Violence In Foster's Of Mice And Men
Can there be more than one type of violence? Maybe not in real life, but in literature there sure is! The two types of violence, authorial and narrative, were first introduced to us in Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. The novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck depicts these types of violence in three different scenarios, and tells how these violences are different from each other. The killing of Lennie, the killing of Curley’s wife, and the fight between Lennie and Curley all had different effects on the novel due to the different types of violence.
Authorial violence is violence generated by the author in order to add elements to the novel’s plot. “... authorial violence, I mean the death and suffering authors …show more content…
introduce into their work… writers kill of characters under stress.” (Foster 97) This quote explains why and how authorial violence is used in literature. Author generated violence usually has an underlying meaning such as a metaphore to explain why the action occured. On page 106 of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men there is an example of authorial violence, “Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em… Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.” The reason George kills lennie is to put him out of his misery. Because of Lennie’s mental disorder he does bad/violent things without realizing it until it’s too late. After he killed Curley’s wife, the farmers set out to get him, so Steinbeck had Lennie killed in order ot end his suffering, which was a plot complication.
Narrative violence is generic violence causing harm to the characters.
Foster explains narrative violence on pages 96 and 97. “... narrative violence that causes harm in general… would include the usual range of behavior- shootings, stabbings, garrotings, drownings, poisonings, bludgeonings, bombings hit-and-run accidents, starvations, you name it.” (96- 97) Narrative violence is important in the story, as it gives greater understandings of characters and their actions or relationships. It can also help to create a mood for the story. “... Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on.... Lennie’s other hand closed over her mouth and nose… “Don’t you go yellin’ “ he said… and he shook her; her body flopped like a fish… then she was still… Lennie had broken her neck.” In the novel, Lennie was mentally challenged, and one of his issues was not knowing his own strength. We see a couple of examples of this, and hear about past incidents. Even though there have been multiple incidents, Lennie doesn’t learn from his mistakes, and this is partially what causes him to kill an innocent woman. In Foster’s novel, narrative violence can be assumed to be used as something to get a better understanding of the characters. You can tell from these incidents a lot about Lennie and the issues he has, this helps readers to better understand why he acted in the ways he did. It also gives the story a bit of a violent and erie mood.
Narrative violence can cause more than one mood or character relationships and actions. The scene of Lennie getting into a fight with Curley in Of mice and Men had a different relationship and meaning for action than the scene with Curley’s wife. “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it… his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand… Lennie watched it in terror the flopping little man whom he held… suddenly Lennie let go his hold… Curley sat… looking in wonder at his crushed
hand.”
Whether it’s authorial or narrative violence, the author is in someway using it to show the reader something, or advance the plot. Even though the human world doesn’t see violence as having a metaphorical meaning, the literary world does. However, the effects from each of these types are very different. Whether it’s a novel from Shakespeare’s time or a novel from the modern era, the literary techniques have are quite the same; authors use the types of violence to add to their novel in many different ways, whether it be character info or plot advancement. Now that you know the types of violence and how they are used effectively in the story, you will better understand the text and the reasons authors write the way they do.
Authorial violence is violence generated by the author in order to add elements to the novel’s plot. “... authorial violence, I mean the death and suffering authors …show more content…
introduce into their work… writers kill of characters under stress.” (Foster 97) This quote explains why and how authorial violence is used in literature. Author generated violence usually has an underlying meaning such as a metaphore to explain why the action occured. On page 106 of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men there is an example of authorial violence, “Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em… Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.” The reason George kills lennie is to put him out of his misery. Because of Lennie’s mental disorder he does bad/violent things without realizing it until it’s too late. After he killed Curley’s wife, the farmers set out to get him, so Steinbeck had Lennie killed in order ot end his suffering, which was a plot complication.
Narrative violence is generic violence causing harm to the characters.
Foster explains narrative violence on pages 96 and 97. “... narrative violence that causes harm in general… would include the usual range of behavior- shootings, stabbings, garrotings, drownings, poisonings, bludgeonings, bombings hit-and-run accidents, starvations, you name it.” (96- 97) Narrative violence is important in the story, as it gives greater understandings of characters and their actions or relationships. It can also help to create a mood for the story. “... Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on.... Lennie’s other hand closed over her mouth and nose… “Don’t you go yellin’ “ he said… and he shook her; her body flopped like a fish… then she was still… Lennie had broken her neck.” In the novel, Lennie was mentally challenged, and one of his issues was not knowing his own strength. We see a couple of examples of this, and hear about past incidents. Even though there have been multiple incidents, Lennie doesn’t learn from his mistakes, and this is partially what causes him to kill an innocent woman. In Foster’s novel, narrative violence can be assumed to be used as something to get a better understanding of the characters. You can tell from these incidents a lot about Lennie and the issues he has, this helps readers to better understand why he acted in the ways he did. It also gives the story a bit of a violent and erie mood.
Narrative violence can cause more than one mood or character relationships and actions. The scene of Lennie getting into a fight with Curley in Of mice and Men had a different relationship and meaning for action than the scene with Curley’s wife. “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it… his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand… Lennie watched it in terror the flopping little man whom he held… suddenly Lennie let go his hold… Curley sat… looking in wonder at his crushed
hand.”
Whether it’s authorial or narrative violence, the author is in someway using it to show the reader something, or advance the plot. Even though the human world doesn’t see violence as having a metaphorical meaning, the literary world does. However, the effects from each of these types are very different. Whether it’s a novel from Shakespeare’s time or a novel from the modern era, the literary techniques have are quite the same; authors use the types of violence to add to their novel in many different ways, whether it be character info or plot advancement. Now that you know the types of violence and how they are used effectively in the story, you will better understand the text and the reasons authors write the way they do.