What Do You Learn About Steinbeck’s View of Human Nature from Reading His Novel ‘of Mice and Men’
This essay is about how John Steinbeck represents human nature and the nice and unfavourable qualities people had during the American depression in the 1930s where the story ‘Of Mice and Men’ took place. The story shows the way different people will react diversely to various situations. In this case, living with the trouble of having to travel to faraway places to search for jobs. It shows how some people can behave overly difficult while others can be calm, friendly and easy to live with. The many characters in the story represent the many different combinations of worthy and unworthy qualities but this essay shall concentrate on three characters Slim, Curley and Crooks.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck uses the character Slim to represent a man who has only the admirable qualities of human nature and seems to possess absolutely no unworthy traits whatsoever. John Steinbeck shows the ideal man who respects and is respected greatly in return. He is known as ‘the prince of the ranch’ suggesting that he has skill above all the other men in the ranch and able to do things others could not. He can ‘kill a fly on the wheeler’s butt with a bull whip without touching the mule.’ This shows his precision and skill on the ranch supporting his title as the ‘prince of the ranch’. Furthermore, John Steinbeck shows how Slim is a born leader. His ‘godlike manner’ implies that he is like god, kind, respected and always listened to. Everything he does is done with ‘dignity’. People respect him so much that ‘his word was taken on any subject be it politics or love’ and John Steinbeck furthers this by saying ‘Slim’s opinions were law’. This means that when Slim gives an opinion on a subject, it must be correct and any opinion against it was wrong. ‘His tone was friendly. It invited confidence without demanding it.’ This shows how only the nature in which he speaks can make someone confident and willing to speak about troubles that the person may be shy about and ashamed to
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, John Steinbeck uses the character Slim to represent a man who has only the admirable qualities of human nature and seems to possess absolutely no unworthy traits whatsoever. John Steinbeck shows the ideal man who respects and is respected greatly in return. He is known as ‘the prince of the ranch’ suggesting that he has skill above all the other men in the ranch and able to do things others could not. He can ‘kill a fly on the wheeler’s butt with a bull whip without touching the mule.’ This shows his precision and skill on the ranch supporting his title as the ‘prince of the ranch’. Furthermore, John Steinbeck shows how Slim is a born leader. His ‘godlike manner’ implies that he is like god, kind, respected and always listened to. Everything he does is done with ‘dignity’. People respect him so much that ‘his word was taken on any subject be it politics or love’ and John Steinbeck furthers this by saying ‘Slim’s opinions were law’. This means that when Slim gives an opinion on a subject, it must be correct and any opinion against it was wrong. ‘His tone was friendly. It invited confidence without demanding it.’ This shows how only the nature in which he speaks can make someone confident and willing to speak about troubles that the person may be shy about and ashamed to