Death In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
Death is a horrendous thing that can cause an irreplaceable hole in somebody’s life. Death can also represent chaos and the pain of another character in the story. In Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the deaths of Johnny, Dally, and Bob created an intriguing plot and unveiled the hidden feelings and personalities of characters who react to the deaths, like Dally and Randy. The major deaths in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, which are the deaths of Candy’s Dog, Curley’s Wife, and Lennie, displayed the personalities of the characters who killed them and developed the story in the book. The theme of death reveals hidden elements of characters who strongly felt a certain way about the character. Even though death is the end of a character, it
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may not show the complete end of the character and the character can still be a key symbol to the story. The death of somebody a certain character loves can impact the character in a permanent and even life-changing way.
The deaths of Lennie and Dally are distinct, but there are undeniable similarities in the cause and the circumstances of their death.
When Lennie died, he had just killed Curley’s Wife and George knew that his punishment from Curley would be atrocious, so George decided to kill Lennie himself out of love, even though he did not want Lennie to die. “His hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied….George shivered and looked at the gun, then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes.” (pg 106) He George knows that once Lennie dies, he will become one of the “loneliest guys in the world”, just like the lonely men he describes in his story to Lennie. “Guys like us got no family. They make a little stake an’ then they blow it in. They ain’t got nobody who gives a hoot in hell about ‘em…but not us.” pg 104. At the point in the book when Dally dies, Johnny had just died, and Dally dies by holding a loaded gun to the police and getting shot. When Dally dies, in a way, he commits suicide because Johnny was Dally’s only soft spot, and now he is dead. “Please, not him... not him and Johnny both--I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” (pg 154) Though it might have appeared like that, Dally’s death was not an accident and he was fully aware that the police would shoot him. The theme of death in The Outsiders and Of Mice And Men affects the characters and the plot of the story in a massive
way.
In The Outsiders by SE Hinton and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the deaths and of Bob and Curley’s Wife have numerous direct parallels. Neither Curley’s Wife nor Bob was a premeditated murder, they were both killed spontaneously in a moment of stress and terror. Both deaths were regretted immediately after, and both killers felt guilty and that they had betrayed their beliefs. Bob had previously jumped Johnny and scarred him physically and emotionally, and Bob was back, so Johnny would not let that happen again. Readers could recognize that after he killed Bob, Johnny quickly started worrying about what would happen, and that Johnny comprehended how bad what he did was. “He was a strange greenish-white, and his eyes were huger than I’d ever seen them. ‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy.’” (page 49) This illustratesshows that killing Bob was Johnny’s only choice because if he didn’t, Bob might have killed him or Ponyboy. When Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, he is petting her hair, and then she yells so Lennie gets nervous. When Lennie gets stressed, his reflex is to grab on, and in doing this, he broke her neck. Lennie was immediately afraid about what would happen when George found out, because George had told him many times not to do bad things. “For a moment, he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” (page 91) This shows that Lennie recognizes that killing Curley’s Wife was wrong and that he did not intend to kill her. conclusion sentence
Johnny’s death and Candy’s Dog’s death related because the impacts of the deaths resembled each other closely. Both were loved deeply by somebody, and possibly did not realize this, and their deaths revealed how much they were loved. Johnny dies because he had run into a burning building and got hit by a log. Dally is completely distressed when Johnny died because Dally was almost inhuman-he barely had feelings-and Johnny was his soft spot. “‘Dallas is gone,’ I said. ‘He blew up like the devil was after him. He’s gonna blow up. He couldn’t take it. . . So even Dally has a breaking point.’” This displays shows how much Dally loved Johnny, and how the gang did not think Dally would ever break or show emotion, but when it comes to Johnny, Dally is not the same person that the Greasers saw. Candy felt almost the same about his dog as Dally felt about Johnny. Candy loved his dog unconditionally, and nothing could replace this dog for him. Candy’s dog and Candy need each other, just as Dally and Johnny do. Carlson decides that Candy’s dog is worthless and smells bad, and he offers for Candy to kill the dog, even though Candy clearly is against that, so he decides to do it himself. Carlson promises Candy a new puppy and does not understand the concept of having that specific dog, and not just any dog. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog.’” (page 61) This demonstrates shows how much Candy regrets not being able to save his dog from the misery that is having a stranger kill him. Others’ reactions to Candy’s dog’s death and Johnny’s death have many close similarities that add to larger comparisons in the plots of Of Mice and Men and The Outsiders.
Death is a key theme in both The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men and can change the characters drastically. I believe that death is one of the most important symbols in The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men. Though the character dies, the symbol associated with that character can even be heightened with death. A character dying can reveal parts of people that are not necessary visible before the death. All of these deaths fit together like a puzzle, they all relate to eachother in one way or another. The impacts of death in any book can be what controls, or even ruins, a character’s life. Do the people impacted by the deaths of the people they love or hate ever forget? Who died the worst way or the best way? I think that Dally died the worst way because he died in anguish from Johnny’s death. I predict that George will long for Lennie every day, but he will not regret killing him, because readers can see that he thought very hard about whether to shoot Lennie or not, and he believes that did the right thing. The effect of their loved ones’ death will always be with these characters, and the deaths in these book will be iconic symbols of loss and chaos.
may not show the complete end of the character and the character can still be a key symbol to the story. The death of somebody a certain character loves can impact the character in a permanent and even life-changing way.
The deaths of Lennie and Dally are distinct, but there are undeniable similarities in the cause and the circumstances of their death.
When Lennie died, he had just killed Curley’s Wife and George knew that his punishment from Curley would be atrocious, so George decided to kill Lennie himself out of love, even though he did not want Lennie to die. “His hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied….George shivered and looked at the gun, then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes.” (pg 106) He George knows that once Lennie dies, he will become one of the “loneliest guys in the world”, just like the lonely men he describes in his story to Lennie. “Guys like us got no family. They make a little stake an’ then they blow it in. They ain’t got nobody who gives a hoot in hell about ‘em…but not us.” pg 104. At the point in the book when Dally dies, Johnny had just died, and Dally dies by holding a loaded gun to the police and getting shot. When Dally dies, in a way, he commits suicide because Johnny was Dally’s only soft spot, and now he is dead. “Please, not him... not him and Johnny both--I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted.” (pg 154) Though it might have appeared like that, Dally’s death was not an accident and he was fully aware that the police would shoot him. The theme of death in The Outsiders and Of Mice And Men affects the characters and the plot of the story in a massive
way.
In The Outsiders by SE Hinton and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the deaths and of Bob and Curley’s Wife have numerous direct parallels. Neither Curley’s Wife nor Bob was a premeditated murder, they were both killed spontaneously in a moment of stress and terror. Both deaths were regretted immediately after, and both killers felt guilty and that they had betrayed their beliefs. Bob had previously jumped Johnny and scarred him physically and emotionally, and Bob was back, so Johnny would not let that happen again. Readers could recognize that after he killed Bob, Johnny quickly started worrying about what would happen, and that Johnny comprehended how bad what he did was. “He was a strange greenish-white, and his eyes were huger than I’d ever seen them. ‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy.’” (page 49) This illustratesshows that killing Bob was Johnny’s only choice because if he didn’t, Bob might have killed him or Ponyboy. When Lennie kills Curley’s Wife, he is petting her hair, and then she yells so Lennie gets nervous. When Lennie gets stressed, his reflex is to grab on, and in doing this, he broke her neck. Lennie was immediately afraid about what would happen when George found out, because George had told him many times not to do bad things. “For a moment, he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.” (page 91) This shows that Lennie recognizes that killing Curley’s Wife was wrong and that he did not intend to kill her. conclusion sentence
Johnny’s death and Candy’s Dog’s death related because the impacts of the deaths resembled each other closely. Both were loved deeply by somebody, and possibly did not realize this, and their deaths revealed how much they were loved. Johnny dies because he had run into a burning building and got hit by a log. Dally is completely distressed when Johnny died because Dally was almost inhuman-he barely had feelings-and Johnny was his soft spot. “‘Dallas is gone,’ I said. ‘He blew up like the devil was after him. He’s gonna blow up. He couldn’t take it. . . So even Dally has a breaking point.’” This displays shows how much Dally loved Johnny, and how the gang did not think Dally would ever break or show emotion, but when it comes to Johnny, Dally is not the same person that the Greasers saw. Candy felt almost the same about his dog as Dally felt about Johnny. Candy loved his dog unconditionally, and nothing could replace this dog for him. Candy’s dog and Candy need each other, just as Dally and Johnny do. Carlson decides that Candy’s dog is worthless and smells bad, and he offers for Candy to kill the dog, even though Candy clearly is against that, so he decides to do it himself. Carlson promises Candy a new puppy and does not understand the concept of having that specific dog, and not just any dog. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog.’” (page 61) This demonstrates shows how much Candy regrets not being able to save his dog from the misery that is having a stranger kill him. Others’ reactions to Candy’s dog’s death and Johnny’s death have many close similarities that add to larger comparisons in the plots of Of Mice and Men and The Outsiders.
Death is a key theme in both The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men and can change the characters drastically. I believe that death is one of the most important symbols in The Outsiders and Of Mice and Men. Though the character dies, the symbol associated with that character can even be heightened with death. A character dying can reveal parts of people that are not necessary visible before the death. All of these deaths fit together like a puzzle, they all relate to eachother in one way or another. The impacts of death in any book can be what controls, or even ruins, a character’s life. Do the people impacted by the deaths of the people they love or hate ever forget? Who died the worst way or the best way? I think that Dally died the worst way because he died in anguish from Johnny’s death. I predict that George will long for Lennie every day, but he will not regret killing him, because readers can see that he thought very hard about whether to shoot Lennie or not, and he believes that did the right thing. The effect of their loved ones’ death will always be with these characters, and the deaths in these book will be iconic symbols of loss and chaos.