Of Mice and Men Essay Flashcards
(4 cards)
Intro
Language is not only a tool for communication but a device that structures meaning and uncovers the harsh realities of life during the Great Depression.
Of Mice and Men (1937), a novella written by John Steinbeck, a Nobel Prize winner, is set during the Great Depression in California, where displaced ranch workers move from job to job. The text explores the struggles of outsiders, using language patterns to illuminate the social and psychological consequences of alienation and hopeless ambition.
Steinbeck structures the novel in episodic scenes that mirror the cyclical patterns of disappointment. Language patterns are implemented such as, dialogue revealing isolation; then, repetition expressing the American Dream; and finally, foreshadowing emphasizing death and disaster
The novel reveals, through language patterns, how deeply personal suffering is often shaped by social injustice, ultimately conveying the futility of dreams in a fractured world. Embedded within this is the wider historical context—echoes of Dust Bowl displacement and the emotional rawness seen in boxcar letters—where real Americans voiced the same desperation Steinbeck gives his characters.
Body P1 Dialogue highlighting isolation
Language patterns in Of Mice and Men, particularly Steinbeck’s use of dialogue, highlight the pervasive isolation experienced by many characters.
Crooks, the African-American stable buck, bitterly states, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you.”
This line directly expresses Crooks’ alienation due to racism, using double negatives and informal diction to reflect both his marginalised status and desperate humanity. Steinbeck uses dialogue to make isolation visceral and psychological, emphasizing that companionship is fundamental to identity.
Similarly, Curley’s wife confesses, “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”
This confession exposes the gendered isolation she suffers on the ranch. The repetition of “nobody” reinforces her invisibility. Despite being the only woman in the novel, her name is never given, symbolising how language—even in omission—shapes meaning by reducing her to a possession, defined only in relation to a man.
Even Candy, after the death of his dog, admits to George, “I ought to of shot that dog myself.”
This dialogue reveals not only regret but his deeper fear of being discarded in old age. Through simple, pained language, Steinbeck connects Candy’s bond with the dog to the broader theme of loneliness among those society deems useless.
These expressions of alienation mirror sentiments found in real-life boxcar letters—notes left by transient workers describing the unbearable silence of homelessness and rootlessness. Steinbeck gives literary voice to the same voicelessness these letters captured.
B2 Repetition of American Dream
Repetition is used in Of Mice and Men as a pattern of speech that emphasizes the shared yearning for the American Dream and its eventual futility.
George often repeats to Lennie, “We’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres… an’ live off the fatta the lan’.”
This dream, told like a bedtime story, is ritually repeated throughout the novel. The almost poetic rhythm transforms the dream into a mantra of hope. Yet the fact that it remains only a spoken fantasy demonstrates how language offers comfort but not substance.
Lennie, echoing George, says excitedly, “An’ I get to tend the rabbits!”
This innocent line is repeated with childlike joy, but also with obsessive frequency. It reveals Lennie’s simplistic interpretation of the dream, reducing it to one tangible image. His repetition illustrates the human need for certainty in a world governed by uncertainty, especially for those with limited agency.
Candy, after hearing the dream, becomes hopeful: “S’pose I went in with you guys. I could cook and tend the chickens.”
This line, echoing the earlier phrases, shows how repetition draws in others desperate for change. However, the recurrence of this language pattern—unchanged despite evolving circumstances—emphasizes the dream’s fragility. The dream never develops or adapts, revealing its eventual collapse as inevitable.
This illusion of control parallels the Dust Bowl theory, where environmental catastrophe forced mass migration westward. As people clung to dreams of prosperity, Steinbeck reveals how repetition can become a mechanism of denial, echoing the doomed hope of those displaced by forces beyond their control.
B3 Foreshadowing death and disaster
Steinbeck uses foreshadowing throughout the novel to suggest that tragedy is unavoidable, shaping a world governed by fate rather than free will.
The first significant foreshadowing occurs when George tells Lennie, “If you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here… hide in the brush.”
This seemingly casual instruction becomes prophetic. The conditional “if” becomes “when,” and George’s language normalizes trouble as part of Lennie’s identity. Steinbeck uses this early foreshadowing to frame Lennie’s eventual death as destiny, not deviation.
Another grim moment comes when Candy’s dog is shot: “He’s no good to you, Candy. And he ain’t no good to himself.”
The language echoes George’s eventual justification for shooting Lennie. The death of the dog becomes a rehearsal for Lennie’s fate, both framed as acts of mercy but deeply tragic. Steinbeck draws a parallel between the disposable dog and the disabled man, using repeated phrasing to prepare readers for the emotional climax.
Finally, Curley’s wife’s death is foreshadowed by Lennie’s prior actions: “He done a bad thing… I done another bad thing.”
The repetition of “bad thing” lacks specificity, showing Lennie’s inability to grasp the weight of his actions. Yet for the reader, this moment is laden with tragic inevitability. Steinbeck’s minimalist language here forces the reader to reckon with the bleak pattern: dreams crushed by impulsive acts and misunderstood strength.
