This is shown during an argument over a dead mouse as it says ‘”Give it here!” said George. “Aw, leave me have it, George.” “Give it here!” This shows that when Lennie doesn’t respond to George he has to treat him as if he was a dog by repeating commands over again until eventually Lennie gives in. As Lennie says “Aw…” it shows that Lennie really wants the mouse and doesn’t want George to take away his possession relating back to the idea that Lennie is presented as an animal as he is very persistent at getting what he wants. This shows the reader how Lennie gets his way as George treats him like an animal due to it being the only that he can obtain his attention and get him to follow what he is doing. As the story progresses George is shown treating Lennie like a child as if he was a parent.
'Of Mice and Men' is actually the title of a poem written by the famous Scottish poet and writer of folksongs Robert Burns. The poem is about a mouse whose nest is destroyed by a plough. The best laid schemes 'O Mice an Man gang oft agley,' meaning things often go wrong. The poem and title basically mean that plans don't always go as they were meant to. The title is symbolic to the book, as, certain characters are metaphorically ploughed: Many of the characters in the novel have dreams, in the sense that they have hopes and ambitions.
Once he even took advantage of Lennie for his own entertainment. He was on the bank of a river with some of his friends telling them that Lennie would do whatever he told him to do. Well, he knew that Lennie could not swim, but he told him to jump into a river anyways. Lennie listened to him out of trust and almost drowned from it. What did George learn form this incident?
George’s Demand for Friendship Companionship and loneliness are things that everyone experience at least one time or another in their lifetime.In the novella Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck demonstrates the necessity for companionship through the struggles of the characters. George’s life could’ve been improved without Lennie, but his longing for friendship, took on the burden of taking care of Lennie .For example, “I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want…An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble .You do bad things and get in trouble“(Steinbeck 11). George felt responsible for taking care of Lennie because, of his childlike state of mind. George knows that Lennie gets in trouble, but the fact that they have each other is worth the work.
George is compared to a parent as he dictates or uses direct language with Lennie, for example ‘George was on his feet yelling, get him Lennie, don’t let him do this.’ This symbolises George care for Lennie like a parent would care for their child, he constantly takes care of Lennie’s problems and tells him what to do. Lennie can be sweet and loving, however when Lennie kills Curley’s wife he’s violent side is shown which is rarely seen in the novel; this symbolises that he may not be aware of his true strength, ‘Lennie looked at the dead girl. The puppy lay close to her. Lennie picked it up. I’ll throw it away he said.
‘An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, for promise’d joy!’ Burns’ word choice ’us’ shows he understands the mouse’s pain and vulnerability as he has also experienced similar pain. He shows how the mouse’s plans and the poor people and also his own plans do not go as he expected and all the expectations of happiness he had imagined do not always work out as they have been planned due to circumstances that cannot be controlled by vulnerable creature or even most human beings. Robert Burns’ ’To a Mouse’ successfully and efficentally conveys the themes of this poem through both the poetic techniques and the clever use of the charecter of the mouse. Burns by using both these features takes a seemingly unimportant incident, and conveys to readers his personal and emotional connection with the themes which makes the poem powerful and moving . This also evokes feelings of sympathy from the reader making the poem an overall
After that Lennie is killed, shattering all hopes and dreams George had, as well as ending a long term relationship. ‘why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?’, during the 1930’s America was going through ‘The Great Depression’ everything that people lived on were hopes and dreams because people had nothing else to keep them going but the determination to fulfill the American dream ; power, fame and fortune. The murder of the one dog created a domino effect which shattered dreams, took away lives and ended relationships. The death of the puppy could foreshadow the ending of Curley’s wife, ‘a little dead puppy that lay in front of him’, the puppy was small helpless and delicate as was she. Both could not manage the power of Lennie and both ended up on the hay dead and alone ‘Curley’s wife lay with a half covering of yellow hay.
A Critical Response: “To a Mouse” in Comparison to Of Mice and Men The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was derived from a line the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. Burns’ poem and Steinbeck’s book have many similarities, but they also have differences. One might wonder how a book about two men in the 1930s was derived by a poem about a field mouse whose home had been destroyed. Though that is the apparent summarization of Burns’ poem, it also has a deeper meaning – one that is not as apparent. The poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns is obviously about a man talking to a field mouse whose nest he has just destroyed with a plow.
Ha Of Mice and Men This essay examines a selected character from the novel Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men, author: John Steinbeck, character: George Milton. George Milton’s characteristics will be examined and provide insight into his beliefs and aspirations. George has several characteristics and most of them are bad. He is grouchy and has a short fuse.
Steinbeck uses animal imagery to illustrate his characters. 'Lennie, for god’s sake don’t drink so much'. This is implying that Lennie is like an animal and that he will drink until he is sick without anyone telling him otherwise. This means that George has to care for Lennie so he doesn’t get ill, which means that we see Lennie relying on George to care for him and show him the right thing to do, as we do numerous time throughout the