Preview

Of Mice And Men Literary Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1170 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Of Mice And Men Literary Analysis
John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is a biblical story that conveys how the destructive decisions of humans can cause their dreams to end leads to regret and loneliness similar to the events that occur in the Bible.
The character's decision to sacrifice portrays them going astray from their dream. The workers on the ranch are all alone unlike George and Lennie since they trust and depend on each other and how their goal is to live together on a farm. Candy, a lonely worker hopes to someday live with George and Lennie so he sacrifices his savings just to be with company. “He looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into words. ‘You God damn tramp,’ he said viciously. ‘You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up”(Steinbeck 95). Candy’s sorrow and anger symbolizes how he had planned to sacrifice everything to live with George and Lennie. This also shows how Candy knows his
…show more content…
In the biblical story of Cain and Abel, Cain asks God if he is his brother’s keeper after he had killed Abel. George portrays Cain while Lennie portrays Abel because George is Lennie’s caretaker and keeper since his job is to keep an eye on Lennie.“We gonna get a little place,’ George began. He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety, and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back” (Steinbeck 105). The gun symbolizes death and power which can end lives or dreams because George taking out the gun foreshadows him killing Lennie, which consequently means that George and Lennie’s dream to live on a farm together is ending. The gun is also symbolic to God because in the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Chapter 2 1. The chapter begins by explaining in detail what the bunkhouse is; it’s a long rectangular building with whitewashed walls and small square windows. 2. Against the walls were eight bunks and over each bunk there was a box nailed on it so that each one can have its belongings in it, like soap, razors, powder, etc. 3. Then came an old man and opened the door and showed George and Lennie the place, he’s a man without an arm and with his stick like arm pointed the two bunks.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men contain an affluence of symbols which work together to produce a deeper meaning. Of Mice and Men have various examples of symbolism such as, the mouse in Lennie’s pocket, Lennie’s puppy, George and Lennie’s farm, Candy’s dog, Lennie’s death, and the rabbits Lennie always dream about . Symbolism plays a very important part in this novel, so therefore I will be discussing what each symbol represents.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book 'Of Mice and Men' mainly illustrates the ranch life of Lennie and George and the conflicts between Lennie and other workers. The author uses details of their experience to demonstrate the helplessness and the powerlessness of the victims of the Great Depression and the falsity of American dream.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic,…

    • 2895 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    of mice and men essay

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Could you murder your own best friend? If your friend got into such a large amount of…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    of mice and men essay

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    George’s decision to shoot Lennie shows foreshadowing with these two events, Candy’s regret that he didn’t shoot his own dog (61). Candy says to George “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, George is correlated to Galahad, best known for being the knight that achieves the Holy Grail, because in the end of both of their tales the pair are “dismounted, armed only with a fading dream, a long way from Camelot” (Davis 65). Ironically George is kneeling by the river, having just killed Lennie and their dream, and is far away from his dream farmland. Even more paradoxical is the contrast of Galahad and George in that Galahad actually achieves the Holy Grail and George does not achieve is Holy Grail, comparable to the American Dream. Another, inference found throughout the story is the relationship between George and Lennie to the story of Cain and Abel. In a fallen world George and Lennie want to retreat back to their Eden much like Cain but “in the post-Cain world human fellowship cannot survive and neither can their dream” (Benson 56). In congruence to this Biblical story, George and Lennie’s dream is doomed much like Cain’s want to retreat back to Eden because paradise is already lost for Cain when he kills Abel and lost for Lennie and George whenever Lennie develops attachments to things. In addition because of Lennie’s…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck and takes place during the Great Depression. Throughout the book we follow the two main characters, George and Lennie. George is shown to have much power over Lennie. These two and many other characters struggle with obtaining, holding, or keeping “under control” the amount of power they have or want. In Steinbeck's novel, the theme that seems to be most present is that, although people seek power, they often misuse it after obtaining it.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck the protagonist, Lennie is a prisoner of his own…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the death of his dog, Candy experiences a deep sense of loss and he feels empty inside. When Candy overhears Lennie and George talking about owning a piece of land his emptiness begins to fill with the dream Lennie and George share. Candy tells George, “Tell you what-... Spose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I put in” (p.33). George’s reaction to what Candy said prompts Candy to bare his soul to him and tell George that he will “´make a will an’ leave [his] share to [Lennie and George]” (p.34). But more importantly, Candy develops a friendship with George which is seen later in the story when Candy divulges to George his inner feelings regarding his dog, showing the beginnings of a friendship, “I ought to of shot that dog myself. . .I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog” (p.39). Candy’s actions portray the theme in Of Mice and Men that having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A main theme shown thoughout the novel is innocence, even though it may not be noticable to many reader's. Lennie's mental disability yields him with child like characteristics such as his behavior, process of though, as well as a child's innocence. Which is apparent throughout the novel that innocence is the key theme. Lennie cried out suddenly—"I don' like this place, George. This ain't no good place. I wanna get outa here" (Chaper 1). This theme of innocence is incorporated throughout the novel not just with Lennie but also with many other characters and actions done by them. George is prime examples of innocence, due to fact that he's always watching over Lennie and cares for him deeply. Slim had not moved. His calm eyes followed Lennie out of the door. "Jesus," he said. "He's jes' like a kid, ain't he." "Sure, he's jes like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong" (Chapter 3).…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck. “I feel like an outsider, and I always will feel like one. I’ve always felt that I wasn’t a member of any particular group.” (Anne Rice). This quote imparts to Lennie and Candy because they’re both different and handicapped. Lennie and Candy are nice people who are powerless, dreamers, and social outcasts.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, contains various different themes which link together. Two of the major themes are ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Dreams and Hopes’. This essay will analyse these two major themes and explain how they relate to each other.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men Essay

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    ‘’Of Mice and Men’’ is a book about loneliness and there are many symbols that represent it, for instance the bunk house and the Crook being separated form the other men, a symbol of isolation because to loneliness because since Crook is black and no one is allowed to enter to Crook’s room and if you think about it Steinbeck has a variety of people of different shape, size, and gender making his own little world of different people and discrimination. In this book there are many symbols and all refer to loneliness in a way.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men Essay

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In any non-communist nation, there will always be people born with an advantage in life, and the way to equalize opportunity is not to distribute wealth into 7 billion pieces, the way to help those in need is through charity. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck……

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics