What does John Steinbeck have to say about friendship Essay Example for Free

What does John Steinbeck have to say about friendship Essay What does John Steinbeck have to say about friendship and loneliness in Of Mice and Men and how do cultural, social and historical issues affect this? John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men was set in California during the early to mid 1930s, a time of economic depression and high unemployment. It is a famous story about the harsh realities of life for the poor and unskilled workers who were disrupted by the Depression. Large numbers of migrant workers came to California from other parts of America in search of work. Two of these workers are George and Lennie. They are two very different men, who together search for work. The action takes place at or around the ranch where they eventually find work. The main themes in the story are friendship and loneliness. Migrant workers found friendships difficult to establish at that time as they were thrown together in difficult circumstances, often competing for a single job and were not in the same place for very long. This competitiveness was a common cultural aspect amongst the migrant workers who were mostly men. Men had to leave their wives and families behind and mostly travelled alone, roaming from ranch to ranch, farm work being the only type of work available to them. Against this historical background, the friendship between George and Lennie is all the more special because it is so rare. Steinbeck often shows this by displaying how other characters question and react to their friendship which they find unusual and even distrustful. This can be seen at the ranch when George and Lennie have just arrived and the boss is suspicious as he has never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. He presumes George must be exploiting Lennie by taking away his pay. The two very different men are dependant on each other, but for different reasons. Lennie is physically strong but mentally weak and relies on George to keep him going, literally, to keep him alive. Without George as his guide, Lennie would be unable to find any work due to his severe lack of intelligence and would most likely have spent time in some form of mental institution. George takes responsibility for Lennie partly out of pity, partly out of affection and partly for companionship; being with Lennie is far better than being lonely, something which most other workers had to put up with. George is looked upon as Lennies mentor. This is shown in the way Lennie copies Georges actions when drinking from the pool on the way to the ranch: Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way Georges was.- (Line 3, page 21) Lennies lack of intelligence to think for him self is displayed here. However, the way in which he imitates George could be due to Lennies lack of exposure to other people. George is the only person who Lennie actually knows and their constant travels in search of work would not help Lennies skills in interacting with others. This very point is displayed at the ranch towards the end of the story. Curlys wife is alone with Lennie in the barn while the rest of the ranch workers are heavily involved in a bet in another room. She is telling Lennie about what she could have done with her life, expecting Lennie to talk back and perhaps comfort her. However he is not at all concerned on what she has to say but is completely focused on his obsession with his rabbits and his and Georges dream of their own plot of land. Dont you think of nothing but rabbits?- (Last line of page 125) Lennie even dismisses this question which has been asked angrily by Curlys wife and continues to describe his and Georges dream, something which George had told Lennie to keep a secret! Despite Lennies fault in revealing his and Georges American dream, something which Americans commonly shared at that time, to Curlys wife, he did in fact remember to meet with George at the camp site by the river. This is the place where George tells Lennie to go if anything went wrong. Also, it is the exact same location where the story first opened, showing George and Lennies friendship as they stumbled together across the plains. At this final point in the story, the two companions friendship is displayed perfectly. George knows that the other workers, in particular Curly, are coming after Lennie to punish him for the death of Curlys wife, and knows that when they catch him they will either brutally kill him or send him to a mental institution as he would be viewed by the society at that time as unsafe . George feels entitled to shoot Lennie himself as he realises the harsh realities that would befall Lennie if Curly caught him. At this point, historical and social aspects affect the outcome very much. If Lennie was captured today, hed be taken to a court case and would most likely be committed to a caring institution because of his mental instability. However this is not the way it worked in the society of the 1930s. Immediately Lennie would be labelled insane and sent to jail or to an institution which would differ very much from one in todays society. George therefore takes it upon himself to kill Lennie at the peaceful scene where the story first began and makes his death as humane as possible. He dies a quick, clean death, blissfully unaware of what is happening to him, but happy in Georges reassurances of their future. In contrast to the obvious friendship between George and Lennie, Steinbeck portrays the lack of friendship between Curlys wife and the men on the ranch. A noticeable point is the way in which she is labelled. Throughout the whole story she is never given a proper name other than Curlys wife. This is not because she is unimportant in the story she is one of the key characters whose fate is the same as Lennies but more to do with the way in which she is despised by the ranch workers. She is seen as a piece of jail bate who will only cause trouble due to the way she flaunts herself around the ranch in inappropriate clothing; She wore her bright cotton dress and the mules with red ostrich feathers. This was certainly not typical ranch wear. She constantly flirts with the ranchers. Steinbeck suggests the flirting that caused her to be ignored may be caused by factors other than her natural personality. With no real companionship on the ranch, it is not altogether surprising that she looks for company in the way she does. She is named as Curlys wife; defined by her relationship to Curly, not as an individual. This may also have something to do with the way women were looked upon at that time. Between the 1920s and 1930s there was a sexual revolution where women, just like Curlys wife, became more confident in their appearance and became far more aware their sexuality. However some men frowned upon this. Men on the ranch would see women like this as a distraction more than anything and this is evident in the way they do everything they can to ignore her as she only brings trouble; Cause shes a rap trap if I ever seen one (Bottom of page 54). Crooks, the only black ranch worker is described by Candy as a nice fella. He is first introduced into the story when the boss of the ranch is angry and, because of Crooks race, takes it out on him. While Curlys wife is lonely because of her attitude and general appearance, Crooks is lonely simply because of the colour of his skin. The way in which he is segregated from the rest of the ranch workers because of the colour of his skin is to do with the way blacks were looked upon by society at that time. Black Americans, then called negros, were seen as an inferior race, and many laws drastically affected their freedom. This is shown in the way Crooks is not allowed to mingle with the rest of the workers apart from on special occasions like Christmas, but, even then he ends up as the victim of a fight. Despite this, he is resigned to being separated from the rest of the group and has a great interest in books, his only true friends. His bunk where he spends most, if not all of his time while he isnt working is his territory over which he has grown to be very protective. This is shown when Lennie, totally unaware of the racial boundaries of that time, enters his room uninvited. Crooks, out of pride, use his only right, that being in the privacy of his own room, and taunts Lennie with stories of George not returning from his night out. Crooks does this to show Lennie what being lonely is really like but soon realises that Lennie didnt come into his bunk to cause harm, but just to have somebody to talk to. Unfortunately, just as Crooks is beginning to open out and reveal himself to Lennie about how he is constantly lonely, Curlys wife enters. Her presence causes anger and tension inside the room but due to there deficiencies, Crooks being black and Lennie suffering from learning difficulties, they are both powerless and cannot retaliate to her abuse. Her anger is caused by the common bond that all workers have, loneliness. Steinbeck portrays friendship that seems to be fixed in male companionship. This true to the historical context of men being thrust together by historical circumstances. This friendship is more than just the absence of loneliness. It has positive aspects such as the sharing of the American dream, common to the society of the 1930s, and the solid trust which is based purely on companionship and not on any duty or commitment to one another. This friendship between males does not seem to cross the racial or gender boundaries. This accurately depicts the situation of the women and black people of the time.

Christopher Marlowe :: essays papers

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe: what did he contribute to English literature and how is his writing reflective of the style of the times? Christopher Marlowe contributed greatly to English literature. He developed a new metre which has become one of the most popular in English literary history, and he revitalised a dying form of English drama. His short life was apparently violent and the man himself was supposedly of a volatile temperament, yet he managed to write some of the most delicate and beautiful works on record. His writing is representative of the spirit of the Elizabethan literature in his attitude towards religion, his choice of writing style and in the metre that he used. Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564 the son of a Canterbury shoemaker and was an exact contemporary of Shakespeare. He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a BA in 1584 and a MA in 1587. He seems to have been of a violent nature and was often in trouble with the law. He made many trips to the continent during his short lifetime and it has been suggested that these visits were related to espionage. In 1589 he was involved in a street brawl which resulted in a man's death. An injunction was brought against him three years later by the constable of Shoreditch in relation to that death. In 1592 he was deported from the Netherlands after attempting to issue forged gold coins. On the 30th of May 1593 he was killed by Ingram Frizer in a Deptford tavern after a quarrel over the bill. He was only 29 years old. During the middle ages, culture and government were influenced greatly by the Church of Rome. The Reformation of Henry VIII (1529-39), and the break of ties with that church meant that the monarch was now supreme governor. This altered the whole balance of political and religious life, and, consequently, was the balance of literature, art and thought. The literature of Elizabethan England was based on the crown. This period of literature (1558-1625) is outstanding because of its range of interests and vitality of language. Drama was the chief form of Elizabethan art because there was an influx of writers trying to emulate speech in their writing, and because of the suddenly expanded vocabulary writers were using (most of these new words came from foreign languages). Marlowe's plays comprise The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage (possibly with some collaboration from Nashe), Tamburlaine parts one and two, The Jew of Malta, Edward II, Dr.

‘Blackout’ by Roger Mais Essay

‘Blackout’ is a short story by Roger Mais. It is set in Jamaica and is about racism and the contrast of two different races, sexes and cultures! The story starts off explaining the blackout in the city and the general atmosphere of uncomfortable and tense over the city. At this point the story builds an expectation of some sort of conflict. An American women was waiting at a bus stop. Suprisingly she was not bothered by the darkness, and she was not nervous. A black man slowly approaches her and asks for a light for his cigarette. As she does not have matches she offers her cigarette and as he thanks her she flicks the cigarette away. She does that because she is disgusted that a Black man touched her cigarette and therefore she doesn’t want to smoke it anymore. After the flicking, there’s a moment of discomfort and she asks him why he was still there. He replies with an apology as a comment on her action. He stays and keeps talking about her apparent wealt h and as he talks she becomes more uncomfortable. The conversation between the two then focuses on gender and race. At that moment the reader can sense that actually the woman is interested in the current situation and she might actually be looking for an adventure, but he tells her that she is not his type of women which undermines her. During the conversation the reader can also see that the woman has some very racist thoughts. After a while he sees the bus coming and points at it. She gets on the bus and as it starts moving, she urges herself to look back at him and challenge her prejudices, but thinking of the society and worrying about how unacceptable it would seem she can’t succeed and doesn’t look back while the man picks up the cigarette from the gutter. During this short story there is always this feeling of menace and some kind of threat which is created by the blackout and the odd conversation between the two. This feeling is created especially at the beggining, introduction of the story when the blackout and the loneliness were being described by Mais. He used words and phrases such as; wave of panic, bands of hooligans roaming the streets after dark and assaulting unprotected women, slinking black shadow, to reinforce his point. Telephone Conversation ‘Telephone Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka, the poet talks about two people on the phone and the story goes on to narrate how the African man is looking  for a house and the land lady has proposed a considerable price for the same. The poem strikes a positive note as the man gets to know that his privacy won’t be hampered as the landlady doesn’t stay on the premises. The African man is happy to know that and just before he makes up his mind to consider the offer, he drops in to mention that he is black. On the other end of the line, there was nothing but silence which the African man takes it to be an impolite gesture of refusal. However, the silence is soon broken as the landlady starts to speak again asking him to explain exactly how dark he is. First, the man think that he might have misheard the question but when the landlady repeats, he understands that this is something very important for her to know before she allows him to rent her house. This is so mething that came out entirely devastating for the African man and for a moment he felt disgusted with the question and fancies himself to be a machine, like the phone and that he has been reduced to being a button on the phone. He could also smell the foul from her words and he sees â€Å"red’ everywhere all around. The idea of Telephone conversation is to depict how brutal it can be for a man who is subjected to racial discrimination. The Afro-American man is reduced to shame by the sudden silence from the other side and he gets into a state of make belief where he sarcastically thinks that the lady broke her silence and gave him option to choose and define ‘how dark† he is. â€Å"Like chocolate, or dark or light?† Then, he goes on to answer that he is defined as â€Å"West African sepia† in his passport. The lady not knowing how dark it could be didn’t want to embarrass the man further by resorting to silence. So, she asks him to define what he means. The man replies, that it is almost similar to being a brunette but a dark brunette. All this while, the man has been holding on to codes of formality which breaks loose at the landlady’s insensitiveness. The African man now shouts out loud saying that he is black but he is not that black for anyone to be put to shame. He also says that the soles of his feet and the palms of his hand are all white but he is a fool that he sits on his rear which has turned black due to friction. He knows that the landlady will never be convinced with his black complexion and he senses that she might slam down the receiver on him. At such a crucial juncture, he makes a desperate and silly attempt to plead her to come and take a good look at him but couldn’t help the situation from getting worse. Finally, the landlady slams down the  receiver on his face. Harlem ‘Harlem’ by Langston Hughes reflects the post World War II mood of many African Americans. The Great Depression was over, the war was over, but for African Americans the dream, whatever particular form it took, was still being deferred. Whether one’s dream is as mundane as hitting the numbers or as noble as hoping to see one’s children reared properly, Langston Hughes takes them all seriously; he takes the deferral of each dream to heart. Harlem simply asks, and provides a series of disturbing answer to the questions, â€Å"what happens to a dream deferred?† A closer reading reveals the essential disunity of the poem. It is a ground of unresolved conflict. Five of the six answers to the opening questions are interrogative rather than declarative sentences. The ‘dream deferred’ is the long- postponed and frustrated dream of African Americans; a dream of freedom, equality, dignity, opportunity and success. This poem concentrates, on possib le reaction to the deferral of a dream. The whole poem (Harlem) is built in the structure of rhetoric. The speaker of the poem is black poet. Black people were given the dreams of equity and equality. But these dreams never came true. Despite legal, political and social consensus to abolish the apartheid, black people could never experience the indiscriminate society. In other worlds, their dream never came true. Blacks are promised dreams of equality, justice, freedom, indiscrimination, but not fulfilled. They are delayed, deferred and postponed. Only promissory note has been given but has never been brought into reality.The speaker rhetorically suggests that the dreams will explode and destroy all the limitations imposed upon them. After that the society of their dream will be born. When the dream is postponed or deferred or delayed, it brings frustration, it dries up like a raisin in the sun but there is wet inside, likewise it stinks like rotten meat, it becomes fester like a sore and one day it will explode and cause larger social damages. The poem is in the form of a series of questions, a certain inhabitant of Harlem asks. The first image in the poem is â€Å"dream dries up like a raisin†. The simile likens the original dream to a grape, which is sound, juicy, green and fresh since the dream has been neglected for too long, it has probably dried up. The next image in the poem â€Å"fester like† a sore and then run† conveys a sense of infection and pain. Comparing the  dream to a sore of a body, the poet suggests that unfulfilled dreams become part of us, like a longstanding injury that has gathered pus. The word â€Å"fester† connotes something decay and â€Å"run† literally refers to pus. From this viewpoint of the speaker, this denotes to the pain that one has when one’s dreams always defers. A postponed dream is like a painful injury that begins to be infected. The next image â€Å"Does it stink like rotten meat† intensified the sense of disgust.

Analysis Of The Film The Watsons Go At Birmingham Essay

Kaylynn Foulk AMST 301 Professor Linkletter September 14, 2016 My Project: Analysis of the film The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1. I will use the following course reading in my analysis: Wallace Thurman, â€Å"The Blacker the Berry†. 2. I will use the following lecture material in my analysis: lectures from section on race to be determined and the lecture on racial identity. 3. I will analyze my subject (The Watsons Go to Birmingham) from the perspective of: race. 4. I will need to do dependent research on the following subjects: history of the Civil Rights Movement emphasis on race, North vs. South in America during 1963, and the impact of the Birmingham Church Bombing. 5. My working thesis is currently as follows: The movie, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, portrays how society treated African Americans during the 1960s. Kenny Watson, the lead character, shows the viewers how he sees the world through his eyes as a child while facing with racism and violence in Birmingham, Alabama during the summer of 1963. I. Introduction: The movie, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, portrays how society treated African Americans during the 1960s. Kenny Watson, the lead character, shows the viewers how he sees the world through his eyes as a child while facing with racism and violence in Birmingham, Alabama during the summer of 1963. II. The Watsons Go to Birmingham reflect American attitudes about race by using pieces of history and symbolism in the film. A. Context of The Watsons Go to Birmingham inShow MoreRelatedFirms should seek to â€Å"get their own house in order† before seeking to manage suppliers1809 Words   |  8 Pagesharnessed over time; the next step to go bigger; to expand. 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