¶ … Mice and Men is an excellent short novel by John Steinbeck which reflects the extraordinary bond of friendship that exists between George and Lennie, two migrant workers and physically contrasting personalities. This short novel gives a vivid account of the dangers that are in store for an innocent man like Lennie. Lennie has mild mental derangement which makes him vulnerable in the society and he depends on the constant guidance and protection of George. As a truly committed friend, George takes care of Lennie even though he feels life would have been much easier without this burden. He lies to his boss that Lennie is his cousin and tries to shield him as much as possible from the dangers of the world. Together they share the dream of owning a farm in the near future and being relived from the trouble of having to work for someone. Throughout the novel Steinbeck portrays Lennie as an innocent character who is fond of soft things and one who does not anticipate danger. As a hint of his mental disability, we find at the very beginning of the novel an instance where Lennie is caressing...
Lennie is clearly vulnerable to many dangerous circumstances as he lacks the discriminating capacity of a normal human being. His naive and unsuspecting nature leads him to a lot of troubles. Time and again George has to intervene to protect Lennie from many precarious circumstances which he manages to land himself into because of his naive nature. Curley, the farm owner's son, is a jealous character who suspects his flirtatious wife. When Lennie gets to mix freely with Mrs. Curley, George rightly warns him of the danger. George assumes a caring, advising, protecting and dominating role in the friendship which is evident when he warns Lennie of drinking too much and spoiling his health. He also arranges for them to meet in the Salinas River whenever they land up in any trouble.
There are costs to bearing and believing in such a secret. These costs are manifested in many ways. There are the psychosomatic costs Jesse endures, his impotence, his weakness around the black boy in the jail, his tremors at the thought of Otis, "Now the thought of Otis made him sick. He began to shiver." There are also the psychological costs that Jesse is plagued by, the self-delusion associated with
Q6. Discuss what George's life would be like without Lennie, and Lennie's like without George. Lennie would likely be institutionalized because of his large size and his lack of social inhibitions or self-monitoring. George would be a drifter, without a clear sense of purpose in life other than his dream of owning a ranch some day. Lennie gives him a sense of identity. Q7. Discuss theme of morality Steinbeck's novel constantly questions conventional
Lennie and George, in comparison, are out of work and desperate for any kind of decent job. They have little money, nowhere to call home, and as the story progresses, less and less chances for happiness. George and Lennie are experiencing the Great Depression first hand, and it is not a good time for them or the nation. Meursault is experiencing a relatively prosperous period, and could make it
As one writer says, not reading this novel "…deprives individuals and communities of the opportunity to respond to an ethical imperative insisting on virtuous treatment of our fellow human beings" (George, 83). This is a tremendous summation of fundamentally what Steinbeck is trying to achieve with a novel like of Mice and Men, and a notion which sums up most likely Steinbeck's strongest motivation for writing the novel. However, as one
Stem cells are cells that can develop into other forms of cells; Evans's cells could develop into entire mice. Evans eventually began altering the genetic material in the stem cells, creating mice that had genetic material from other creatures and could pass that material on to their offspring" (313). These findings, together with the research conducted separately by Capecchi and Smithies, enabled several teams of researchers to develop knockout
Of Mice and Men ends much the same way it began: with rich, lyrical descriptions of the local geography and landscape. Salinas means "salt marsh" in Spanish. Marshy waters make up much of what Steinbeck describes in the novel. At the end of the book, Lennie and George meet at a watering hole, their secret spot. Here, Lennie sees a heron, a grand, green water bird. Hungry, the heron tries
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