How Does Steinbeck Make Lennie's Death Seem Inevitable in 'of Mice and Men'?
How does Steinbeck make Lennie's death seem inevitable in 'Of Mice and Men'?
Of Mice and Men, published by John Steinbeck in 1937, is set in the Salinas Valley of California during the Great Depression.The novels two main characters, George and Lennie, embody the American struggle to survive the Depression, but the novel is timeless because it captures the personal isolation and suffering present in the land of opportunity. During the last scene George tells Lennie to take off his hat and look across the river while he describes their farm. He tells Lennie about the rabbits, and promises that nobody will ever be mean to him again. “Le’s do it now,” Lennie says. “Le’s get that place now.” George agrees. He raises Carlson’s gun, which he has removed from his jacket, and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. As Lennie falls to the ground and becomes still, George tosses the gun away and sits down on the riverbank, this is one of the times when it proves the main point Steinbeck is trying to percieve: loneliness and isolation.
The Title 'Of Mice and Men' originated from the poem by the Scottish Robert Burns in 1765 , called 'To a Mouse'. A major point to note is that Burns is saying that the mouse does not think and lives in the present rather than being able to look over life and its past, which is comparable to Lennie (in ways) because he has the mentality of a child he does not mull over past thoughts. However he is also saying that man's dominion has broken Nature's social union, because as mankind we do worse.
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray-
'The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft agley
And leave us nought but grief and pain
For promised joy!'
This ties in to the mice in the story, but more broadly refers to the tragedy of causing pain with good intentions.
There are many ways to look at this verse and how it adds to the inevitability: the mice refer to weak people, such as Lennie, Crooks, and Candy, and men
Of Mice and Men, published by John Steinbeck in 1937, is set in the Salinas Valley of California during the Great Depression.The novels two main characters, George and Lennie, embody the American struggle to survive the Depression, but the novel is timeless because it captures the personal isolation and suffering present in the land of opportunity. During the last scene George tells Lennie to take off his hat and look across the river while he describes their farm. He tells Lennie about the rabbits, and promises that nobody will ever be mean to him again. “Le’s do it now,” Lennie says. “Le’s get that place now.” George agrees. He raises Carlson’s gun, which he has removed from his jacket, and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. As Lennie falls to the ground and becomes still, George tosses the gun away and sits down on the riverbank, this is one of the times when it proves the main point Steinbeck is trying to percieve: loneliness and isolation.
The Title 'Of Mice and Men' originated from the poem by the Scottish Robert Burns in 1765 , called 'To a Mouse'. A major point to note is that Burns is saying that the mouse does not think and lives in the present rather than being able to look over life and its past, which is comparable to Lennie (in ways) because he has the mentality of a child he does not mull over past thoughts. However he is also saying that man's dominion has broken Nature's social union, because as mankind we do worse.
The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray-
'The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft agley
And leave us nought but grief and pain
For promised joy!'
This ties in to the mice in the story, but more broadly refers to the tragedy of causing pain with good intentions.
There are many ways to look at this verse and how it adds to the inevitability: the mice refer to weak people, such as Lennie, Crooks, and Candy, and men