What tone was presented in the novel 'Of Mice and Men'?

Answer 1

"Steinbeck presents violent men with whom we should have no sympathy." Published in 1937, 'Of Mice and Men' is an emotive novel detailing the harsh life of two average men, Lennie Small and George Milton, who are scouring the country for work as farm labourers. Though fictional in origin, the story is rooted in past historical events. In the book, Steinbeck effectively reproduces the times of the 'Great Depression' (1930's America) where all men live a peripatetic life, constantly working wherever possible and whenever possible just to survive. The two main characters, Lennie and George, are both vividly and realistically presented to us throughout the story. As we begin to read, it is immediately obvious that Lennie suffers from a medical condition which causes him to think and act like a child. Steinbeck portrays him as a large, clumsy man who, despite his best efforts, is only able to remember very few instructions issued to him. George however, is shown to be almost the exact opposite. He is of average stature and very much shows an intelligent, perceptive personality. Together, the two form an unlikely pair of friends, especially considering the solitary life style adopted by the vast majority of men working for a living. Immediately we are intrigued by this unlikely friendship and wish to know more. As far as the story goes, Lennie and George dream of buying a small house just for themselves - so nobody can tell them what to do and so they can live a good life. In order to bring about this life goal, George brings them to another ranch, so as to work up enough money to buy a better life. Soon however, at the new ranch, they meet Curley - a pugnacious young man who is itching for a fight with Lennie, for the simple reason that Lennie is tall and Curley small. A fight quickly ensues between Curley and Lennie, due to a misunderstanding. Lennie reacts after being told to by George and accidentally breaks Curley's hand. Candy, an old swamper at the ranch, feels compelled to join Lennie and George in their dream after overhearing a conversation. The dream suddenly becomes tangible and all seems to be going well. Then, everything falls to pieces when Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife. A lynch mob sets out to kill Lennie and George is forced to kill his best friend, Lennie, out of compassion. These violent characters presented by Steinbeck deserve no sympathy… or do they? Many emotions and feelings are certainly provoked in the different chapters. Let's explore them further... In chapter one, we first meet Steinbeck's characters - Lennie and George. When Steinbeck describes the way the two men walk along the path as "single file" we realize one of them must be following the other, it also gives us the impression that perhaps they either don't need to talk very much or that one just isn't good at communicating. The first man, George, is "small and quick… with restless eyes and…strong features" which, from this description of appearance, makes us assign intelligence to him; this is mainly backup of the previous sentence which tells us one is following the other… it would only make sense that the one in front is leading and is therefore the brains to make the decisions. Next, Steinbeck describes "his opposite" walking behind; this character is Lennie. Lennie is described as "a huge man… with sloping shoulders" and a "shapeless face" which leads us to think him quite strong but perhaps of less intelligence than George, as he has no defined features and conjures an image of a large, dumb animal in our mind. This is backed up through the comparison "he walked heavily… the way a bear drags his feet" which forces us to associate the different features of a bear such as: strong, impulsive, wild, stupid etc, with Lennie. Then, through use of a simile, "snorting into the water like a horse" (which describes Lennie drinking from the pool), we see that Lennie is very impulsive and seems to be driven by such basic needs as hunger, also compelling us to feel quite sympathetic towards him. George then makes his second appearance in the text, in the form of an imperative command, "Lennie... don't drink so much", which makes him seem quite bossy and provokes ill feeling towards him from us. However, these feelings are soon calmed when we read the direct speech, "you gonna be sick like you was last night", which tells us George is only looking after Lennie's health and that he is taking on a parent-type role in the friendship, also reminding us of Lennie's childish behavior and undeveloped mind. In this chapter, we see the extent of Lennie's childish behavior, which provokes our sympathy, and we also see the calm, calculated mind of George. In many places, he seems quite bossy and angry at Lennie… this makes us quite unsympathetic towards him. However throughout the chapter, we see how much George puts up with and just how much of a burden Lennie can be. An excellent example to fortify these ideas comes in this short extract of direct speech from both characters, "'Where we goin' George?' The little man… scowled over at Lennie. 'So you forgot awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I?'" Although George seems unjustly exasperated at Lennie, it is put into perspective when we realize Lennie often forgets such basic things as to where he is actually going! Perhaps George's anger is just? Perhaps George does deserve some sympathy? Is our sympathy with Lennie justified? Let's move onto the next significant event in the novel and try to answer these questions. In chapter two, the unlikely friends finally arrive at the new ranch, after being chased out of their old one because of a misunderstanding involving Lennie feeling a woman's dress (because he is impulsive and likes to pet soft things) and accusations of rape. Quite quickly in chapter two, we meet Curley - the boss's son. He is immediately shown to be not a very nice character, as, in the description of action, "he glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie… his hands closed into fists", we see he is blatantly looking for a fight with two complete strangers. Curley then asks an abrupt question "you the new guys the old man was waitin' for?" which shows us he has no manners and doesn't seem to much care for anyone but himself. Later, when George opposes Curley, Steinbeck uses a vivid verb "he lashed his body around" to describe Curley's actions and to tell us how agile and aggressive he is. Finally Candy, the swamper working at the ranch, talking to Lennie and George after Curley has gone, tells them "Curley's pretty handy… he's a lightweight"; this broad description of Curley's life tells us the most noticeable thing about him is his boxing skill, which would lead us to believe he is appreciative of fighting and again, quite aggressive. In this chapter, we feel thoroughly unsympathetic towards this new character, as he immediately attacks Lennie and George verbally as soon as he meets them… he doesn't even give them a chance! Now we'll look in more detail at chapter three - the fight between Lennie and Curley. The scene is set; Curley is paranoid about his wife and thinks she is having an affair with Slim, the jerk line skimmer. Lennie is smiling because George has just recited the dream of having a plot of their own to him… however; Curley is in a bad mood and misunderstands the reason behind Lennie's smile. He is arguing with Slim…but things soon escalate. Carlson, a ranch hand, joins in with Slim and starts arguing with Curley too. Suddenly Curley "whirled on Carlson". This use of a strong verb to emphasise Curley's aggressive movements makes him seem very angry and he also implies he's looking for a fight by use of direct speech, "you keep out of this unless you want to step outside", which is Curley's response to Carlson. Then, in a description of emotion, "Candy joined the attack with joy", we see that Curley isn't a nice person at all, as people are obviously desperate to get back at him; this thoroughly fortifies our sympathies with Lennie and George. The strong verb "exploded" in the sentence "then Curley's rage exploded" could make us liken Curley to a volcano or a ticking bomb; it makes him seem very dangerous and volatile. All of Curley's anger is suddenly contrasted against Lennie's innocence and childishness when Curley starts laying into Lennie. Lennie's disability to think properly for himself is really highlighted to us when Curley starts challenging him, as the adverb "helplessly" in the sentence, "Lennie looked helplessly at George", defines this fact and also shows us Lennie's childlike dependence on George; which in many ways makes us feel sorry for Lennie and angry at Curley for putting him in such a direct situation. Then, as if we weren't angry at Curley already for challenging Lennie, he starts hitting him! The vivid description, "the big face was covered in blood", tells us Lennie is in quite a bad way because he is refusing to hit back at Curley and also shows Lennie's lack of decision making powers. It also demonstrates just how much Lennie relies on and obeys George, as he was previously told by George not to get in any trouble and so is leaving himself undefended. The metaphor, "Lennie covered his face with his huge paws and bleated with terror", emphasizes the innocent, childlike nature of Lennie, again making us think of some poor animal. In that one sentence, Lennie's massive form is disregarded and he shrinks down to a lamb, facing an onslaught from a wolf. Then, when Lennie finally reacts to the punches from Curley, his size becomes a reality again. Curley was "flopping like a fish on a line…his closed fist...lost in Lennie's big hand". This sentence really gives us an idea of just how powerful Lennie is. Also, by writing "Curley's fist was already swinging when Lennie reached for it", Steinbeck is able to skillfully push the blame of Curley's broken hand on Lennie's part to Curley, as, through use of the description of actions, we see that Lennie only acted in self defense. During the fight, our sympathies are well and truly with Lennie, as, not only was the fight brought on by Curley for no good reason, it also turns out it was his own fault that he received a broken hand. So far, we have seen Lennie's childlike mind and actions, George's parent-like caring for Lennie and Curley's unjust, utter hatred for other people. Now let's look at Curley's wife in more detail… In this chapter, chapter five, the tragic murder of Curley's wife takes place. Firstly, she enters the barn, where Lennie is, or was, sitting petting his puppy… In the direct speech, "What you got there, sonny boy?", she is shown to be searching for conversation; at this moment we start to wonder if she's trying to get anything out of Lennie or whether she's just there out of loneliness, to find someone to talk to. Throughout the following few paragraphs, Lennie appears to be listening to her, or at least she thinks he's listening to her while she talks, but really we realize Lennie is thinking about petting rabbits. Suddenly, she seems to twig on and asks, "don't you think of nothing but rabbits?" which tells us she is just searching for someone to listen to her instead of quizzing Lennie for information, otherwise she would be asking him the questions, not implying he should listen to her. He answers her somewhat rhetorical question (again reminding us of his child-like mind, as he doesn't realize the question does not require an answer) by telling her in direct speech "we gonna have a house an' a garden and a place for alfalfa…for the rabbits", which shows us his limited capacity for thought, as he cannot think of much else but those things basically connected, and also reminds us of his obsession with soft, furry animals. Then she, after some more conversation, "took Lennie's hand and put it on her head", so as to show him how soft it is. This shows us, through description of action, how egotistic Curley's wife is, as she just wants to show off her soft hair and ignore Lennie's conversation about the rabbits. The imperative, "you stop it now, or you'll mess it all up", tells us she has had enough, but it also reveals she doesn't really know how to stop him as next she "jerked her head sideways", which, through the use of a strong verb, shows she is panicked and is also quite unaware that such sudden movements might just panic Lennie. Here, we see that she is just as much, if not more At Fault than Lennie for her death, as, if she had taken any notice of Lennie and his mental retardation, she would have realized that sudden movements and shouting aren't a good way to control the situation. Next the direct speech, "let go, she cried. You let go", shows us just how panicked she is and how out of control the situation is spiraling. Lennie meanwhile is worried George will hear her screaming and not let him tend the rabbits anymore, so he places his "other hand closed over her mouth and nose", showing us he is unable to think of consequences and just searches for short term solutions, like children do. Even though she is caught by Lennie, we should still see that she has the power to regain control of the situation by stopping screaming, however, she doesn't. The description of appearance, "her eyes were wild with terror", tells us that she may not be thinking straight and is just acting on instinct… so although she could stop screaming, she doesn't as she's too scared. The description of emotion, "he was angry with her", shows us the situation may have now passed the line whereupon it cannot be retrieved. Then, the simile "he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish" makes us immediately think back to the fight with Curley, where Lennie accidentally crushed Curley's hand in fright; we are made to compare this turn of events with previous events and come upon the conclusion that the death of Curley's wife was accidental. This idea is further backed up when Lennie carries on speaking to her, after her neck has snapped: he says "I don't want ta hurt you", which shows us his intention was never to kill her and that he hasn't realized she's dead. Following the accidental idea, the accidental death of the puppy earlier in the chapter acted to foreshadow the death of Curley's wife. In this chapter, we feel sorrow for Lennie; as yet again, he has inadvertently brought more trouble than he can handle upon himself. We see the violence was accidental and we feel only a little sympathy for Curley's wife, as she did, in many ways, bring her own death about. Finally, because George had the foresight to see that Lennie would probably bring more trouble on himself again, Lennie is hiding in the brush (because George told him in the first chapter that if there were any trouble, to come hide in the brush). George has now found Lennie sitting by the river and is only slightly ahead of the lynch mob, whose members are out to kill Lennie for murdering Curley's wife. George knows that out of compassion, he has to kill Lennie, to save him a violent death. Before he kills Lennie though, he wants him to be happy and at peace. George starts telling Lennie about their dream of getting their own place again. But, from the direct speech, "we'll have a… little piece alfalfa…" we can tell that George is feeling very emotional, as he is having to pause. We feel especially sorry for George because he has to keep Lennie oblivious to his very near death. George tells Lennie in direct speech "an' you get to tend the rabbits", which shows us even at such a time; George is still aware of Lennie's wishes etc and is wanting to make him happy. When George's actions are described, "George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again", we can see that George knows he has to kill Lennie, to save him a worse death, but he is still finding it hard to murder his best friend. The description of background happenings,"there were crashing footsteps in the brush now", reminds us of the impending danger and adds tension and urgency to the actions. Lennie's question, "George…when we gonna do it?", sounds innocent coming from Lennie, as he believes life will carry on as normal in a typical child-like way and remains totally oblivious to everything going on, but it is much worse from George's point of view and ours as we know Lennie has to die soon. This is followed up with the direct speech, "Lennie begged… let's get that place now", which informs us Lennie's death is near; as George will take this as a cue to kill him… he knows he has to do it quickly. The description of George's hand, "the hand shook violently", again emphasizes the massive emotional tension and pressure on George; it really provokes our sympathy… as we know this is the hardest thing for George to face yet… to kill his best friend. Then, description of action, "his face set and his hand steadied" tells us he has made his peace and is ready to do it. By getting Lennie to look across the river earlier and visualize the paradise on the other side of the river, he made sure Lennie was oblivious to his fate. The description of action, "the shot… Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering" sums up all the emotional strain and brings the scene to a tranquil, speedy climax. By not going into too much detail, Steinbeck reproduced the effect of peace in the final moment for Lennie. The last sentence of the book is an ironic end… Carlson asks the question "now what the hell do you suppose is eatin' them two guys?" after Slim and George are walking away from the dead body of Lennie. It leaves the reader with the sad, ironic truth that men of the times really did lead a solitary life… and nobody else ever understood. There is also one last extremely ironic point in the book. After Lennie had fled to hide and the lynch mob members were organizing themselves with guns, they found Carlson's gun had been stolen. They assumed Lennie was armed and so agreed to kill him on sight. Obviously George had taken the pistol to kill Lennie with, but he couldn't say anything to them in case they jailed him too and then went out and killed Lennie. So, because George took the pistol to kill Lennie with, the mob agreed that Lennie was armed and so agreed to shoot him once they found him. If they had thought he were unarmed, it is quite possible that George could've prevented the death by convincing them an unarmed man wasn't dangerous or that he wasn't guilty etc. Basically, it is because George took the gun to kill Lennie with that George was forced to shoot Lennie in the end. In conclusion and in answer to the question, do you agree with the quote: "Steinbeck presents violent men with whom we should have no sympathy", I do not agree. I believe, although Steinbeck presents violent men, they have good reason behind their violence and many of them do deserve sympathy. George, though often short with Lennie and in the fight scene raring him on to hit Curley back, was only looking after Lennie's best interest. He stayed true to his word to the end and protected Lennie all the way. In this way, I feel George is justified in any violence necessary, as there is nothing more noble than protecting a friend. Lennie, a victim of fate and sadly, destined to live a sad life, was never totally aware of what he was doing. His mental condition meant he couldn't even remember basic things and was unaware of his own strength. I think he deserves our sympathy, as he wasn't able to control the turn of events much at all. Though an interesting argument: is ignorance an excuse? I think Curley does not deserve our sympathy… he baited, harassed and generally loathed many of the characters for no reason in particular. Yes, he may be small, but it is no excuse, there are other ways of 'proving yourself'. I think Curley's wife does deserve some sympathy, in many ways, she was just a poor trapped woman, unable to escape the bounds of her limited options in life and desperately seeking a way out. Finally, a slightly overlooked character - Candy. He was also a victim in the grand plot; there will be no way for him to live a better life now, he will always have to live on the ranch, wiling away his days just like his old dog… I think it fair to say that the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry…….

Answer 2

The tone in "Of Mice and Men" is predominantly melancholic, highlighting themes of loneliness, unfulfilled dreams, and the harsh realities of the Great Depression era. The tone also conveys a sense of fragility and vulnerability in the characters' lives.

Answer 3

LOneliness parallelEd with FrienDship

(all migreant workers want friendship because they are all lonely apart from George and lENNIE who have each other!)