Preview

How Does Steinbeck Present The Truths In Of Mice And Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
636 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Steinbeck Present The Truths In Of Mice And Men
The truths revealed by John Steinbeck in Of Mice and Men unfold the reality of America and the human condition during the Great Depression in the 1930s. He incorporates these truth no matter how agonizing they might be. Loneliness, friendship, and dreams are a few of the truths exposed in the novel.

One of the truths Steinbeck introduces is loneliness. The recurring theme of loneliness is detected throughout the whole novel. Loneliness, presented in various amounts of characters in Of Mice and Men, counting George, Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. George and Lennie keep roaming from one ranch to another, attempting to dodge all of the complications Lennie has got them into. George himself recognizes that people who live the way he does, have a lonely life. Curley’s wife is lonely due to the fact that her own husband has deprived her from speaking to anyone on the ranch. To keep her from being lonely, Curley’s wife flirts with the men on the ranch. Due to his skin color Crooks becomes lonesome, he is the only African American on the ranch. Crooks not even permitted in the house, does
…show more content…
George and Lennie have the dream of owning their own small farm with cows, pigs, and rabbits. They share the similar dream but for different reasons. Lennie wishes for the farm, so he can pet the soft rabbits and other animals. On the other hand, George aspires to own his farm to have a sense of security and freedom. Having his farm will allow him to be his own boss. This truth imposes America as a favorable light. Acquiring dreams is an exceptional concept to have due to the fact that they provide meaning to our future and daily lives. They give us a reason to live, without them life would be boring and our lives would have no meaning. This indicates that the human condition when it comes to dreams are never ending. Humans will work towards their goals and dreams until they are

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This novella, “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck unveils reality’s harshest cataclysm of angelic friendship. Diving into the facade, manipulation creeps amongst the red string of fate, opening eyes of the ones who slumber through day. If we register details and what may seem light prudently, asserting connections wherever we go— the tale will come alive itself, viable sentences wait. And thus, once the dice of destiny is rolled, all will be eventual.…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory 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

    They have a dream of owning their own little house and lots of land with a farm filled with animals and gardens. A place where they could go and do whatever they want without anyone having to boss them around. George and Lennie await the freedom and independence they deserve after working long and hard. They constantly remind each other of their dreams and goals and take the steps to make it come true.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good 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

    In the book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, there are multiple underlying themes that compose the story. One of the themes, loneliness, is present throughout the story. The people on the farm sometimes go into town on Saturdays to forget about their loneliness with women and alcohol. George and Lennie are lonely, too. They try to break the unyielding system of loneliness by planning and talking about buying a small farm. Curley's wife feels lonely, also. In an attempt to keep from being lonely, she visits and talks to the men at the ranch. Candy, an old ranch hand, fears loneliness also. To keep from being lonely, he keeps around his old dog. Crooks, the stable buck, is lonely, too. He is the only black man, and lives apart from the others.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever been lonely? In the novel Of Mice and Men everyone has a predator; loneliness, isolation, and low self-esteem make them vulnerable to predators. All of the characters want a friend, they long for a relationship. One like the relationship George and Lennie have. The book starts off in Soledad, George and Lennie are escaping from weed, they plan to go to a ranch for work. This ranch has all kinds of neat characters, but three that present the most loneliness are: Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy. With their loneliness they become isolated and insecure, and just want a friend. Throughout this novel these characters create tension, because they are lonely and either want someone to talk to or just need attention. In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck presents several memorable characters to develop the theme of loneliness of human existence.…

    • 740 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The way a person was raised and the things they have experienced can change their objectives in life, and in addition the way they see the world. These different perceptions of reality are the main reasons why humans all have so many diverse aspirations and dreams, regardless of how modified they may be due to the circumstances. Jing Chen, Phil Alden Robinson, and John Steinbeck all saw precisely how a person's backgrounds can influence their fantasies; and by using the rhetorical device of paradox they passed on that learning to a variety of readers through their literary works.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Of Mice and Men was published in 1937, the United States was in the grip of Great Depression. John Steinbeck, the author, saw firsthand the economic and social problems of the Great Depression in California. This provided material for three of his novels about agricultural workers. By the time he wrote Of Mice and Men, the industrial revolution was providing machines to replace ranch hands and there way of life was fast disappearing. Poverty and depression seem to hang over the lives of Steinbeck 's characters. He constantly writes about the sad predicaments this time of the century had and the chase to get out.…

    • 732 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses the theme of loneliness throughout the entirety of the novel. When people feel lonely their way of life is different than that of someone's who isn't lonely or them if they were not lonely. They may act differently than they would if they weren't experiencing loneliness, they may even change their way of life. The effects of loneliness on people are displayed in the novel Of Mice and Men through the characters of Curley's Wife, Candy, and Crooks.…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Steinbeck Loneliness

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The famous country music singer/songwriter, musician, and actor Waylon Jennings said, “This world that I live in is empty and cold, the loneliness cuts me and tortures my soul.” Loneliness is one of the fundamental themes of the novel, Of Mice and Men in which John Steinbeck wrote in the midst of the Great Depression. In this essay, I am going to show who loneliness impacts the three characters, Crooks, Lennie, and Candy.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Loneliness is the feeling of isolation and no hope or dreams in your life-which is what Steinbeck achieves by portraying this theme effectively through key fictional characters in Of Mice and Men. By living in the town of ‘Soledad’ (Spanish for loneliness), the audience gets an overwhelming sense of the depressing environment that the migrant farmers are living through by their repetitive lifestyle and the consequences they face through the Great Depression and the Dustbowl. Yet another aspect of loneliness which is exposed vulnerably through several characters is the idea of the American Dream, for Steinbeck teaches us that even through hard work and prosperity, it is unattainable which is represented by Curley’s wife, Crooks, Candy and George + Lennie. These personas are left in isolation for as George says that ‘Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They don’t belong no place…’ which is to say that these characters have lost all hope in their lives, which Steinbeck conveys effectively, and the fact that despite this, they still believe there is hope to come for them, which leaves me to sympathise for them more.…

    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    NOT FINISHED

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men the theme of the American Dream is portrayed. While Candy and Lennie are talking to Crooks about the vision of the land they want, Curley’s wife interrupts and tries to descourage them. “I seen too many you guys. If you had two bits in the worl’, why you’d be getting two shots of corn with it and suckin’ on the bottom of the glass. I know you guys. (Steinbeck, 79).” Curley’s wife insists that their dream will never come true. She tells Candy, Crooks and Lennie that there are too many people with the same dream that end up wasting away. Many of the characters in the novel use the idea of the American Dream too soothe themselves. They don’t realize that their actual chances of achieving it are slim to none. At the time, they are in denial and won’t accept the fact that they will not be able to live this dream. They’re living in a dilussional reality with clouded judgement.…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness is an experience that many people experience in their lives. In Of Mice and Men, Loneliness is a key factor in why many of the characters are characterized the way that they are. John Steinbeck makes most of the characters seem lonely. Most of the ranch hands travel alone except for of course George and Lennie. Crooks, the only African American on the ranch, is always in the barn away from the others, and is not allowed in the bunkhouse because the color of his skin. Old Candy, the oldest person on the ranch, experiences loneliness because his dog, his only companion, had just been shot. Candy’s wife, being the only woman on the ranch, is always seeking someone to talk to. A crippled African American that lives isolated from the others, an old swamper who just lost his companion forever, and the only woman on the ranch are all desperate to find someone to talk to, and suffer from an acute loneliness that leads to many different consequences.…

    • 821 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice And Men

    • 642 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Steinbeck's book "Of Mice and Men", he illustrates the isolation of ranch life in the early 1930's and shows how people are driven to try and find friendship in order to escape from loneliness. Steinbeck creates a lonely atmosphere at many times in the book. He uses names and words such as the town near the ranch called "Soledad", which means loneliness and the card game "Solitaire" Which means by ones self, this makes it clear that all the men on the ranch are lonely, with particular people lonelier than others. For example Crooks, who suffers from extreme loneliness because he is black and he is living in a ranch and the surrounding area which is very racist. He lives by himself, because the other men do not like him. He does not take part in any of the social activities in the ranch and is left out completely. Even though Curley's wife is mentioned frequently, we never know what her name is. This just shows how people do not care for others, leading to isolation.…

    • 642 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A person is always trying to find a bond with another person, but in this lonesome world that doesn’t always occur. When people are deprived of companionship, a lot of different effects happen in different people. The different situations that everyone is in can lead to different outcomes and can lead to people developing different personalities and different situations in life. This longing for companionship is a theme that is widely explored in the book in the book Of Mice and Men. In this book, John Steinbeck uses the characters Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy to show that loneliness is sadly a part of life that everyone has to fight against.…

    • 1552 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays