How Does Steinbeck Make Lennie’s Death Seem Inevitable in Of Mice and Men Essay

Of Mice and men, published by John Steinbeck in 1937, is laid in the Salinas V exclusivelyey of California during the Great Depression. The novels two chief(prenominal) characters, George and Lennie, embody the Ameri seat struggle to brave the Depression, only the novel is timeless because it captures the personal isolation and suffering present in the land of opportunity. During the farthest scene George tells Lennie to take off his hat and look across the river while he describes their promote. He tells Lennie virtually the rabbits, and promises that nobody willing ever be mean to him again. Les do it now, Lennie says. Les get that place now. George agrees. He raises Carlsons gun, which he has removed from his jacket, and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. As Lennie waterfall to the ground and becomes still, George tosses the gun away and sits down on the riverbank, this is one of the times when it proves the main point Steinbeck is difficult to percieve loneliness an d isolation. The Title Of Mice and Men originated from the poem by the Scottish Robert Burns in 1765 , called To a crawl.A major point to none is that Burns is saying that the mouse does not think and lives in the present rather than being able to look over life and its past, which is comparable to Lennie (in ways) because he has the lookout of a child he does not mull over past thoughts. However he is in like manner saying that mans dominion has broken Natures kindly union, because as man we do worse. The best laid plans of mice and hands oft go astray- The best laid schemes o mice and men Gang aft agley And leave us nought but grief and pain For promised joy This ties in to the mice in the story, but more(prenominal) broadly refers to the tragedy of causing pain with good intentions. There ar many ways to look at this verse and how it adds to the inevitability the mice refer to weak people, such as Lennie, Crooks, and dulcify, and men refer to strong people, like George and Slim, the book is a story of weak and strong people. Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men at a time when he was becoming involved in Californias social and economic problems. John Steinbeck lived during the Great Depression years, a time in which many people were at or below the poverty line.Many of those people became non-trustful of any individual new to town, or those that hazard their community social standards. People, in many cases, imagined threats that did not exist. Also, many people became extremely possessive of what gnomish they had. During the late 1930s, California was struggling not only with the economic problems of the Great Depression, but besides with arduous labor strife. By the late 1930s there were an estimaled 200,000 to 350,000 migrants underpaid, underfed, and underemployed.However, Californias agricultural system could not exist without the migrant workers. Quotes that reprsent the Great Depression Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest gu ys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. . . . With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got person to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they laughingstock rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us. Chapter 1.This signifies how they are migrant workers during the Great Depression, two guys continuously looking for work and trying to survive. I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an they quit an go on an every(prenominal) damn one of ems got a wee piece of land in his head. An never a God damn one of em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everybody wants a little piece of lan. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.Its on the nose in their head. Theyre al l the time talkin about it, but its jus in their head. Chapter 4. Again it signifies the migrant workers of the time, searching for work and never losing hope and always having the american romance in mind. The thought that keeps them going is that one day theyll make enough money and have land of their own, but the Great Depression was really tough and that just didnt lead to everyone who wished for it. The American Dream is a dream of a land in which life should be better, richer, fuller and with opportunity for each.It is a dream of social order in which each man and woman should be able to achieve the fullest summit of which they are capable of, and be recognized for what they are, regardless of the circumstances of birth or position. George and Lennies main ambition is to get the jack together purchase a few acres of land they can call their own, an live off the fatta the lan. This is their dream and their dream, however, cannot exist without friendship. The constant repeti tion of the way things will be is what keeps the dream alive in Lennie. George of necessity Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him, which is apparent at the end of the novel.When George kills Lennie, he also kills the friendship, which results in the death of the dream within him. tout ensemble the characters wish to change their lives in some fashion, but none are capable of doing so they all have dreams, and it is only the dream that varies from person to person. The farm George and Lennie hope to own is a symbol of the American Dream. Steinbeck uses animal images in his story. Most often applied to Lennie, imagery is particularly apparent in his somatogenic description. His hands are called paws and indicate botheration when he uses them. He lumbers along like a jut in Steinbecks earliest descriptions of him.Lennie is also associated with rabbits, which are part of his dream (he will get to execute them on the farm) and because they are soft things he likes to pet. Rabbits also symbolize his realization that he is in tip over if Lennie does a bad thing, George will not let him tend the rabbits. In the last scene, when Lennie is at the pool, delay for George, a rabbit appears to him, berating him and telling him that George will not let him care for the rabbits. In addition, Lennies loyalty to George is frequently described like that of a drag, especially a terrier.Steinbeck chose these images because they connote particular traits unleashed power, conscience, and loyalty. In this way, it helps the reader understand Lennie and why he often acts instinctively. Lennie snorted into the water like a horse animal imagery implies carelessness ominous he is simple -it will be the reason they get into trouble later in novel Lennie dabbled his big paw animal imagery referred to as a bear, suggests his size, his movements, unrefined, simplicity of thoughts, clumsy, adorable yet aggressive, foreshadowing later danger also like the bear hunting for fish. Like a terrier who doesn t want to bring a ball to his master simile to contrast Lennie to a terrier and George to a master. At the end of the novel, George kills Lennie in much the same way as Carlson kills edulcorates dog. The dog is seen as useless and smelly, therefore it was seen as more of a nuisance to Carlson and the others in the bunk house. The men argue that the dog is miserable and in pain, which convinces Candy to let Carlson shoot the dog. after the dog is killed, however, Candy tells George of his regret for letting someone else shoot his dog.The dog was Candys responsibility, and Candy feels he let the dog down by not taking its life himself. You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasnt no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht persond shoot me. But they wint do nothing like that. I wont have no place to go, an I cant get no more jobs. (Page 60) This is basically Candy realizing that hes weak and not really important to anyone on the farm he has no more power than his dog, who was shot, had. I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldnt ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog. (Page 61) This was one of the most important quotes that Candy do. It foreshadowed the end of the story, which was that George would shoot Lennie rather of letting a stranger (the other ranch hands, namely Curley) do it. This quote foreshadows this due to the correspondence that is drawn between the relationship of Candy with his dog and the relationship of George with Lennie. George is determined not to let this happen to him. George knows that Lennie will be killed by Curley and the other men if and when they find him, and George wants to protect Lennie from the others.George sees Lennie as his responsibility, and George feels that he must take action to look after Lennie, even if this action leads to Lennies death. Lennies death also reflects the killing of Candys dog in the actual manner of the shooting. Ge orge shoots Lennie in the back of the head, just where Carlson told Candy he would shoot the dog, promising that the dog would die instantly and would feel no pain. George wants this unpainful death for his friend. In conclusion, Steinbeck is able to highlight the loneliness of the unsettled migrant/workers, and the sharing of their dream.In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck has made the ending of the novel (in which Lennies death occurs) inevitable by emphasising the loneliness of most of the characters such as- Curleys wife, Curley, Candy (after his Dogs Death, Crooks and George (after Lennies Death) at one point they all make a savoir-faire about their dreams and loneliness. Steinbeck also manages to emphasize Lennies stength and that because he has the mentality of a child, this is not the best combination as he most always ends up doing wrong. Steinbeck explores all of the forementioned points through references to animals because