7/29/2019 Authors Craft Of Mice and Men Year 9
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12/11/11
Of Mice And Men- Authors Craft
In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck engages the reader into a
variety of emotions from
feeling merry, to miserable. But unlike many other authors,
Steinbeck uses a diverse range
of components, that allow readers to interpret the feelings
beneath. Steinbecks, choice of
colloquial language, mirrors his characters. The language of the
novel, is simple, yet very
powerful. Steinbeck uses quantities of figurative language,
which drive the reader into their
own world of imagination.
Although Steinbeck, does not engage his characters in any gush,
it is clear they feel
deeply. John achieves this by using simple language to build on
characters who are more
than what they say. For example, when George says, him and
Lennie have just gotten
used to each other, he really means that their friendship is
really all theyve had to hold on
to.
I believe Steinbeck really focuses on each event, whether it is
a major or minor. Although
these characters are from a class where they have no approach to
intense vocabulary, yet
they are still capable of communicating their everyday matters.
For example; Crooks, was
a small character, only evident in some parts of the novel. It
is significant in terms of the
time period as, racial discrimination was prominent.
The book is spread across three days, and four specific
locations. The fast paced setting,
and continuous flow, makes it seem more like a play, than a
novel. Being set in the Great
Depression, gives it a sense of realism. Every character was
involved in the movement,
they were depressed, however the love between George and Lennie,
was very different.
However, the depression, was bound to catch on to them too.
Lennies wrong step, led to
sadness, which then chained them to the depression. I believe it
was inevitable.
John Steinbeck, has lay out many hints and symbolic objects
around in this novel. Firstly
being the Mice. Mice represent the false hope for Lennie. The
title of the novel indicates
that Mice maybe important. The first mouse we come across being
a dead one. Lennie
pets it for comfort. This suggests Lennie does not care about
death, he is more attentive
towards comfort. Knowing this makes Lennies death a bit more
acceptable. Mice, make it
understandable, that Lennie tends to hurt what he loves. He
adores to pet soft objects
which leads him to kill them; his mouse, his puppy, and Curleys
wife. Coming back to the
Title, I believe that Lennie is just like a mouse killed because
of his vulnerability, in spite of
his innocence.
Another recurring symbol, are the rabbits. The rabbits portray
Lennies dream, and the
impossibleness of it. Even when George tells Lennie about the
dream, Lennie, keeps
reminding him about the rabbits. For Lennie the rabbits are a
sense of freedom, and the
dream meant he could pet soft things all day long. However the
existence of rabbits is not
evident in the book, this depicts the the reality of his dream
are highly unlikely to come
true.
As for the tone, I believe that Steinbeck, really incorporated
real life aspects, such as the
struggle for money, resources, social roles, and the dreams for
love, wealth, health,
friendship, loyalty, more or less The American Dream.Steinbeck
is one of the best writers
for naturalism.
By Maninder Sachdeva 9A
