The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay Example for Free

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is Set during the Great Depression in the 1930s in a place called Soledad. When the wall street crash as with the introduction of new machinery led to poverty and unemployment, leaving thousands of workers stranded without work, migrating from place to place searching for some money and a place to sleep. The story Of mice and men starts with a description of the place Lennie and George ended up in after running away from Wead and showed the bad conditions that migrant workers are in. In the novel Lennie and George are the main characters. Lennie is described as a slow and dumb character, while in contrast George is a smart leader and could do much more if he wasnt carrying Lennie along with him all the time. Lennie and George are best friends who travel all over the place together, searching for food, shelter, and some money. In other words they migrant workers. Lennie and George are both similar to the other workers as they are migrant workers but are also unique because migrant workers usually travel alone, but not them they travel together. Lennie and George both have a dream that one day they will own a piece of land. In the novel there are a few themes that teach important life lessons, a few are. friendship. Friendship is very important in this novel because Lennie and George are rare travelling best friends and throughout the novel their friendship is tested is tested to the limit. Another one is hopes and dreams, Lennie and George always survive by speaking about their dreams of one day owning a piece of land as Lennie always says when he is down, tell us George, tell us about the farm. Paragraph 2 The Wall street crash, the Great Depression and new machinery all led to poverty and unemployment and increased the number of migrant workers by thousands. These migrant workers had a very bad lifestyle, they wouldnt stay in one place or settle down and are always moving about. Evidence of this is Guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world, they got no family, they dont belong no place, they work up a stake and the next thing you know theyre poundin their tail on some other ranch. This was said by George explaining to Lennie that all migrant workers are lonely and never settle down in one place. The migrant workers , just as they have the bad lifestyle of not settling down; they dont have long term friendship or family, support to that is If them guys gets in trouble. They can rot for all anybody gives a damn but not us This explains that migrant workers have no real friends or people that care for them, another one is they got no family this one also tells us that migrant workers have no relations with their families. Migrant workers have very few possessions and the possessions they do have they carry in a bag called a bindle : their shelves where loaded with little articles, soap and balcum powder, razors and those western magazine, ranch men love to read and there where medicines on the shelves and little vials, combs and a few neck ties, this shows that what migrant workers own are few and are only the things they need most as they are travelling and they only cary around their necessities. Migrant workers rarely have any real relationships with women because they are always travelling around, and the only way they can have a family feel and be with women is if they pay for it through brothel : Old Susys place, where workers can just set in the chairs and have a couple of those shots and pass the time of day This explains that the workers have to pay for relationships with women. Over all the traits of the migrant workers are interconnected. For example, they dont have long term friendships because they travel all time, they also dons have relationships with women because of their loneliness and inability to settle down, they have very few possessions because they cant carry many possessions around with them. They also get low pay which limits the number of possessions that they can buy. Paragraph 3. As a result of the circumstances and the living conditions of the migrant workers, they end up lonely, isolated, violent, selfish and have no job satisfaction. Unlike Lennie and George who have each other and who travel together, most migrant workers are lonely and feel very isolated, I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone, that aint no good, they dont have no fun, after a long time they get mean, they get so that they dont want to talk to nobody. This shows and explains that the migrant workers were lonely and isolated and also that because of that they resort to violence. Violence and a harsh lifestyle are very common characteristics traits found in migrant workers. An example is Candys experience, Theyll can me purty soon, jus as soon as I cant wamp put no bunk houses theyll put me on the county this is said by Candy and it shows the harsh lifestyles of migrant workers and shows that when they are not performing or cant do their job any more. They will get sacked, another quote that shows violence is well if you were to take him and shoot him in the back of the head right there, well hell never know what hit him this shows the violence that is going around inside these ranches. Other examples of violence are when curly attacked Lennie: Then Curlys rage exploded come on ya big bastard, get up on your feet. No big son- of- a- bitch is gonna laugh at me, Ill show ya whos yella. This shows the violence that Curly attacked Lennie with and then started hitting him for nothing. Quite often migrant workers are suspicious of one another, when Lennie and George joined the ranch and were shown to their beds: Says positively kills lice, roaches and other scourge, what the hell kinda bed are you givin us anyways, we dont want no pants rabbits This shows that George and Lennie were suspicious of the hygiene and beds that they were given, another one is I dont like Curly, he aint a nice fella. this was said by Curlys wife and it explains that she was suspicious and hateful towards her own husband. Of all the work the migrant workers do they never get any job satisfaction as they are usually at another ranch before their work has grown so they will never get to see the work that they have done, they also work very hard but get unfair low pay, I aint so bright or I wouldnt be buckin barely For my fifty and found. If I had my own little place Id be bringing in my own crops stead of doin all the work and not getting what comes outa the ground. That shows that migrant workers have no job satisfaction and are angry because theyre all the hard work and not being rewarded for it. No wonder they turn to violence. Paragraph 4. For many Americans at that time the American dream was something to work for and to keep them going, the American dream is the dream of being famous or financially successful or as we saw with the story of Lennie and George it is just wanting to own a piece of land and independence . We first saw the American dream with George and Lennie as they dreamed of one day owning a piece of land. Someday were gonna get the jack together and were gonna have a little house an a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs an live offa the fata da land explains the dream of George and Lennie and shows the hope that they both have, and dhows us what they both wake up for every morning. Candy is an old character that has been in the ranch for many years, and through those years his dreams got lost, but when he found out of George and Lennies dream his got revived, he leaned forward eagerly, spose I went in with you guys thas three hundred an fifty bucks, Id put in the chicken an hose the garden some, howd that be Shows the eagerness and excitement that he was in when he found an opportunity to bring his dream back to life, he also offered all the money he has without thinking twice about it and that shows his determination. Candy is an old man who would like nothing more than some company and a long rest. Curlys wife is also a character with a dream, but her dream is quite different than some of the workers around the ranch. Her dream is to be an actress in the movies, but like most, her dream does not come true. Coulda been in the movies, and had nice clothes like they wear, an I coulda sat in them big hotels and had pitchers took of me this guy said I was a natural. Curlys wife shows how much she wanted her dream and also shows the details of her dream, but also shows the disappointment A her dream is now gone because she is married to Curly. Crooks character is another example of the racism against blacks at that time. Crooks is a lonely character with no friends or family and very small contact with other people on the ranch, but even in the dullest of places, in the saddest of people you can find dreams and hopes. Crooks dream is really just to be independent and to be around a few friends and we found that out when he said If you guys would like a hand to work for nothing, just his keep, why Id come an lend a hand, I aint so crippled I can work like any son of a bitch if I want to , this shows that Crooks is not really interested in money or land but is just looking for some company and independence. Paragraph 5. Language is a very important part of Of Mice and Men, It gives us a true sense and an insight of the atmosphere in the novel. Throughout this section i will be speaking about the aspects of language in Of mice and Men like dialect, accent and colloquial language. Dialect is defined as words that are common to a particular region. Steinbecks characters speak in a Californian dialect, at that time in California and all around America the dialect was very unique and different, they would use many words such as bindle, which is a bag that the migrant workers carried with all their belongings in it. Lennie put his bindle, on the neighbouring bunk and sat down, shows the word is being used in every day situations. Another word is Swamper, which means cleaners, The old swamper shifted his broom and held it between his elbow, in Of Mice and Men Candy is the swamper, another commonly used word is Greybacks- Which means bed bugs, Then how come he got grey bugs, George was working up a slow anger. at the time lice and bedbugs were very common as the level of hygiene was very low. In those times a rural area was usually referred to as the brush , I want you to come right here an hide in the brush. George had instructed Lennie to hide in the brush if he got in any trouble. The author did not fail to show the accent that the people spoke with in those times, when the people in California spoke they would usually not finish their words and senesces, all the characters spoke in the accent and one of them is Curlys wife, I aint told this to nobody before may be I oughtnt to coulda been in the movies, an gad nice clothes all of them nice clothes like they wear, an I coulda sat in them big hotels an had pitchers took of me. This is full of words and sentences that indicate the presence of a Californian accent such as pitchers, like they wear, and also the way her sentences re structured and her words are incomplete. Colloquial language is another important aspect of language as it shows the way people spoke. Throughout the novella, colloquial language is widely used, all characters use the language. I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye, This was said to show that Curlys wife even looks to attract the stable buck. They would also say things like he aint no cuckoo which means that he isnt stupid. And sure its swell which just means its great. Their choice of words are also different as they say things like pitchers and I aint. Steinbeck also uses imagery in his writing which includes animal imagery. He uses animal imagery mainly to describe characters, Lennie is often described as a large and slow character and his character is captured well when he is described as an animal. Lennie dribbled his paw in the water this compared Lennie to a bear as he drank, another is, behind him walks the opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws., This also compares him to a bear explaining his bad posture and features. More support is His huge companion drank in huge gulps in the water, again here. Steinbeck does this to give us a greater idea of the way it feels to be around Lennie. When Steinbeck makes his comparisons he often uses similes to better help describe his character, as he did with the character of Lennie. Colour is also an important factor as it helps to describe many characters. The colour red for example helps describe Curlys wife as she is a character related with death and she is also a character that tries to attract with sex appeal. A girl was standing there, she had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up, her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules of which were little bouquets of red feathers, this shows the association colour red has with sex. The colour red is also associated with danger as Lennie tries to avoid her after George warns him, listen to me you crazy bastard, he said fiercely, dont you even take a look at that bitch, I dont care what she says and what she do here Curlys wife is associated with danger as George is scared she will get Lennie in trouble. The colour reds association with death also involves Curlys wife as she was killed by Lennie He looked down at her carefully, he moved his hand from over her mouth and she lay still, Curlys wife had died. Conclusion: The Migrant workers had a difficult life and the didnt make it easier for each other either, in a life full of violence, loneliness and un cleanliness the migrant workers have to struggle in their lives and if you were black at that time then life is even worse for you as racism at that time was very strong, you could say that the only thing that everyone at that time woke up for in the morning are the dreams that they all had, even though most of the dreams never came true and most of the people knew that they still all needed something to wake up to, which teaches us a valuable life lesson which is to always have a dream. I think the theme of the story is that you always need someone to rely one as weve learned from the novella that if you have no one you could go crazy. In conclusion I think this novella shows us how a difficult lifestyle can push friendships to the limit