OMAM - friendship Flashcards
(10 cards)
intro
- a rare but deeply valued human connection in a society defined by isolation and mistrust
- characters yearn for companionship in a world that often denies them emotional support.
- Steinbeck suggests that genuine friendship is difficult to form and seemingly impossible to maintain.
topic sentence 1
Steinbeck uses the unique bond between George and Lennie to highlight the power of friendship as a source of hope and purpose in an unforgiving world that offers little compassion to the vulnerable.
topic sentence 1 quotes
‘like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master’ - relationship seems like one between a dog and its owner
‘don’t drink so much … you gonna be sick’ - father-son dynamic which gives George a sense of purpose as well as clearly establishing the power dynamics
‘I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you’ - reveals the interdependency of their relationship, George also benefits from Lennie
topic sentence 1 context
Represents an alternative family structure and reinforces the difficulty faced by men to have a normal family at that time.
George is a symbol of human compassion -> striking contrast to the society he lives in
This was a time of high unemployment due to the Dust bowl and Great depression -> ‘Every man for himself motto’
President hoover even championed the notion of ‘rugged individualism’ and ‘self reliance’, arguing that they protected America -> but Steinbeck didn’t agree as he argued this abandoned the most vulnerable of society = he uses George and Lennie to question our moral duty to one another
topic sentence 2
Through the developing friendship between George and Slim, Steinbeck presents the rare possibility of trust and mutual respect among men in a harsh, isolating world shaped by suspicion and loneliness.
topic sentence 2 quotes
‘God-like’ - slim takes on a priest-like role, is almost like an atonement of slim absolving George of his sins and guilt
‘you hadda, I swear you hadda’
‘Slim came directly to George and sat down beside him’ - slims capacity to care is important as it reveals that his harsher actions are acts of mercy rather than cruelty
topic sentence 2 context
He represents an ideal of what a man can be so acts as an attack on status quo of the 1930s, through slim St can promote his anti-capitalist message of the working class coming together to attack the structured government.
St presents slim as thoughtful and sensitive to challenge the stereotype of a typical ranch worker, he is the novels moral centre, and we look at him to determine the morality of George’s actions. Slim and George’s bond is unusual for the ranch lifestyle where men are often isolated and transient
topic sentence 3
Steinbeck uses Lennie’s innocence and lack of social awareness to temporarily break down racial barriers, allowing an unlikely connection to form between him and Crooks in a society otherwise shaped by segregation and prejudice.
topic sentence 3 quotes
‘it was difficult for crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger’ - shines a sympathetic light onto Crooks, deep down he just wants someone to confide in, Lennie made crooks come out his shell - Crooks is drawn to lennies genuine nature and the opportunity for interaction
‘why ain’t you wanted?’ - Lennie is naive to why Crooks is isolated, Lennie cannot see the prejudice and deep hatred behind Crooks’s skin tone
topic sentence 3 context
by the men entering his rooms they further break the Jim crows since they are no longer separate; St proves racism stems from what society preaches so if there was no prohibitions then America would proper as a place of peace and equality
the Jim Crow laws mandated separation under the ethos ‘separate but equal’ however the conditions were anything but equal - Lennie doesn’t understand any of this.St uses Lennie’s innocence in the face of racism to tell us it has stemmed from society as it is taught - no one is born racist.
