles throughout the course of this book, beginning with Lennie and his slow mindedness, George is always side by side with Lennie, practically holding his hand to coach him through life. The story begins with the two men running away from Weed, the ranch they were previously employed at; we later find that George and Lennie had to flee after Lennie had touched a ladies dress and made her feel uncomfortable. Upon arrival at the new ranch, George had told Lennie to stay away from Curley’s wife, Lennie disobeyed George and similar trouble has followed them.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Published in 1937, John Steinbeck wrote a moving and powerful novel titled, Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s reliance on textual description makes the work accessible to young readers, as does his use of foreshadowing and reoccurring images. Equally important is the way Steinebeck intertwines loneliness, friendship, and sadness. A professor at the University of San Jose stated, “The near impossibility of attaining the American Dream in the face of the huge and random challenges, like natural and economic disasters became the central theme of Steinbeck’s novel” (“Of Mice and Men – Critical Reception” 1). Marxist and New Criticism were the two approaches applied to the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is an extraordinary story of two men who travel together through tough situations and remain loyal to one another. They develop a strong friendship and share many qualities. My best friend, Alla, and I have known each other for over seven years and we have a strong bond. What binds us together are our differences and loyalty, just like Lennie and George, but unlike them, we have different dreams.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The story takes place during the 1930s at a small ranch south of Soledad, California. The country was struggling through the Great Depression and focused on isolationism, preferring to settle troubles at home rather than the rising crisis in Europe. Though, the Eugenics Movement, a movement based on the idea of improving the human race through selective breeding – largely seen in Nazi Germany, was also beginning to spread in the United States. Stemming from the Eugenics Movement, public talk of euthanasia also dramatically increased. Due to the subtle ideologies of the Eugenics Movement and the ending reference of euthanasia, modern interpretations of the book will greatly differ from thoughts from the books original release. because of the…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Steinbeck uses Crooks to convey this to George, when Crooks says, “An’ where’s George now? In town in a whore house. That’s where your money is goin’.”(76). Steinbeck also warns George and Lennie about many others that have tried achieving their dream without any success through Crooks by saying, “I seen it happen too many times. I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.” (76). This foreshadowing in the novella points to George and Lennie’s dreams demise. And when Lennie messes up he scurries like a rabbit to hide in a…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though the story ends with heartache, it still doesn’t remove the fact that Lennie and George knew that their friendship kept them going. John Steinbeck brings the time period of the 1930s to life in Of Mice and Men. The story captures the tale of two men, George and Lennie, use friendship and a dream to overcome challenges. Piece by piece as challenges add, it ends with serious consequences. Steinbeck displays that weakness leads to cruelty through the characters in Of Mice and Men by Crooks trying to acquire a position over Lennie, Candy’s dog dying, and Curley’s wife speaking to Crooks.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life takes turns for better and for worse, but being there to help your best friend in need always comes first. Even when it changes one's plans, it is an important part of life. Since Lennie has made the mistake of killing Curley’s wife, George will never get the American Dream that he was wanting and planning for. “‘I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He [Lennie] usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe he would”’ (Steinbeck 94). Lennie has heard George talk about how they are going to get their American Dream. Yet, George has heard this over and over. Therefore, he believes that it is set in stone.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death is the inevitable end that everybody fears, if not for themselves then for their loved ones. As Jean Dubos put it best, “Death is a law, not a punishment.” Stopping death’s claim that will eventually have everyone is beyond possibility, but living life to the fullest until there is no more life to live is one. Then there are the ones left behind, however; the husbands and wives, the daughters and sons, the best friends. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, death is a topic all characters are well acquainted with by the end of each book, due to unfortunate mistakes or choices made by some, leaving the rest of the miserable characters missing their best friends. These deaths force loneliness upon many characters…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, before Curley’s wife died, she is actually dreaming of becoming a movie star. Also, although Crooks did not join in Lennie and George’s plan of having their own farm for owing a patch of garden, he would like to join them at the very beginning. Candy is also joins George and Lennie by offering his money for owing a couple of acres on George’s farm. One of the most biggest and distinct dreams in the story is Lennie and George’s dream of buying their own farm and Lennie can get to tend rabbits. However, the problem of Lennie is that he likes to pet soft thing such as mice, puppy and even girl’s dress and hair. Although he is loyal to George, he always gets George into a lot of troubles. He does not understand and cannot control his physical power, which cause him always kills his favorite animals accidentally. The first time he killed a mouse, and the second time he killed a puppy. Just like those ancient story says, if a behavior is repeated three times, it will end in the third. (For example, heroes always have to go through ordeals three times.) So, Lennie killed Curley’s wife in the third times. Curley angrily says that he will shoot Lennie. In order to protect the naive and goodness Lennie from other’s bully, George killed him by shooting at the back of his head. After Lennie’s death, obviously George and Lennie’s dream of having their own farm will never come true, which is a typical American dream because the dreamers are eager to live in their own way and have their own freedom, but will no longer become reality. This is also prove that Crooks is right because he thinks that such a paradises of safety, contentment and freedom will not be found in this…

    • 2320 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In of mice and men, characters are cruel when they have power to control others of lower status. Many characters display a disregard for ones feeling or emotions through physical and verbal actions. On the ranch, hierarchy is extremely prominent and cruelty is a side effect of it. The characters that are lower of status are not cruel to those above. The character Curley’s wife, is an impeccable example of this. Even though she is of lower status on the ranch, she still has power over those below her. Crooks is one of those character, he is a coloured man and she uses this against him. During section 4, crooks is discusses plans with Lennie and candy, he forgets his circumstances in the ‘white man’s world’. He tells Curley’s wife that she has…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curley, Curley’s Wife, and Crooks all suffer some type of disappointment. Firstly, Curley is dealing with the disappointment of having his dream crushed by his father. It is observed in the movie when Curley is seen boxing outside of his house with a punching bag and his father yells at him to “Quit that racket!”. Curley probably could’ve had a promising future with a career in boxing, but sadly, his father dashed his dreams and now he is stuck working on the family ranch. This causes him to have internal anger he does not know how to deal with, thus causing him to lash out at his wife. Speaking of his wife, she also suffers from a disappointment of having a dream crushed. She states in the movie that at a young age, she was visited by a big…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the sun began to set, the reflection of the sun’s orange glow glistened throughout the river. Most of the animals in the area had gone back to their home, preparing for nightfall.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A man once loved basketball but his legs were paralyzed in a auto accident and he couldn't play. In the eyes of defeat he surpassed that and went into the wheelchair league for basketball. These characteristics can also be shown in John Steinbeck's book of Of Mice and Men. The characters George Milton, Lennie Small, and Candy all show that they could be considered gallant in the eyes of defeat.…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays