Reflections on Visual Representation: Of Mice and Men
Reflection Statement
Theme – Freedom and Confinement
My collage represents the theme of freedom and confinement from the novel “Of Mice and Men”. The novel is set in America during the Depression and this context is shown in the way I’ve used the front page of the New York newspaper from the day of the Wall Street crash as the A3 page for my collage. I’ve deliberately washed out the newspaper to symbolize that the Depression was important in the novel but didn’t take over the story. As a female, I was annoyed the way the novel made women out negatively by using words like ‘tramp’, ‘bitch’ and ‘tart’ and the way men in the novel used them as prostitutes, so my representation shows the freedom and confinement of Curly’s wife – I’ve given her power in my representation because her and the other women had none in the novel and I’ve made the men all fairly insignificant in my representation because it wasn’t fair that they had all the power in the book.
I felt like Curley’s wife was like a caged bird in the novel because she desperately wanted to escape from her life, but just couldn’t. This is why I used a birdcage as the most dominant thing in my representation. It is sparkley because I wanted it to look luring because Curley’s wife was lured into marrying Curley because she thought that marriage would give her freedom. The bride’s veil hanging on the outside of the birdcage emphasizes that her hopes and dreams were out of reach and that marriage was central to her being trapped. Black chains are also wrapped around the sparkley cage, which makes her even more confined than just being in the cage. A mans clothing and top hat sits over the veil, chains and the cage door, which shows that men, and especially rich men like Curly and his father are the most powerful, have the most freedom in the novel, and are the ones who trap and confine other less powerful people.
Bird’s feathers in the cage are a metaphor for Curley’s wife who is like a confined bird, and the
Theme – Freedom and Confinement
My collage represents the theme of freedom and confinement from the novel “Of Mice and Men”. The novel is set in America during the Depression and this context is shown in the way I’ve used the front page of the New York newspaper from the day of the Wall Street crash as the A3 page for my collage. I’ve deliberately washed out the newspaper to symbolize that the Depression was important in the novel but didn’t take over the story. As a female, I was annoyed the way the novel made women out negatively by using words like ‘tramp’, ‘bitch’ and ‘tart’ and the way men in the novel used them as prostitutes, so my representation shows the freedom and confinement of Curly’s wife – I’ve given her power in my representation because her and the other women had none in the novel and I’ve made the men all fairly insignificant in my representation because it wasn’t fair that they had all the power in the book.
I felt like Curley’s wife was like a caged bird in the novel because she desperately wanted to escape from her life, but just couldn’t. This is why I used a birdcage as the most dominant thing in my representation. It is sparkley because I wanted it to look luring because Curley’s wife was lured into marrying Curley because she thought that marriage would give her freedom. The bride’s veil hanging on the outside of the birdcage emphasizes that her hopes and dreams were out of reach and that marriage was central to her being trapped. Black chains are also wrapped around the sparkley cage, which makes her even more confined than just being in the cage. A mans clothing and top hat sits over the veil, chains and the cage door, which shows that men, and especially rich men like Curly and his father are the most powerful, have the most freedom in the novel, and are the ones who trap and confine other less powerful people.
Bird’s feathers in the cage are a metaphor for Curley’s wife who is like a confined bird, and the