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Of Mice and Men

Analysis of Detail

Throughout his book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck foreshadows the events of the story in the little details he uses to describe qualities of the scenes he sets. Though they may appear to be simple descriptions of the surroundings of the men, his choice of words tell us many details of the storyline. The quote "the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green" is a perfect example of this. The words "deep" and "green" that he uses to describe the river can also be seen as a parallel to the two main characters of the story, George and Lennie. The word "deep" is commonly thought to mean strong and powerful. Though this could be seen as a parallel to Lennie because of his massive strength, it could also be seen as a parallel to George. George's thought process is much deeper than Lennie's, simply because he is more mature than Lennie. George tends to think deeply and his mind and the thought behind his actions seem to have much more meaning put into them than Lennie would have put into them. As a contrast to this, Steinbeck's choice of the word "green" is usually associated with thoughts of youth, freshness, and nature. In this way, Lennie is "green" also. Lennie is young at heart and George sees him as an equal to a child. His thought process is not as complex as a normal man of his age, and although he appears to be a grown man on the outside, his brain has the capacity and the maturity of a young child.

Another great example of Steinbeck's foreshadowing through descriptive words is in the quote "a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down the highway." The key words in this quote are "beaten", "deep", and "wearily." The word "beaten" is usually associated with thoughts and feelings of being exhausted and worn down. This single word parallels to George and Lennie in the story. Because of Lennie's childlike behavior, he usually gets into trouble doing things that he sees as harmless. As a result, George and Lennie are constantly on the move from town to town looking for work. In this way, George and Lennie's hopes and spirits are "beaten" like the path spoken of at the beginning of the story. Again, the word "deep" can be thought to mean powerful, but it could also mean difficult to understand. Like the deep pool Steinbeck describes, Lennie is powerful but also difficult to understand. His childlike behavior makes him transparent yet intricate on many levels. The word "wearily" generally gives off a feeling of being exhausted or tired. Like the tramps who come "wearily" down the highway, George "wearily" moves from town to town with Lennie, knowing that work could be a hard thing to find. He is continually looking out for Lennie as well as himself and making sure that they always have what they need to survive.

Analysis of Point of View

The third person objective point of view aids in showing how Lennie is unable to make decisions for himself and looks to George for support, and how George is more than willing to give up what he has to make sure that Lennie can have what he needs.

On pages 21 and 22, the quotes "Lennie nodded to show that he understood...In a panic, Lennie looked to George for help," demonstrate how Lennie was unsure how to answer because he knew that George had told him not to say anything, and he nearly always follows George's orders. It also illustrates how childlike Lennie is because he is so unsure of how to answer to the boss when he is spoken directly to. Lennie is so accustomed to following George's lead that he cannot answer for himself when spoken to.

The quotations, "Listen, Small! What can you do?...He can do anything you tell him to do...Then why don't you let him answer?...Say what you selling'?...Why you think I'm selling' him out?", exhibits George's compelling need to protect Lennie and make sure that he keeps his job, even if it means losing the job himself. George acts as a father to Lennie and attempts to shield him from potentially bad situations to keep him out of trouble.

Analysis of Tone

Steinbeck uses contrasting tones of pleasure and joy and of melancholy and depressive to exaggerate the apparent contrast between George and Lennie. In one scene of the story, the quotes, "Lennie cried in triumph." " 'For the rabbits,' Lennie shouted." and "Lennie giggled with happiness." Each of these plainly show the sheer joy Lennie experiences in those brief moments and appear to almost radiate a cheerful tone. In contrast, Steinbeck also uses quotes like "George was quiet for a moment." "He said shakily..." "George shivered and looked at the gun..." "But George sat stiffly on the bank and looked at his right hand that had thrown the gun away." "George's voice was almost a whisper." and "Yeah, a drink" in a serious and down tone. His unsteadiness and shakiness before shooting Lennie shows that he is unsure about the deed he was about to perform and also shows that he knew what he would feel after he shot Lennie, grief and sadness. After shooting Lennie, George is in shock at his own courage to do what he knew had to be done in order to save Lennie a lifetime of trouble and pain, or being shot by Curley. Distracted and fascinated by his feelings of anguish and sorrow, he is oblivious to everything going on around him and agrees subconsciously to a drink with Slim. The contrast between Lennie's cheerful personality and George's obvious worry is made painfully obvious in these last few pages of the book.

Analysis of Theme

Though Steinbeck embeds many themes and morals throughout Of Mice and Men, the theme of one being his "brother's keeper" is an obvious point justified in nearly every chapter of the story. George and Lennie share a bond and that makes George feel like he needs to look out for Lennie.

For example, when George and Lennie are attempting to get a job, George tries intently to make sure that Lennie is taken care of and gets a job, too. When George is asked why he does this for Lennie, he simply replies, "I told his old lady I'd take care of him." (p. 21) George feels compelled to take Lennie under his wing and be his "keeper." Although George would have been much better off if he had never taken Lennie in, because of Lennie constantly getting into accidental trouble, George cares enough about Lennie to make sure that he is going to be okay. In this way, George demonstrates the apparent theme throughout the book of being his brother's "keeper."

Another example of George and Lennie's strong, brother-like bond is voiced in the saying they had together, "But not us! And why? Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why." (p. 13-14) This shows how George and Lennie intended on staying together, getting a place of their own and looking after each other. When George says, "when his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just came along with me out working." (p. 40) he buries inside the words his pull to take care of Lennie because he has nobody else.

Great Depression Pictures

Upon looking at Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother photographs, many emotions and thoughts swarmed me all at once. First off, seeing the makeshift home they made out of sticks and cloth made me realize just how severe the Great Depression was. Sure, I had heard about it before and heard that it was a terrible time in American history, but, until looking at these pictures, I did not know just how terrible this time period was. The first picture, showing the mother staring off into the distance at an uncertain future, surfaced feelings of sorrow and pity in me. I know that I will never be able to relate to the fear of the future she feels for both herself and her children. The fact that she does not know whether everything will turn out okay for her family or not must be a difficult piece of knowledge to live with.

The last picture, showing the mother and her three children inside their bungalow, made me realize how lucky we are today. Not knowing her story, I cannot tell what the mother's life was like before the Great Depression, but if it's anything like what I've heard, losing everything must have come as a terrible surprise. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a home and have everything going okay and then suddenly getting my home and everything I cared about taken away from me. Today, we are very blessed in knowing that we now have government programs to prevent that from ever happening again. May we never have to experience the terrible uncertainty this woman certainly felt.

Use of Animals in Animal Farm

In George Orwell's Animal Farm, Orwell uses animals rather than humans to tell a story that applies not only to post-revolution Russia, but serves as a warning to those who support communism. Using animals to represent some of the Soviet Union's leaders was not only a genius way to make sure that the book could circulate through the Soviet Union without being marked as treason, but also plays on the fact that animals cannot govern themselves. In comparing the communist Russians to animals Orwell shows his support for a non-communist government by showing the readers that the animals not only are unable to govern themselves, but that they also lie to and betray each other in order to put themselves in the perfect positions to run their supposed "equal" government.

The Giver Review

What would you be willing to give up for ease and contentment? Would you give up your freedom, your individuality, your choice to make your own decisions? In The Giver, the people of the Community weren't able to make this decision for themselves. Instead, their government made this decision for them many centuries before. They knew nothing of the freedoms of their ancestors, therefore they didn't know what their lives could be like. But, having lived like this their entire lives, they didn't want to know about the past. They were taught that only one person, The Receiver, was to know the secrets of the past. Every aspect of their lives were controlled. They made no decisions of their own. Their jobs and even their "family units" are decided for them. For Jonas, the job that he is assigned changes his way of life and makes him second guess everything he thought he knew.

Every year, the kids who are 12 years old are given their assigned jobs at the Ceremony of Twelve. At this time, the kids are told what field they are going into and then become apprentices. Most jobs are occupations such as Director of Recreation or Birthmother, jobs that benefit the Community in some way. But when the Chief Elder skipped Jonas's number, he knew something was wrong. At the end of the ceremony, when all the other Twelves had recieved their new Assignments, Jonas was called up and was assigned the prestigious, honorable job of becoming the new Receiver of Memory. Because he was given this job, he was set apart from the other children. He was not to tell anyone of his training, for it was written in the rules. What shocked him the most was that he did not have to follow the Community's very strict set of rules any longer. He was permitted to say "offending" things to other people and was not expected to apologize for it. His set of rules given to him at the Ceremony of Twelve were simple. There was no instruction manual telling him how to prepare for his job. He recieved a single sheet of paper with 8 little rules on it.

Upon meeting the current Receiver of Memory, Jonas learns what the ability of "seeing beyond" really is. Throughout the following days and weeks, he begins to aquire the knowledge of what the past was like. He starts to unearth many different qualities of life that have been lost to people of his time. He begins to see color, he feels emotions that he's never felt before. And just when he starts to feel all of these amazing feelings, the Giver starts transferring memories of pain, suffering, starvation, and war. Not only does he learn of the misery of the past, but he is shown that his own community is not as perfect as it seems. With the knowledge that he has acquired, Jonas must now make a crucial decision that could effect everyone around him. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a gripping story that keeps you interested throughout the entire thing, wondering what's going to happen on the next page.

Cross-Examination

DA: Miss Covington, are you aware that your closet has been inspected by some of our most prestigious investigators?

MC: Yes sir, I am.

DA: Are you also aware that you are a pack rat?

MC: I, uh, well..

DA: Did you know that not only can your closet floor not be seen because of your excessive shoe inventory, but that your entire closet rack is filled with clothes? The entire thing?

MC: Well.. I can explain..

DA: No time for silly explanations made up off of the top of your head, Miss Covington. We have more important matters to attend to. How do you explain the five pairs of flip flops resting in your closet right now?

MC: I, uh, needed a variety!

DA: Unacceptable. And the 2 pairs of Birkenstocks? How long have those been out of style? And why on earth do you have two pairs?

MC: I, uhm, don't wear those anymore..

DA: Then why, Miss Covington, are they still in your closet cluttering up your floor? How do you explain that?

MC: I'm.. Saving them for my sister! Yeah! She'll be able to wear them soon and she loves to wear my shoes!

DA: Bringing your 7-year-old sister in this debate are you?

MC: Its true!

DA: Yeah, yeah. Save it. So enough with your shoe collection. How do you explain having 3 pairs of shorts that look almost exactly the same? Three pairs! What possible use do you have for 3 pairs that look exactly alike?!

MC: I thought they were cute.. And the, uh, laundry takes a while..

DA: So you buy 3 pairs of the exact same shorts so you can wear them while the others are being washed?

MC: Yes sir.

DA: Hmm.. Interesting. And your tank top collection? How do you explain having over 10 tank tops cluttering your closet?

MC: I like to have different colors.. And they're great for summer weather..

DA: Lets see.. This report says that they're all different sizes, Miss Covington. You have 8 mediums, 3 smalls, and.. What's this? An extra small?! Why on earth do you have an extra small Miss Covington?!

MC: I wear different sizes in different brands! Its a different brand than all the others!

DA: You need to clean up your act, Miss Covington, along with your closet.

Red Wheelbarrow Poem

Sought after

by those who chase and thirst

for affection, Wanted by every

soul on the face of this earth, Needed

in every corner of the planet, Lacking in

places where it is well deserved. Some

just wish for it, some make their own luck and

chase after it themselves. And then there's

those few who wait for it to come close

to them, yet when it is right there

in their reach, they let it free.

What might this strong

emotion be, you

may ask?

Love.