...What delusions, disguised as opportunities, ruin the lives of decent men? The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, explores in simple language the At first, the pearl symbolizes a way out of Kino’s poverty status, but by the end of the novel, the pearl embodies Kino’s soul. As a poor pearl fisher, Kino belongs to the bottom of society, dwelling in a “brush house in the tuna clump”, but this changes when he produces a lucky find (1). “...of the great pearl he could see dream forms. He picked the pearl from the dying flesh and... saw that its curve was perfect” (19). Kino’s gift stems from the death of the oyster, and since he expects the full benefits of a gift forcefully taken from life, he obtains Steinbeck’s mockery- ‘dream forms’, wishes beyond...
Words: 490 - Pages: 2
...The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a great book that depicts how greed can corrupt a man. The Pearl is best known for its surplus of imagery and symbolism. One example of symbolism Steinbeck incorporated in the book is Kino’s boat. Kino’s boat can be seen as a symbol for family. His family was all pearl divers and the boat had been passed down from generation to generation. The songs that Kino hears are also symbols. They symbolize what is going around him. For example, when Kino first sees the pearl in its shell, he hears the Song of the Pearl That Might Be, also, when the doctor enters Kino’s home, he hears the Song of Evil. Another example of symbolism Steinbeck included is the pearl itself. When Kino first finds the pearl, it is seen as...
Words: 274 - Pages: 2
...There are several major themes in the novel, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. Themes such as the condition of the working class and friendship. The biggest theme, however, is the American Dream. Steinbeck portrays the theme of the great American dream throughout the book with characters. Characters such as Lennie, George, Curley's wife, and Crooks. The characters of the book represent different styles of dreams. Steinbeck is showing the readers that the American dream is overrated, along with creating unrealistic goals for people. The biggest dream in the novel is the one that is shared between two men, Lennie and George. Their dream is the classic dream of freedom. They want to “live off the fatta the lan’” (page 14), meaning they want their own ranch and animals, along with no rules. However, the dream is very unrealistic for these two specific men. George and Lennie are an odd pair. George is small in size, but not in attitude, with slight anger issues. Lennie is giant-like yet sweet. He is also mentally challenged. So for these pals, their dream is hard to achieve. The reasoning for that is because Lennie usually gets into some sort of trouble, due to the fact that he doesn’t know any better, and making the men leave work. Which means not making money. While George...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...Of Mice and Men: Thematic Ideas In the novella, Of Mice and Men (1937), John Steinbeck asserts many different important thematic ideas in the lives of two migrant farmers, George and Lennie through their dreams of owning their own house and living a better life with their hardships and obstacles. Steinbeck supports his ideas by successfully symbolizing many realistic ideas and problems of the twentieth century through his characters. In this fictional tragedy, the purpose is to amplify the nature of being human through isolation, dreams, reality, obstacles, and sacrifice. Steinbeck successfully develops the importance and meanings of dreams and reality, unity and isolation, and the marginalization of different characters. Steinbeck enforces...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
...Fiero, when stating "Social Realism, often a vehicle of social cricism and protest, dominateed the novels of John Steinbeck . . . "(Fiero) means that Steinbeck had a lot of criticism for what he had seen. "Social Realism" (Fiero 409) itself is not some form of literary criticism, but is simply "a style that presents socially significant subject matter in an objective and lifelike manner" (Fiero 409). Now knowing what Social Realism is, we have to interpret what Steinbeck wanted people to get out of his book. The Grapes of Wrath is about a family searching for the American Dream and always falling just short, always being enticed just to go and be foiled. It begins, at the start of the book with Tom being in possession of basically a help wanted...
Words: 327 - Pages: 2
...‘Of Mice and Men’ serves as a reminder that dreaming is futile. How far do you agree with this representation of the text and its key themes? To first answer the question we need to define a key element, what are dreams? When we dream we contemplate the possibility of doing something or indulging in fantasies about something greatly desired. Yet they are necessary to keep the levels of hope high in people to stand for what they believe in whether it be the inadequacies of society or something else. Furthermore without incorporating dreams and having something to achieve in our life will result in an endless stream of days that have little connection or meaning. The representation of dreams occurs via prejudice and stereotypes- Crooks, because he is black in a racist culture- seems to be no hope for him; Curley’s wife, only woman on the farm and regarded as a tart- will never feel wanted, another hopeless situation; Candy, one-handed- can’t do the same work as the others and is old- can’t socialize with anyone, lonely and isolated. These situations give reason for dreaming as it becomes a paradise for those who wish for something more in their life and acts as a beacon of hope yet over time dreams either materialize or they question reality and in the book no one achieves or has achieved their dream- Lennie and George, Curley’s wife and Curley. Dreams will always be a source of hope but if they are not achieved you begin to realise that they are futile which is why to some extent...
Words: 1516 - Pages: 7
...Of Mice and the Meaning of Life Although some may disagree, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a parable of the meaning of life. This novel explores many aspects for this parable including the need for human contact, the motivation of dreams, and the obstacles to achieving happiness. Steinbeck brilliantly portrays these aspects through his symbols and themes throughout the novel. One aspect of the meaning of life that is portrayed in Of Mice and Men is the strong need for human contact, which he establishes through the lonely soles living on the ranch. Curley’s wife, the only woman on the ranch, exhibits her loneliness through her constant need to be around the other men. She incessantly attempts to engage in flirtacious conversation with...
Words: 834 - Pages: 4
...Steinbeck creates sympathy in Of Mice and Men. Discuss in relation to one character Of Mice and Men is a novella set on a ranch in the Northern western state of California written by Californian novelist John Steinbeck and then published in the late 1930’s. Set in the time of The Great Depression and The nationwide effective Wall Street Crash the book features characters all around who have depressing lives but focusing in on two paradoxical characters that are always juxtaposed to one another. Steinbeck has placed us with two characters that we are able to connect with, being able to sympathise with their dilemmas and problems as the two being long-time companions with a strong relationship but also being a priority to George as he must look after Lennie seeing as he has a mental dis-order. George Milton & Lennie Small being the two ranch workers who always find themselves fleeing from town to town, ranch to ranch; never being able to settle down they find themselves moving up northwest after Lennie gets himself into a bit of trouble back in their previous location Weed. As of after he winds up in a situation where he saw a red dress of a nice fabric that he had liked and decided to grab, this frightening the woman and resulting in her screaming rape and leaving Lennie and George with no other option but to run away as he too would have faced the death penalty as being an accomplice of Lennie. Steinbeck describes George as the more complex character(Quote) for the reader...
Words: 1331 - Pages: 6
...Chapter | Pg |The quotation |How she is represented |Language devices used | Deeper analysis | |Two |34 |‘Little bouquets of red ostrich feathers’ |As a lonely, isolated and un-wanted |Connotations, imagery, metaphor and |In this quote we can identify that Steinbeck is portraying Curley’s wife as an ostrich. Unable to fly, meaning CW can’t leave or escape the ranch. This represents that she is stuck and will never be able to leave. This goes back to portraying her as a lonely woman. It can also portray that she shows off and for that reason she is unable to leave because she no one would care in the outside world. | |Two |34 |‘For the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’ |Obstacle, trap and as a distraction. |Connotations, imagery and descriptive language |Connotes that she is an evil character who cuts the hopes and dreams of innocent men such as Lennie and George. This is portraying the Curley’s wife is an evil character and warning us that George’s and Lennie’s dreams will always be cut off if she is in the way. | |Two |35 |‘But I have never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her’ |Whore and a trouble. |Connotations and imagery |In this quote Steinbeck shows what the ranch workers think of her. A girl who will get you in trouble due to her level in the hierarchy. | |Two |34 |‘Nobody can’t blame a person for looking’ |Flirty |Symbolism |In this quote it symbolises how the Curley’s wife is always pointing out the obvious. This is if someone like George...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...extremely wealthy getting whatever they want, whenever they want may lead one to get caught up in the belief that money is everything. Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men are texts following the dreams of common Americans who end up losing them. Hansberry’s play tells the hardships which come with sudden changes. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, however, tells the audience that the main reason dreams are destroyed is due to others. Lorraine Hansberry and John Steinbeck both display the futility of one’s American Dream by depicting its imminent dissipation through...
Words: 1063 - Pages: 5
...Explore the way the writer presents the relationship between George and Lennie in “Of Mice and Men” Of Mice and Men was written in the 1937 by John Steinbeck, he other well know books as the Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, h also received a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. This book is set in the 1930s and set in California, his home region. During this time, the USA was suffering from a great depression, this meant that it was hard to find job because the economy was very weak, so to find job the men were disposed to go anywhere and the bosses would exploit their workers. The itinerant ranch workers where very lonely people because they had to move from place to place and tis meant that they could set up a stable life with a wife and children. Another reason that suggests to us that they are lonely is that at the end of each month they take their money and they go to “cat house”. The character of George and Lennie are very unusual and contrasting, this is because they have a strong relationship between them and they also have a dream, a dream of buying a house and some land to become independent and to life together for the rest of their lives. But the reader knows from the beginning that this will not happen and it will have a tragic end, and this is suggested in the title “Of Mice and Men” that comes from a from Robert Burns poem “The best laid schemes o’mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley” and it means: the best laid schemes of mice and men/ often go awry. As soon as the...
Words: 3921 - Pages: 16
...unusually big man who is mentally disabled. The two of them travel together to Soledad, California to work as buckers and together they meet the memorable characters of the book. This novella written by John Steinbeck centers around one’s power and powerlessness and reveals that those who are powerless are, more often times than not, treated differently than their powerful counterparts. This theme is ever-present in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men through its characters’...
Words: 1344 - Pages: 6
...During the 1930’s, James Adams invented the term, “American Dream”-the opportunity given to everyone to reach their dreams through perseverance and meaningful application. (Apposition) The remembered NBA player, Michael Jordan, exemplifies the meaning of the American Dream through his life. In his highschool years, Michael Jordan tried out for the basketball team, but he was not able to make it on the team. Through daily practices, and an endless amount of effort, the boy who was not able to make it on a high school team turned out to be NBA’s most valuable player. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, the author, John Steinbeck clearly expresses his emotion on how he believe the idea of the American Dream is a complete myth through the characters of his novel. John Steinbeck argues that the American Dream will never become a reality due to racial, sexist, and social class issues. John Steinbeck shares his thoughts about the American Dream through the character Curley. In the book, Curley is characterized as a rude and ill-mannered man,...
Words: 691 - Pages: 3
...only these characteristics. Although Steinbeck’s insistent repetition of these characteristics makes Lennie a rather flat character, Lennie’s simplicity is central to Steinbeck’s conception of the novel. Of Mice and Men is a very short work that manages to build up an extremely powerful impact. Since the tragedy depends upon the outcome seeming to be inevitable, the reader must know from the start that Lennie is doomed, and must be sympathetic to him. Steinbeck achieves these two feats by creating a protagonist who earns the reader’s sympathy because of his utter helplessness in the face of the events that unfold. Lennie is totally defenseless. He cannot avoid the dangers presented by Curley, Curley’s wife, or the world at large. His innocence raises him to a standard of pure goodness that is more poetic and literary than realistic. His enthusiasm for the vision of their future farm proves contagious as he convinces George, Candy, Crooks, and the reader that such a paradise might be possible. But he is a character whom Steinbeck sets up for disaster, a character whose innocence only seems to ensure his inevitable destruction. George Like Lennie, George can be defined by a few distinct characteristics. He is short-tempered but a loving and devoted friend, whose frequent protests against life with Lennie never weaken his commitment to protecting his friend. George’s first...
Words: 2401 - Pages: 10
...Summary Elisa was cutting down last year's chrysanthemums, in the Salinas Valley. Henry (Elisa’s husband) asks Elisa if she would like to go out a restaurant and a picture movie to celebrate his sale. Henry leaves, and Elisa continue to garden, but while she is gardening a man drives up in a wagon. The man asks to do any job like sharpening scissors and fixing pots and pans. Elisa tries to send him away, but the man asks about the chrysanthemums, so Elisa gives him a couple of pots to fix and some money for fixing them and a chrysanthemum to give to the lady he had mentioned. When Henry drives Elisa to dinner, Elisa sees that the man had thrown the plant on the road and she began to cry. Significance of Point of View The story Chrysanthemums is told from a third-person point of view. In the story, the narrator refers to the characters as “he” or “she” rather than “I” and “you”. As well, the story is third-person because we read what the characters think and feel, like a camera recording. For example, this sentence from the story Chrysanthemums, “she heard her husband calling Scotty down by the barn. And a little later she saw the two men ride up the pale yellow hillside in search of the steers.” this sentence is referring to the characters and “she” and “her husband”. When reading the story, you see it through Elisa’s eyes. The affects how she really feels and what she desires. You begin to see that she doesn’t have what she wants. When I look at the world through the eyes...
Words: 629 - Pages: 3
