In the realistically dismal novella Of Mice and Men, Ruben Steinbeck sympathizes with poverty-stricken characters which can be stuck working towards the impossible American Desire. He shows the men and ladies as man beasts, trapped in a associated with limited cultural roles, intolerance, and endless labor. Steinbeck juxtaposes this realistic interpretation of daily life with the character’s focus on a dream world which includes freedom, personality, wealth, success, and loyalty. His uncomplicated writing style allowed the story to be generally understood by those caught in the Wonderful Depression’s soul-sucking grasp during publishing, and by anyone coming from teenagers to adults today. By making an association with the target audience, presenting good symbolism, and utilizing vernacular diction, Steinbeck subtly argues that the common dreams of persons in this time period were unattainable and led only to an unhappy cycle of work and disaster while updating the reader of the true societal conditions in the 1930’s operating class.
Steinbeck mirrors the reader’s affections by having them understand George and Lennie’s circumstance and destroys their minds by delivering the in a number of complex romantic relationship that finished with a depressing death. With the use of vivid images, Steinbeck gets the reader shocked at the living situation the men are facing. At the very beginning of the book, the reader seems sorry as George and Lennie only have beans to eat for dinner, which is later ashamed when George discovers a can on the bunk property that says “positively kills lice, pests and other scourges'” (Page 18). Through his supportive sculpt, Steinbeck demonstrates how main character George has to be tight at times while using mentally disadvantaged Lennie, gets mad for him sometimes, but softens up as they can’t carry to see him upset. On page 32, George screams and cusses for Lennie, “‘Listen to me, you crazy bastarddon’t you also look at that bitch'” (Page 32) in an effort to conserve Lennie via possible issue. Once the climaxing of the story, Lennie’s death, rolls around, the reader is heavily invested in the characters marriage and feels hatred to George when he selfishly murders the handicapped man to try and keep his own task and long term wealth. Simply by getting them attached to the story, Steinbeck proves to the reader the fact that people of the twenties and 1930s suffered through less than ideal living conditions, threw in the towel friendships and accepted brutal tragedy in the name of the American Dream.
Steinbeck gives multiple explications throughout the book that support his argument, and a notable form of this meaning is the utilization of settings since symbols. At the very beginning with the book, Steinbeck introduces the pool and brush by river. This pool symbolizes safety, freedom, and seclusion. The characters enjoy the separating from world, when Lennie asks so why they’re sleeping near the pool George replies “‘Tomorra wish gonna head to workTonight Now i am gonna put right here and appear up. I love it'” (Page 8). Steinbeck continues to tie in this palmeral later on in the story, Lennie flees towards the “deep greenquiet pool” (Page 99) following his criminal offenses, expecting George to meet him there. Steinbeck expertly uses symbolism to depict the unattainable American Dream by simply contrasting stunning settings with depressing tragedies, the place that Lennie imagined to be his safe haven ended up being his death bed.
To ensnare the reader and enable them to really understand the character’s, Steinbeck expertly utilizes vernacular diction. This kind of diction depicts exactly how the significant class of California talked and acted in the thirties, a attribute of fictional realism generally known as regionalism. Straying off from the formal, clean writing of his predecessors, Steinbeck wastes virtually no time in exhibiting the reader that George and Lennie needed to walk “‘[A] God really near several miles, ‘” because their very own truck driver was “‘Too God really lazy to up'” (Page 4). This kind of use of cuss words, showing how the men seriously talked, enables the reader to never only better understand what Californian working your life was really like but just how George genuinely feels. Steinbeck never the actual reader suppose at how a character feels, rather using simple adverbs showing the character’s current feelings. For example , during a bunk space conversation, “Carlson said delicately ‘Curley experienced yet? Whit said sarcastically ‘He usually spends half his time lookin’ for her, plus the rest of the time she’s lookin’ for him'” (Page 53). Steinbeck uses words and spellings that are not classically regarded correct to be able to portray just how working existence really was also to give the reader insight into the actual feelings of 1930s people.
Of Mice and Men explains to the reader in the harsh truth of thirties working lifestyle while offerring the communication that the passion with the American dreams of prosperity and autonomy led to pointless tragedies and broken human relationships. Steinbeck’s encouraging but uncomplicated and honest tone allows the readers to understand exactly what he is trying to declare. Through the use of fictional devices, which includes emotional speaks, powerful symbolism, and regionalistic word choice, Steinbeck accomplishes his goals of revealing the lives of 1930s doing work men and shaming their very own fascination with the American Wish.
