Of Mice And Men Tragedy Analysis
In what ways do you think that ‘Of Mice and Men’ can be read as a tragedy?
One of the reasons Of Mice and Men can be read as a tragedy is because of the high number of deaths (the mouse near the start, Candy’s dog, Lennie’s pup, Candy’s dog, Curley’s wife and Lennie himself in the end). The main ones are the death of Curley’s wife and Lennie. Before Curley’s wife dies by the hands of Lennie, she tells Lennie that she could have been on the stage-‘he says he was gonna put me in the movies……but my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me’. Curley’s wife never asked to live on the ranch, however fate ruined her life. This can link to Lennie’s death because he too dies before he ‘tends the rabbits’ like he always wanted to. The tragedy behind these deaths is that …show more content…
In this book, there is a lot of racial discrimination against Crooks, the only black man on the ranch. This makes Crooks seem like the odd one out as well as the fact that he is not allowed in the bunk house like everyone else. Throughout the book, Crooks is referred to as ‘the nigger’ which makes it seem as if he hasn’t got a real name. Even the name ‘Crooks’ came from Crook’s crooked back. This is another example of discrimination. In Chapter 4, when Crooks becomes annoyed at Curley’s wife for not leaving his room, she puts him in his place-‘she closed on him…..Crooks seemed to grow smaller’. Whites were always dominant over blacks but even a white woman is more powerful than a black man despite the fact that men traditionally have more power. Curley’s wife also threatens him-‘I could get you strung up on a tree so easy’. She can easily frame Crooks for rape and the punishment for this is lynching if it was a black man. The court was always biased towards the whites and they always believed that the white person was telling the truth. What is even more tragic is the fact that even though Curley’s wife is discriminating against Crooks, she suffers discrimination herself. Being a woman, she is supposed to be obedient to her husband, Curley. The men working on the ranch don’t talk to her and she isn’t allowed to wander around the ranch. Curley’s wife is also not given a name.
One of the reasons Of Mice and Men can be read as a tragedy is because of the high number of deaths (the mouse near the start, Candy’s dog, Lennie’s pup, Candy’s dog, Curley’s wife and Lennie himself in the end). The main ones are the death of Curley’s wife and Lennie. Before Curley’s wife dies by the hands of Lennie, she tells Lennie that she could have been on the stage-‘he says he was gonna put me in the movies……but my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me’. Curley’s wife never asked to live on the ranch, however fate ruined her life. This can link to Lennie’s death because he too dies before he ‘tends the rabbits’ like he always wanted to. The tragedy behind these deaths is that …show more content…
In this book, there is a lot of racial discrimination against Crooks, the only black man on the ranch. This makes Crooks seem like the odd one out as well as the fact that he is not allowed in the bunk house like everyone else. Throughout the book, Crooks is referred to as ‘the nigger’ which makes it seem as if he hasn’t got a real name. Even the name ‘Crooks’ came from Crook’s crooked back. This is another example of discrimination. In Chapter 4, when Crooks becomes annoyed at Curley’s wife for not leaving his room, she puts him in his place-‘she closed on him…..Crooks seemed to grow smaller’. Whites were always dominant over blacks but even a white woman is more powerful than a black man despite the fact that men traditionally have more power. Curley’s wife also threatens him-‘I could get you strung up on a tree so easy’. She can easily frame Crooks for rape and the punishment for this is lynching if it was a black man. The court was always biased towards the whites and they always believed that the white person was telling the truth. What is even more tragic is the fact that even though Curley’s wife is discriminating against Crooks, she suffers discrimination herself. Being a woman, she is supposed to be obedient to her husband, Curley. The men working on the ranch don’t talk to her and she isn’t allowed to wander around the ranch. Curley’s wife is also not given a name.