...INSERT ATTENTION GETTER HERE! Friends are sometimes forced to make fatal decisions, and dreams often don’t come true. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice And Men, George and Candy are forced to kill their best friends, and the dreams of Lennie and Candy die out. Many times throughout the novel, friendships became fatal. In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice And Men, A frightened Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife. Lennie, who recalls what George told him, ran to the spot where they had arranged to meet. George - who knows he has to kill Lennie in order to spare him a worse fate - distracts Lennie so that he can shoot Lennie using Carlson’s gun in the back of the head, so that Lennie feels no pain. To distract him, he tells Lennie about the rabbits, and then “He brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head… He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck 66). George doesn’t want to shoot Lennie, but he knew that it would spare him...
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...H. Tharp The Unspoken Truth about John Steinbeck’s Legacy in Monterey County John Ernst Jr. Steinbeck is one of the most respected and honored American writers among our society today. In many classrooms around the world, his books are still mandated as reading requirements and there are many museums and centers dedicated to this esteemed author. John Steinbeck has won numerous awards for his books, most notably the Pulitzer Prize for his fictional novel, The Grapes of Wrath in 1940, and the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962 based on his entire body of work. Steinbeck’s other awards, which are typically less known are included in the following chart: WORK | YEAR | AWARD | MEDIUM | “The Murder” | 1934 | O. Henry Award | Print | Tortilla Flat | 1935 | Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Best Novel by a Californian | Print | In Dubious Battle | 1936 | Ibid | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1938 | N.Y Drama Critic’s Circle Award | Play | “The Promise” | 1938 | O. Henry Award | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1939 | American Bookseller’s Award | Print | LifeBoat | 1944 | Academy Award nominee for Best Story | Print | A Medal for Benny | 1945 | Ibid | Print | The Moon is Down | 1946 | King Haakon Liberty Cross | Print | Viva Zapata! | 1952 | Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay | Play | N/A | 1963 | Honorary Consultant in American Literature to the Library of Congress | N/A | N/A | 1964 | U.S Medal of Freedom; Press Medal of Freedom | N/A...
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...person is not compassionate. It is not euthanasia. It is murder.” In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, there are many reasons to believe that killing is wrong. Lennie, one of the main characters, is a large man, but would be considered mentally handicapped and he loves soft things. When Curley’s wife and him are in the barn alone, he grabs ahold of her hair and she tries to pull away, but his grip on her hair was too strong for her to pull away from, she screams in terror. When she cries out, Lennie slaps his hand over her mouth in hope that nobody would hear her. As she continues to struggle under his firm grasp, Lennie continues to tighten his grip on her hair...
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...06 November 2012 John Steinbeck: A Champion for the Common Man Born with the hand of a writer, John Steinbeck’s career sparked great political controversy, and greatly influenced the writings of his time. Widely considered one of America’s greatest novelists, his books are still frequently studied in school. Among his many accomplishments is the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. With notable works such as The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, he expressed his dissatisfaction with capitalism and his sympathy for the struggle of the common worker in a way that captured the world’s attention – which resulted in some of his work even being banned. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores the pervasive theme of loneliness and illustrates the fallacy of the American Dream. Widely considered his masterpiece, however, is The Grapes of Wrath which depicts the struggle of a family of Oklahoman farmers who are forced into a migratory existence due to the drought and dust storms following the Great Depression. When considering both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, it is clear Steinbeck drew from his own personal experiences as a laborer when writing each of these novels. On February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, John and Olive Steinbeck welcomed their third child and only son, John Ernst Steinbeck. John Ernst Steinbeck, Sr. was a county treasurer and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck was a schoolteacher. By all accounts, Steinbeck enjoyed...
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...Even with careful planning and precision, fate will be a leading factor of one’s outcome despite hard work and effort in John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s use of extended metaphors displays fate as unpredictable and unavoidable despite careful planning and work. “Heron stood...motionless, and waiting” (Steinbeck 99), revealing fate as patient and unpredictable, but is also inescapable, never truly escaping from the “legs of the motionless heron” (Steinbeck 99). Steinbeck’s use of extended metaphors writes down the relationship between Lennie and the water snake and fate and the Heron. The heron symbolizes fate as powerful and inevitable, only having one path in which it takes. The bird simply attacks with no hesitation, just...
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...Katie Oliveira February 22, 2013 Essay #3: Of Mice and Men The American idea of justice sometimes operates under a layer of mythology. Our “innocent until proven guilty” principle predicates itself on the idea that those accused of a crime will have a fair trial and will be justly judged by their peers. It is an elaborate system established to thwart prejudice and to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era story Of Mice and Men, justice is carried out without a trial. No laws are taken into consideration, but instead an angry mob of men with guns is present. Mobs react with violence for real or imagined crimes at their own discretion, not waiting for legal justice to take course. Steinbeck expresses the idea that when justice fails people take matters into their own hands through George’s decision to kill Lennie. On the surface, the answer seems obvious to most people. Of course George should not have killed Lennie; murder, after all, is wrong no matter what the circumstances. Yet it is not as simple as that. Throughout the book, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and wrong, and this makes him a burden to George. Every time Lenny did something bad, they had to quit their jobs and start somewhere else. If George had let Lennie live, Lennie would not have been able to look after himself properly. Lennie couldn’t look after a puppy – let alone himself. Lennie...
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...John Steinbeck was a famous man whom made great additions to literature. Writing classics such as “Of Mice and Men,” “Once There Was a War,” and others. All of his stories were quick to talk about human nature of some sort. Then in 1962 when he received the Nobel Prize, he openly expressed his opinion on what a writer should be making its readers feel. Mankind can either win or lose the battle internally as well as externally. Humans can conquer anything when we rule out fear, even though from time to time many all get lonely needing something to remind us of our homes. Steinbeck’s ideas were that a writer should be able to show the reality of life; to show that life is a war for every single person. In every single story mentioned from Steinbeck, he has shown that the real war is internal. Internal of course being inside of us, he showed that fear and any sort of emotion can make something so much harder to decide the next step. In that book the only person who seemed to understand the internal stirring was Slim. Who clearly said “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.” Also, the understanding was very clear in the movie as well. As the men rode to look for Lennie, Slim looked at George and they both nodded at each other in a very knowing manner. George was trying to figure out how to protect Lennie while retaining the safety of the others around him. In Of Mice and Men at the very end of the book George had to make a serious decision that would affect him for the rest of...
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...In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George makes a heartbreaking decision by killing Lennie. George made the wrong choice in killing Lennie because if someone had to kill Lennie, it shouldn’t have been George since he had known him for a long time. George shouldn’t have to carry around the pain of knowing he killed his childhood best friend, he made the wrong choice by killing him because what Lennie did was an accident. One reason why George shouldn’t have killed Lennie is because he was Lennie’s childhood friend. One quote that backs up my reasoning is, “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy” (page 22 Steinbeck). The other workers have never seen anyone come to this ranch and be responsible for another guy. The...
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...07/10/12 Karla Roman Ms karigian “of mice and men” book summary The novel opens with two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, walking to a nearby ranch where harvesting jobs are available. George, the smaller man, leads the way and makes the decisions for Lennie, a mentally handicapped giant. They stop at a stream for the evening, deciding to go to the ranch in the morning. Lennie, who loves to pet anything soft, has a dead mouse in his pocket. George takes the mouse away from Lennie and reminds him of the trouble Lennie got into in the last town they were in — he touched a girl's soft dress. George then reminds Lennie not to speak to anyone in the morning when they get to the ranch and cautions Lennie to return to this place by the river if anything bad happens at the ranch. When he has to take the dead mouse away from Lennie a second time, George chafes at the hardship of taking care of Lennie. After calming his anger, George relents and promises Lennie they will try to find him a puppy; then he tells Lennie about their dream of having a little farm where they can be their own boss and nobody can tell them what to do, where Lennie will tend their rabbits, and where they will "live off the fatta the lan'." Lennie has heard this story so often he can repeat it by heart. And George emphasizes that this dream and their relationship make them different from other guys who don't have anyone or a place of their own. They settle down and sleep for the night. The...
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...Killings The jurors for the trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the physician convicted of second-degree murder for helping 130 terminally-ill patients commit suicide, had to decide whether or not he was justified in assisting the death of these patients. After reading Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the readers have a chance to take a side on relatively the same issue of whether or not mercy killings are justified. The novel is about Lennie Small, a huge, mentally impaired man, and George Milton, a friend that looks after Lennie, searching for work in California during the Great Depression. Towards the end of the novel, Lennie enrages Curley by accidentally killing his wife, and George is left with the decision of whether or not to kill Lennie himself. George decides to shoot him solely out of love for his friend, but this killing initiates a debate in which the readers can take sides about his righteousness. Some people believe that George is justified in killing Lennie and should have done it, while others would argue that George should not have done it and should be held accountable for murder. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George Milton should have shot Lennie Small because George is his friend and knows what is best for Lennie, and he knows that if Lennie lives, he will suffer. Other people may believe that George should not have shot Lennie and should therefore be punished because Lennie has mental issues and his killing of Curley’s wife is a complete accident. Because...
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...According to John Bouvier, a justifiable homicide is, “a killing without evil or criminal intent, for which there can be no blame.” Without out a doubt whether it may be justified or not the act of murder is messy. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, almost concludes when Lennie Small, a guy who had a mental illness accidentally kills Curley’s wife. Unfortunately, the book tragically ended with George Milton, another struggling migrant worker and Lennie’s friend, murdering Lennie. On the contrary, many people see how George can be justified for this action for having Lennie's best interest in mind and for saving him from a path of destruction in the future. However, George’s decision in ending Lennie’s life can not be justified because George did it for his own selfish needs, Lennie could have escaped like he did in Weed, and even though he was mentally ill, he still had the right to live. For example, George can’t be justified for killing Lennie because he killed Lennie...
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...In John Steinbeck’s Novel, Of Mice and Men, the character, Curley’s Wife, is a misunderstood woman, as were most women during The Great Depression. Everyone is basically judging her like people judge a book by its cover, which leads to her acting out in ways to get attention because the loneliness and depression is eating away at her. Curley’s wife may seem like there is nothing to her. Some might think she just stands for a promiscuous person, but that is the thing. So many people judge before they really think or get to know a person. Yes, Curley’s wife does act like what people see her as sometimes, but she has reasons as to why she acts this way. During the Great Depression, women were treated as objects, or should I say sex objects. Curley’s wife is a prime example of what women had to do to get some attention during this time. Desperation drove them to become these dolls in society who would do anything to feel the least bit of love....
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...“ You ain’t wanted here” ( pg 79). John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, shows that people are forced in roles, that become a vital part of society. In society there are people that have to work. George and Lennie are forced to work so that they can own land. For a long period of time women had fewer right than men, and Curley’s wife is expected and told to stay inside the house. Candy is old and does not have a hand, and is seen as useless. People are forced by other people to be in a certain place in society. Throughout life people have to do a certain job, even if they do not want to do the work. George and Lennie travel together and because that travel together they have come to share the same goal. George has argued, “ And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell, with goin’ to work, …” ( pg 14). So, it is evident that George and Lennie have to be the...
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...health-related problems, including higher risk of heart attacks. Individuals often feel happier when they have a companion or friend. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the necessity for companionship and effects of loneliness is shown through the dialogue and actions of Crooks, Candy’s wife, and George. Crooks’ dialogue shows us the effects of solitude as seen by Steinbeck. Not allowed in the bunkhouse, Crooks must live out in the barn alone, woeful and isolated. Crooks states sadly, "They play cards in there, but I...
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...EVER justified, even if the person committing the crime thinks it is satisfactory? In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men , George Milton is confronted with these questions, which have major consequences, with little time to think of the possible outcomes. Even though George may be able to keep his crime hidden, the law is the law. If a person disobeys it they pay. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and Lennie would have been better off in prison serving out a sentence for the crime he committed. Thus, George should be punished for killing Lennie because he is supposed to take care of Lennie, George wanted to be by himself, and he stole a gun and used it when it was not permitted to him. One of the many reasons the killing should not be justified is because George Milton made a promise to take care of Lennie, and murdering Lennie did not fulfill that promise. In fact, it was the exact opposite. In chapter 2 when George was speaking to the boss about...
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