Category: John Steinbeck

There is quite some trouble for someone to attain their dream. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, two pals go around California trying to make money, seeking to overcome the hardship and doubt in the world. George and Lennie stay together, hoping to attain their dream and get freedom and the self-respect they deserve. In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the Life of the Youngers is an African American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. The family struggles and has a hard time trying to attain their American Dream. The stories are about dreams and the struggles, it leaves the reader sad and disappointed. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the authors use allusion, imagery, and symbolism to portray the struggle for The American Dream.

The characters George and Lennie represent the struggle to make money in the early days to try to attain their dream. When Lennie first describes the dream, he uses allusion in his description. Lennie says “A life off the fatta the land,” (Steinbeck 9). The fat of the land is an interpretation that refers to having the best of life, In the case of Lennie and George and their dream for a home of their own, it also means that they assume they will be able to survive by relying on what they can grow and raise. After, Geoge is talking to Lennie about having each other’s back no matter what. George says “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place… They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.” (Steinbeck 15). By saying that he means no matter what happens they will always have each other’s back. Although that was at the beginning throughout the story they have both had each other’s back.

The plant that Mama takes care of represents her dream for her family. When Mama first takes care of the plant, it describes her dream with symbolism. As Mama says “Lord, if this little old plant doesn’t get more sun than it’s been getting, it ain’t never going to see spring again” (Hansberry 40). The plant also symbolizes her dream to own a house and to have a garden. With her plant, she practices her gardening skills. In the first part of the play, the plant is outside, as if it is a dream out of reach and just keep it alive. As Mama describes her children as “like this little old plant that never had enough sunshine or nothing,” (Hansberry 52). There the plant also symbolizes her dream for her children’s dreams to come true. Although the dreams seem like they are fading away she keeps fighting.

When George talks to Lennie about the dream and the farm. When George does he symbolizes the farm when talking to Lennie. As George says, “We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell with goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it and listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof” (Steinbeck 14). George is also saying this as a strong motivation to Lennie and him because workers like Lennie and George have no family, no home, and very little control over their lives. After when Candy says they could still have the farm together, George says, “I think I knew from the very first. I think I knew we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 94). George says this because Lennie was the main reason why he wanted that and now without Lennie, he feels like it is useless. Although without Lennie he still supports the dream and wants it and strives for it.

The authors communicate a strong message about The American Dream through literary elements like symbolism. Symbolism, allusion, and imagery are a big part of dreams throughout both of the novels. The author’s thought about The American Dream is obvious in Of Mice and Men and A Raisin in the Sun.

Works Cited

1. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Glencoe, 1958, New York.
2. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Covici Friede, 1937, New York.

Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novella/tragedy based during the Great Depression (1929-1939) in America. The novel is based around two friends (George Milton and Lennie Small) who tour America in search of a job. The title was based on the Scottish poem “To A Mouse (on turning her up in her nest with the plow)” by Robert Burns written in 1785. The poem explains how we should accept and tolerate all lifeforms of all sizes (this is similarly portrayed in the novel). The name of the novel was taken from a line from Burn’s poem which says ‘The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men/Gang aft agley’. This vaguely translates to even the best plans can go wrong even if it is from the most intelligent and biggest creatures to the smallest and least intelligent. This can be applied to George (the smart one) and Lennie (the intelligent one) when they decide to invest in a large piece of land and be their own bosses. However, this does not go to plan.

The character I feel the most sympathetic about is Curley’s wife. In the novel, she doesn’t have a name but is only known as her husband’s wife and nothing else. She is not able to relate to other women and is not allowed to converse with other men due to her husband’s jealousy. In addition, he went to a brothel with his friends and told them that their relationship was not a solid one. The narrator of the book used a third-person omniscient point of view. This enabled Stinebeck to use detailed imagery to describe the scenery and each character. This made me feel like I was in Steinbeck’s novel going around with the characters. In addition, the narrator uses a rather sympathetic tone towards the characters. However, he does not create a happy ending for them. Steinbeck made the characters talk like how men usually do but they conversed on a deeper level. This made the language complex yet simple.

Whilst reading this book, I learned how people during that time had to deal with when their lives changed drastically due to the Great Depression. People born in the 21st century usually do not know how people lived and felt during these times. However, Steinbeck was able to write in such detail that made me feel empathy towards the people and characters (in the novel) living through this very tough time. I loved how precise the author wrote and the imagery used. Although the novel was shorter than most novels, it was a bit low moving during the beginning. However, it did become better towards the middle and the end.

This novel made me want to read more books written by Steinbeck as his writing style is refreshing and makes you feel like you are with the characters. Because of this, I thoroughly enjoyed Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Lee’s book was as captivating as Stienbecks as it also used a lot of imagery to describe the scenery and characters. Because of this, I was also able to understand (even more) people during the Depression but also racism and prejudice in the 20th century.

Representations are constructed through the use of language features by the author to enable readers to identify the different social groups. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” (1937) follows the story of George and Lennie who share a dream of owning their own land during the Great Depression, facing many difficulties as a result of Lennie’s disability. By using the combination of different language features, Steinbeck represents the different social groups of women as hypersexualized and a possession, African Americans as prejudiced and a threat to society, and white American men as violent and antagonistic.

The narrative “Of Mice and Men” makes use of figurative language, symbolism, and lexical choice to present women as sex objects and powerless during a male dominant era of the 1930s. The representation of women in the novel is through Curley’s wife who is the only major female character. The production context is a reflection of the Great Depression which was an era where women were expected to stay home and take care of the children. They were cut from their jobs, for men were seen as a liability in society, whilst women were seen as their husband’s property. Curley’s wife is often described using metaphors to embody her as an object and not a human being. George revealed his expression of Curley’s wife by calling her ‘poison’ which labels her as someone to cause harm to others. This encapsulates the men’s viewpoint of women being destructive, seductive, and manipulative due to how Curley’s wife parades herself wearing provocative clothing. Steinbeck applied derogatory language to showcase the connotations of ‘tart’ and ‘jailbait’ resulting in a low respect and opinion of Curley’s wife from the reader. Curley’s wife is constructed to be ‘othered’ through the men’s actions of excluding her and classifying her as being not one of them. Her given a description of “tart” and “jailbait” throughout the text portrays her as a sex object who doesn’t hold any self-value. This ultimately evokes a feeling of disgust and hatred from the readers as women are to be modest and gracious. The repetition when describing her attire with “red mules, nails were red, red ostrich feathers” symbolizes her as a young woman who is capable of causing trouble by seducing the ranch hands in order to make Curley jealous. Red is an intense color that plays with the reader’s emotions and has the connotation of love and danger, red is commonly used to evoke amorous feelings (red nails, red mules). Furthermore, ostrich feathers have the connotation of wealth and showgirls given that the book was set in the 1930s, ostrich feathers were commonly worn only by wealthy people and performers. However, women are also portrayed as lonely, vulnerable, and victims of sexism where they were treated with prejudice in society. Steinbeck further utilizes a lexical choice of using emotive language within the conversations of Lennie and Curley’s wife about her unaccomplished dreams of becoming a Hollywood star. This signifies that women are impotent to their own dreams and rights as they are to only depend on men. As well as Curley’s wife of feeling no sense of belonging, ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?”, drastically changes the reader’s perception of her being scandalous and an exhibitionist to someone who just wanted to feel loved and cared for. Lexical choice plays on the reader’s emotions to feel sympathetic and understanding for women during the great depression. Nowadays, an average Australian who values equality is positioned to feel shocked and sensitive, however, today women are treated with more rights and respect by society. Throughout the years sexism has gradually improved with less discrimination and stereotyping against women, however, sexism is still very much present in today’s generation.

The representation of African-Americans is presented with the use of symbolism, lexical choice, and diction. Crooks, who is the only colored man in the novel remains subject to racist ideas and treatment by his fellow characters. His character gives an insight into how colored people were isolated and brutally treated by white Americans even after slavery had been abolished during the 1930s. The Jim Crow Laws were established in 1877 which legalized black Americans to acquire inferior positions in society and the economy. In addition, African-Americans were to live separately, the affected areas included places such as schools, bathrooms, parks, and hospitals. Crooks being the only coloured character in the novel admits that he feels extremely lonely. When Lennie appeared, Crook’s natural reaction was to turn him away, although due to his desire for company, he eventually invites Lennie in. Crooks’ loneliness is evident by the phrase “s’pose you didn’t have nobody, s’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse… cause you were black”, the repetition of “s’pose” incites a feeling of sympathy as a response from the readers as African-Americans were segregated from the white community. This symbolizes and encapsulates the struggles all African-Americans experienced as a result of the Jim Crow Laws of not being important enough to have the freedom of conversing with the ‘inferior’ race. Throughout the novel, Crooks receives very offensive names such as “stable buck” and “nigger” from the other characters which is the normal treatment for a black man at the time. The connotation of black as being evil and dangerous whilst white is connoted as peaceful and pure symbolizes the racial discrimination and prejudice faced by the colored minorities against the white-skinned society. John Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to present the cruel and unfair white power over the colored people with, “You keep your place, Nigger. I could get you strung up in a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”. Such comments coming from a woman who was of a very low social status explain once again just how degraded the black Americans were. Crook’s reply, “Yes ma’am” supports the fact that he is aware of racial inequality and keeps it in mind as his ‘reality check’. Steinbeck’s choice of using racial slurs such as the n-word is a reflection of the African-Americans who were represented by Crooks. Specifically, the n-word was used to dehumanize and derogates the colored people. Even Crooks’s name dehumanizes him by being called Crooks for his disability of having a crooked back. Society today is positioned to feel shocked and outraged by such inhuman acts of completely disregarding and rejecting an entire race based only on skin color. Everyone should be equal no matter what color or where we come from because we are all humans. However, racism is still present and regularised in today’s society requiring extra attention in able for it to improve. Therefore Steinbeck utilizes language conventions to present Crooks as an accurate representation of the Africans’ struggle with the effects of racism in the 1930s.

John Steinbeck constructs men in his novel as lonesome; aggressive and violent, which all of the male characters fall under. The historical context of white men is to be the most dominant in the household, which is where their aggressiveness spikes. The 1930s was a male dominant era when men were ‘the supplier’ of the family. The stock market crash (1929) suddenly changed America which resulted in an increase in unemployment. The country’s agriculture industry was the main source of income for most Americans, specifically ranch hands, although the crashing market eventually caught up and many got redundant. George and Lennie represent the large numbers of migrants who immigrated to the South in hopes of finding agricultural work. In the novel, ranch-hand men are one of the loneliest white American classes, as they either abandoned their families or left for work to support them. This is evident through the phrase ‘guys like us who work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world, they ain’t got no family, they don’t belong any place’, this further utilizes symbolism to highlights the lack of companionship that they receive as the men are always on the move for new jobs. This prevented the male characters to create friendships and relationships with others; as a result, males have built up a barrier to instantly become skeptical of those who travel alone. The boss’s confusion upon noticing Lennie and George traveling together is an example of how isolation was so common that whoever was to travel together is doubted. Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ has most of the characters as males, which gives the readers an insight into the different levels of masculinity and aggressiveness which were considered male characteristics in the 1930s. Lennie is described as a big and strong man, however, he portrays a childlike and immature character juxtaposing the aggressive qualities of white men. This is supported by Slim’s portrayal of Lennie with, ‘…sure he’s just like a kid, there ain’t no more harm in him than a kid either’, emphasizing his childish characteristics and lack of moral judgment. Due to the Great Depression, men become more violent in order to maintain their traditionally dominant stance and outlook. Curley represents the more hostile and toxic aspect of masculinity supported by his remarks of ‘I’m gonna get him…I’ll kill the big son-of-a-***** myself’, emphasizes the threatening and intimidating nature of men through violence and hostility. An average Australian today is positioned to disagree with the representation of white men as there has been an extreme change in social hierarchy through the years. Although men being the ‘supplier’ of the family is still being continued by the majority. The use of lexical choice, metaphors, and diction collaborate to present men as vicious and aggressive.

John Steinbeck incorporated the use of figurative language to represent various social groups through the text. Women as seductive and hyper-sexualized, however, they are also victims of sexism and imponent to achieve their own dreams. African-Americans as the lowest social class became the most impacted social group from the Great Depression along with their struggles of racism and discrimination from the white-skinned community. White men as hostile and aggressive towards all social groups and to each other, however, they are also somewhat affected by isolation as a result.

Marginalize states ” to relegate an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group”. Steinbeck portrays the theme of marginalization because it foments racism, sexism, and social exclusion. It is important throughout the book because it sets the tone, and develops the attitudes of each character and the way they act. In Of Mice and Men, marginalized people who are neglected by society, create a society of their own; they share their dreams and help each other out, although they are all different from each other. In this novel characters like Lennis, George, Candy, and Curleys wife are marginalized from society.

Lennie is pushed aside because he is an extremely troubled character based on his mental disability. Curry takes advantage of Lennie’s lack of control and independence and starts working for him. Although Lennis suffers from exclusion he has George by his side, he suffers social injustice because of his lack of money. Lennis isn’t as lonely as he is with George but he has to take “responsibility” and “care” for Lennie’s actions. Even though this is a weight on George’s shoulders they need each other in order to survive“Well, we ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. If they other guys get in jail they can rot for all anybody cares” ( Steinbeck 8.1-2) This demonstrates the loneliness and segregation within society.

Curley’s wife is one of the only female characters in the novel. She faces a lot of discrimination from boys and isn’t even putten a name. She is treated as an object throughout the Novel and is represented as an “attraction” towards Lennie. Curley’s attitude towards other people makes everybody avoid her which leads her to want more social interaction. She is on the margins of society because she is a woman in a male environment, the ranch, and is very lonely. “Think I don’t like to talk to someone every once in a while.” ( Steinbeck 8. 13-14) This demonstrates that Curley’s wife is so unhappy because she doesn’t have anybody and wishes to have a “different” life.

Crooks is a character in the Novel who takes care of horses and lives by himself because of his skin color. He is a black man in a very racist time and in the country viewed as an “outsider” to the rest of the people of the ranch. Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the white ranch hands. Steinbeck shows Crook’s dignity and pride through the book when he will not ‘accept charity’ from anyone. He is conscious that once he is no longer useful he will be “thrown out” which makes Crooks Lonely and insecure. ‘You have no right to come into my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’

( Steinbeck 4.7-8)” It demonstrates the attitude Crooks has towards people based on the treatment society has given to him.

Steinbeck portrays the theme of marginalization because it foments racism, sexism, and social exclusion. Throughout the novel, we get to understand the different perspectives and interactions between them. Readers are guided into believing the decisions the characters make are the right ones based on the difficulties and challenges they have faced in their lives. Each character that is marginalized has an effect on the Novel, it shapes the entire story and teaches us about friendship and the effect society has made on these different groups.

The novel Of Mice and Men was narrated by John Steinbeck back in 1937. It tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place from time to time in California, in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression. The movie version of the story was released in late 1939 and received favorable reviews. It was mostly faithful to the book but does have some exceptions in several places. In this article, I will be mainly talking about two major differences between the original novella and the film adaptation.

To begin with, as is common in film adaptations, the motion picture medium allowed the filmmakers to ‘open up’ and develop the story more freely and thus have more freedom on expressing. Steinbeck had written the novella with the intention of adapting it into a stage play, which he really did in 1937, the year the book was written and published. In order to make the adaptation to the stage simple, the author confined the action to two sets, a bunkhouse, and a barn. The only exception was the campsite by the pool in the first and last chapters. This could easily be represented on a stage with a fake campfire and electric lights. Everything that happens outdoors in the novel is only described or represented with sound effects. For instance, “Through the open door came the thuds and occasional clangs of a horseshoe game, and now and then the sound of voices raised in approval or derision.” (19) “The sound of the approaching grain teams was louder, the thud of big hooves on hard ground, a drag of brakes and the jingle of trace chains.” (15) Steinbeck describes the clang of horseshoes and the stomping of horses’ hooves. When Carlson shoots Candy’s dog, the men in the bunkhouse hear the sound of one shot outside. “A shot sounded in the distance. The men looked quickly at the old man. Every head turned toward him.” (24) While in the movie, many omni outdoor scenes were presented, which show the beautiful farmland of California, the big wagons being pulled by bunches of horses, and the crews of men working really hard at harvesting barley. In my opinion, Steinbeck would undoubtedly have included such scenes in his novella if he hadn’t been thinking of turning his story into a stage play, which had restricted the scenes for the actions a lot.

The other major difference between the novella and the movie was how they present Curley’s wife. In the original work, the author described Curley’s wife as juvenile and even being called a jailbait. “She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger.” (25) She is obviously only a kid in the original work. There is a reason why Steinbeck made her very young, it’s to justify her irresponsible behavior and the fact that Lennie could kill her so easily by shaking her and breaking her neck. “He shook her then, and he was angry with her. ‘Don’t you go yellin’,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” (45) I pictured her as slender and frail, not fully mature, probably as young as seventeen as I was reading through the book. In the movie version, the role was played by Betty Field, who was born in 1913 and would have been twenty-six when the picture was made. Her character is a hard-boiled, worldly-wise woman who should have known better than to be flirtatious with Lennie, the mentally limited giant who crushed her husband’s hand to a pulp and has just killed a puppy by petting it too hard.

Of Mice and Men is a beautifully written piece of literature with so much depth. Every chapter, every character, and plot careful word choices that were made, and how it was constructed was extremely fun to tear apart and analyze. Because there is so much to take and build from the story I will stick with me major theme I saw that stood out to me. One of Steinbeck’s messages in the story; is loneliness. Steinbeck reinforces the idea of loneliness quite often in the story, there wasn’t a chapter where loneliness wasn’t mentioned.

One way, if not the most major way Steinbeck included loneliness into the story was with a character, minor yet crucial; Curley’s wife. Symbolizing life at the time and how almost if not how all people were feeling. Lonely. Lingering within the characters, not invited but still shows up. Not accepted and pushed away, ignored yet still present. During this unfortunate time, the great depression was happening and men and boys of all ages had to go around leaving their homes and traveling in order to survive. Families are broken and businesses going out as the name itself says, a great depression falls on everyone. A very common emotion felt by everyone but to carry on the emotion was ignored and pushed away. Steinbeck wants audiences to understand how people of the time felt to an extent. He carefully does this by the way he gives character and personality to the characters and in this sense, Curley’s wife. In the story, Curley’s wife first is introduced by appearing in front of George and Lennie. She comes trying to appeal to the boy’s sexual desires. She arches her back and starts to talk playfully and as if almost seducing. (-“She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.– “If he ain’t, I guess I better look someplace else,” she said playfully.– She smiled archly and twitched her body.”) her introduction to George and Lennie is a way of how loneliness will soon creep up on them; how at first they come to the new land and now they are soon to work and possibly reach their dream of owning land themselves but loneliness appears so ‘beautifully’ and so hard to ignore as more so shown by Lennie as he knows no better to not be lured in. This is a foreshadowing of the loneliness they will soon feel after the plot continues and eventually, they will no longer have each other. The way in which she appears already gives George and bad feeling which he tells Lennie, who can’t look away and finds her pretty that he must not look at or as she is ‘poison’ (-“Gosh, she was purity.” He smiled admiringly. George looked quickly down at him — “Listen to me, you crazy bastard,” he said fiercely. “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I’ve seen ‘em poison before, but I saw any piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.’’) Another way that as George is the more intelligent one, he can sense that bad things will happy, that bad things will cause bad things to happen which could result in losing Lennie. As a sense of foreshadowing, he tells Lennie to stay away and that she will lead to nothing but trouble. In a sense, loneliness makes us do things we will regret and doesn’t put us in the right mindset to make proper decisions. Candy and Crooks are also dealing with loneliness and are lonely in different ways that also symbolize different types of loneliness being felt at the time but going more into it would take too much time so I’ll do my best to keep it short and simple.

Steinbeck also enforces loneliness when in the story even the town’s name is translated to Soledad, a Spanish word meaning; solitude or alone. It is a very sublets hint of an Easter egg almost. Aside from that the reactions the characters give to George and Lennie as they show up on the ranch and say they travel together are extremely unusual to them and even the Boss assumes that George is just up to no good and has a ‘plan’ of some sort just to use Lennie. ( -“Say—what you sellin’?” – Huh? – “I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?”- “No, ‘course I ain’t. Why ya think I’m sellin’ him out?”- “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.” ) Because George and Lennie travel together and they lean on each other- which at the time was extremely unusual and it was every man for himself. Being lonely was one of if not, the most common emotions felt by travelers and the people of the time. The characters at the ranch were confused and in disbelief that the two could travel together and keep each other company. This is Steinbeck’s way of showing that loneliness was far too common for many people and it was uncommon to not be lonely. In times of hardship and depression, man must fend for himself, and that loneliness was only a mere breeze of emotion that had to be ignored no matter how much it blew or wherever direction it went.

There are many ways hidden or transparent that loneliness is shown and highlighted in OMAM, there are also many other symbolic things but that is for now, Steinbeck’s beautifully twisted way with words really made this story so interesting to read and there is just so much to analyze and tear apart and learn from it. A true masterpiece at its finest!

The theme of loneliness is presented in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. In the novel Of Mice and Men, loneliness is an important emotion that often drives the characters to behave in a different manner to usual. Steinbeck uses characters, some of the most important ones including Curley’s wife, Candy, and Crooks, to reflect on the bigoted time period that ultimately leads to the characters’ loneliness and unusual behavior.

Curley’s wife is a major character in Of Mice and Men and is married to Curley, a very aggressive ranch worker that proves his masculinity by fighting other workers and marrying an attractive woman; he was the boss’ son. Curley entirely controlled his wife which was very common during the book’s time period. He had forbidden all of the workers from talking to his wife. Desperate for attention and respect, Curley’s wife uses her beauty to her advantage. In chapter four, she intimidated and threatened Crooks’, the stable buck. When he told her to leave his room, she told him, “You keep your place then, nigger, I could get you strung up so easy it ain’t even funny.”. The way she behaved resulted in her being labeled as a “tramp”, “tart”, “rat-trap”, and many other derogatory names. She felt powerless and lonely. The only person that Curley’s wife could talk to was Lennie because he was not aware of her current situation. In her last moments with Lennie in the barn, she finally felt like she was being acknowledged and listened to. For the first time, she confessed that “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”. She became vulnerable after telling Lennie to feel her soft hair and this then leads to her death. Curley’s wife is a brilliant example of the oppression and sexism against women in the 1930’s.

There are other reasons why people were discriminated against and isolated, some of which include ageism and ableism. Candy was the oldest ranch worker in the book, that lost his right arm in an accident. He was discriminated against because of his age and disability and was an outcast. He had no family, except for the dog he raised. His dog used to be of great usefulness, but as the dog became older, he became less useful and helpless. This resulted in him being shot by Carlson which intensified Candy’s loneliness.

Workers were expected to be productive on the ranch, and if one no longer met that demand, due to age or ability to perform certain tasks, they would be dismissed and left to suffer and die. Candy recognizes that the same thing will happen to him, and he tells George that “Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the county”. To escape his loneliness and eventual fate of getting kicked, Candy became quickly interested in George and Lennie’s dream, offering a total of $350 towards the dream farm. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred and fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be?”. He was very attached and hooked onto the dream of the farm, and persisted to have the farm in spite of what happened with Lennie later in the novel. The farm would have eliminated his fear of being alone and would have developed another relationship worth having.

One of the biggest issues that were existed in this time period was racism, which Crooks was a victim of. He was physically separated from the other men and had limited contact with others. As a replacement for friendship, he kept himself occupied with books. Still, he admitted that “Books ain’t no good,” and that “A guy needs somebody – to be near him. A guy goes nuts when if he ain’t got nobody”. In the Great Depression, black people faced racial discrimination and segregation from the dominant, white people. However, this was greatly exaggerated in the story as Crooks was the only black man on the ranch. Unlike Curley’s wife and Candy, Crooks accepted his role in society because he knew that he was powerless against the oppressive forces of racism. He was aware that he was treated as if he was less important than the other men and did not have a voice in society. “This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it doesn’t mean nothing, see?”. The sad reality of this deprived Crooks of his right to be treated as an equal human being with self-worth and connection with others. His acceptance of the situation ironically intensified his loneliness as he gave up trying to talk to others and became harsh and bitter.

The Great Depression was a time of intolerance, which is present in Of Mice and Men. Curley’s Wife, Candy, and Crooks were some of the characters who represented the loneliness and isolation brought on by their time period. These characters faced social issues like racism, sexism, and ageism, resembling the oppression of minority groups by the discriminatory nature of their society.

Each character recognized their loneliness and depending on what their current situation and role in society was, they took specific actions to fight against, or cope with it. Steinbeck has made it clear that the loneliness brought on by discrimination does impact their behavior, actions, and mindsets.

In Literature, symbols are used in order to produce impact and accomplish additional meaning to the story. In stories there is normally always some symbolic meaning behind the authors writing, this reflects the purpose for writing the piece. In his short story “The Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck uses symbols to represent the main character, Elisa Allen, who struggles in living in a ‘man’s world.’ The struggles that Elisa Allen experiences relate to the oppression of women, this is when women were being unjustly held back from achieving full equality for much of human history.

In “The Chrysanthemums,” Elisa Allen is unhappy with the traditional female role and experiences this struggle that limits her to gardening and holds her captive to her wifely duties. Readers see that Elisa keeps a neat house, “with hard-polished windows, and a clean mud-mat on the front steps.” (pp.227) This points to the fact that Elisa is a simple housewife, that keeps up with her duties. While Elisa is working in her flower garden, surrounded by a wire fence, her gardening style takes on a masculine perceptive. Gardening is a symbol of her trying to find her own strength. This is the manliest thing she is able to do. The way she is gardening is described as “over-eager” and “over-powerful,” and her fingers are described as “strong.” (pp227) Steinbeck then uses the wire fence as a symbol for keeping Elisa protected from a ‘man’s world.’ This fence symbolizes a boundary, and as long as she stays inside the fence and does her wifely duties, she is doing what a woman of that time is supposed to do. These symbols show readers that Elisa is bound to this lifestyle. Although she is fully capable of doing manly work, she is held back. For example, her husband mentions “I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples that big.” She replies, “Maybe I could do it,” but Henry dismisses it and says, “well it sure works with flowers” (pp227) His dismissal of her saying shows again that she, as a woman, should not do a man’s job. The symbols Steinbeck uses, reinforce the fact that Elisa is stuck in an unhappy life, unable to have more out of it.

The oppression of women was, and in some places still is, a problem where women face being unable to achieve full equality. This can be seen in Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums,” through Elisa Allen’s struggle with being overlooked as a woman. Steinbeck uses symbols like the discarded flowerpot, Henry Allen’s actions towards his wife, and Elisa herself to enhance how she was overlooked in her life. The author makes a point to show readers the chrysanthemum’s importance to Elisa, especially when talking with the tinker. The tinker later throws the flower pot that had the chrysanthemums she gave him. The discarded flowerpot symbolizes how she feels discarded. She is overlooked for being “just a housewife” she takes on the feeling of being lesser, and she loses a sense of strength when she sees the discarded flowerpot. This can also symbolize how she feels discarded and overlooked by her husband. Elisa seems bored with her husband and life, mainly because Henry Allen overlooks his wife. This can be seen in Elisa’s preparation for their evening. She starts by cleaning herself “until her skin is scratched and red,” (pp231) There is a sense of strength being shown from the level of scrubbing Elisa does to herself. She then dresses in her best dress which is a “symbol of her prettiness,” (pp231) because she wants to see herself as feminine and wants her husband to recognize that as well. She also would like Henry to recognize the amount of dressing up she has done for their evening. When Henry sees her he does not really comment on the amount of work she put in, and has a hard time even complimenting her. This shows, again, she is overlooked, and this struggle she faces drives her to feel unimportant in her life with Henry.

Through his use of symbols, Steinbeck is able to help readers really understand how his characters are feeling. In his short story “The Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck uses symbols to represent the main character, Elisa Allen, who struggles in living in a ‘man’s world.’ When doing this he makes not only a statement of the time, he is able to relate this to his female readers struggling with oppression. Readers see the use of symbols to where Elisa Allen is being “thrown out” and she loses strength and hope. She is reminded over and over that she is limited to being a housewife, and oppression is a very real thing she deals with. The symbols allow Steinbeck to bring deeper meaning to his story, and through this deeper meaning, readers can find his pieces of work to be more powerful.

Work Cited:

1. Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, edited by X. J. Kennedy, et al., 14th ed., Pearson, 2020, pp226-232
2. Maiti, Article Author: Abhik, et al. “A Story of Repressed Feminism: Exploring Steinbeck’s Women Characters with Special Reference to ‘The Chrysanthemums’.” EA Journals, 2017, www.eajournals.org/journals/international-journal-of-English-language-and-linguistics-research-ijellr/vol-5-issue-1-February-2017/story-repressed-feminism-exploring-steinbecks-women-characters-special-reference-chrysanthemums/. Pp1-14

The Chrysanthemums gives us more of an insight into Steinbeck’s life. The Chrysanthemums setting is similar to Salinas in which Steinbeck was born and raised. Elisa Allen is said to resemble Steinbeck’s first wife. Elisa, like Carol, was talented and beautiful, but she was also the more “masculine” one. It is not until the climax of the story that the reader begins to notice Elisa’s true pain and need for her own self-identity. Elisa Allen is a middle-aged housewife who also has a passion for growing chrysanthemums Elisa’s passionate involvement with the process of planting becomes an expression of all the suppressed romance in her life” “She is a strong, childless woman of thirty-five that has sublimated her maternal instincts by producing remarkable flowers” Nevertheless, “the plants and flowers cannot compare to her beauty Steinbeck also uses the chrysanthemums as a symbol to portray the struggle women go through in a male-dominated society. Up to now, people still feel intimidated by women who portray their femininity and strong characters as well. In some places, women are still being treated as the inferior sex. As a matter of fact, the word “strong” is used on several occasions to illustrate her physical and psychological attributes. He does a great job portraying ideas such as patriarchy, gender stereotyping, and femininity. Gender stereotyping is also depicted since the couple does not have children. It becomes even more difficult for her as a woman since no sign of a child represents infertility as a woman. Initially, they were not allowed to voice their opinions nor were they allowed to discard their female roles. Extremely intelligent women such as Elisa are given negative treatment and reminded to play their roles as women. The flowers that are planted by the roadside courtesy of the tinker symbolize that she is getting in touch with her feminine side. The present-day is filled with women like her. They have interesting ideas that they may want to incorporate into modern-day ideas. They owe their freedom to the women who fought for equality. As a woman, Elisa had no other option but to stay in her marriage even though she describes her husband as boring. Society does not allow her to walk out on her marriage nor seek satisfaction elsewhere. This action places her in a vulnerable situation as she gets to fall in love with another man.

December 20th, 1968, John Ernst Steinbeck died of heart disease and congestive heart failure in New York City. He was cremated and his ashes accompanied his family’s tombstones in Salinas. John Steinbeck will always be best known for his work during the Great Depression and the work of immigrants. Steinbeck created fiction through his local knowledge. He showed much affection for those who struggled, those who got everything they had taken away from them, for migrant workers for those with hope, and those of the transcending class. Steinbeck gave many crucial elements of American life and culture a voice. Steinbeck is considered such a great writer because of the quality of his writings and how realistic and how many agreed with his views on issues he goes in-depth with symbols that move the hearts and souls of America. Not only his form of writing but the things he wrote about the journey of immigrants, workers, of the poor, agricultural workers those who don’t usually take a stand. When Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962 he gained more attention from the audiences. Steinbeck’s stories are frequently required to be read in many high schools throughout America Canada and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

Cannery Row is a book written by John Steinbeck after the First World War. Initially, the novel seems like more of a humorous book that was written in such a theme that Steinbeck usually uses. The novel does have its main plot, but also their are some side chapters that not only interrupt but also not important to the central idea that imparts to only the narrative on a regular basis. Most of us would suspect that there are those side chapters to universalize the book, but it isn’t necessarily the case in my opinion. The side sections draw their own conclusions, and they’ve got a message that Steinbeck certainly tried to show via his novel. The book does have a major point towards respect. Steinbeck tries to say in his novel that respectability seems to be the negative force which thrives on the universe. Steinbeck also utilizes his characters to inform regarding respect and also it impact on society throughout this novel. As Stockwell Day once said, “As all human beings are, in my view, creatures of God’s design, we must respect all other human beings. That does not mean I have to agree with their choices or agree with their opinions, but indeed I respect them as human beings.” I totally agree with him about this. I believe that we do not need to agree with something or someone just because we need to respect them. We can respect their opinion and also disagree with them at the same time.

Respect seems to be the gesture of revealing someone else that you appreciate their thoughts and feelings. Respect is indeed a fundamental value which not only symbolize, but it also earn, every individuals desire. Respect is not always what you’re saying, but how you have been acting.What to do to gain respect is just to show the world that you take their thoughts and feelings into account. If you show compassion for others, others will respect you and pay attention to your viewpoints. Whatever their ethnicity, age, religious faith, or social position is, everyone deserves the respect.

In addition, I understood this a few years ago when I went to India. My relatives and I had dinner in a restaurant and perhaps a homeless family came into the restaurant to shelter from the pouring rain late at night. The restaurant owner screamed and recklessly started telling the homeless parents and their two kids to leave. People are turning to see what was going on as the mother told the owner that he had to show some respect to this homeless family. The argument here between the boss and the lady caused the guests to annoy the restaurant when they witnessed all these rude and resistance towards an unfortunate family just seeking shelter. The boss lost the respect and support others had earlier shown towards him by being rude and turning away the homeless family. Even people without homes deserve respect. Everyone is worthy of respect. No respect should be denied to anyone.

Thesis Statement

Throughout Cannery Row there are many suicide deaths in the novel with variety of different reasons.

First when Dora’s first bouncer killed himself because of rejections and lack of respect from everyone he tried to be a friend with.

Even when the author talks about the old chinaman that walks up and down the street just before dawn and dusk respectively. A young boy makes fun of him and he does that to keep his self respect. I believe this is wrong because everyone deserves respect.

Each of these events demonstrate that in order to keep up a front, a person may be motivated to uncomfortable, disturbing and perhaps even suicidal lengths. These two characters have been made fun, laughed, and labelled as distinct. In no way have they been respected, which Steinbeck clearly shows.

Thesis

Respect is a very simple act and it’s often ignored or overlooked, but it is the most important thing to make or break life success because some individuals feel they don’t have to respect anybody but they want others to show them unconditional respect, however the life does not work like this though because you have to give to receive.

Research Question

• Is my research topic and thesis worthy of writing about?
• Did Steinbeck personally was not respected by someone since there are many characters who lack respect in his novel?
• How did people respected each other right after First World War?
• What was the point of old chinaman and why no one respected him?
• Can my research be questionable since the novel was written right after the First World War and considering the violence that was present?

Conclusion

The first and most important priority in my cultural heritage is respect. We respect all. We generally ask for blessings from the elders like parents and grandparents throughout any formal occasion or birthday. If we have guests over, rather than asking them to get it on their own, we serve them water or tea. The function of respect in my cultural heritage on a regular basis is quite crucial. We all are distinct, however for who we are, how we feel, and what we believe we seem to want to be respected. We justify the dignity of other individual through showing respect to everyone while often improving our own. I believe respect is important in our life to success. I only believe that if you don’t give respect then you won’t get respect and everyone deserves respect.

Bibliography

1. Garden, Rose. “Statement by the President.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, 9 Nov. 2016, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/11/09/statement-president.
2. Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. Penguin Books, 2002.
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4. “Stockwell Day Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/stockwell_day_203858.
5. Hartmann, Jack. “Respect.” Respect: Song Lyrics and Sound Clip, www.songsforteaching.com/jackhartmann/respect.htm.
6. Harris, David. “Respect.” PoemHunter.com, 24 Mar. 2007, www.poemhunter.com/poem/respect-8/.
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