OMAM- techniques, plot and themes

PLOT
1. 1
  1. George and Lennie; are seen following a passage to the Salinas river valley in Soledad.
  2. The Salinas river is described as an idyllic, untouched environment with “golden foothill steps” and animals such as dogs, rabbits and lizards inhabiting it.
  3. It's peacefulness is interrupted by G + L. "The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless."
  4. We witness G reminding Lennie not to "pet"the mouses too hard because he always kills it. George tells Lennie about the “berry ranch” dream they desire, where Lennie gets to “tend the rabbits” all day.
2. 2
  1. They arrive at the ranch and meet the old "swamper", Candy who shows them around.
  2. The Boss is late about their punctuality and questions Lennie's silence
  3. Curley, Curley’s Wife, Slim and Carlson are introduced.
3. 3
  1. There is a conversation between George and Slim where he asks about G + L's relationship
  2. Carlson complains about the "smell" of the dog and insists that he's killed
  3. Candy wants to join G + L and offers $300
  4. Curley picks a fight with Lennie and punches him. George allowed Lennie to fight back and Lennie crushes all the bones in Curley’s hands. George explains to Slim that Lennie was just scared.
4. 4
  1. Lennie enters Crook's stable because of the light shining from it
  2. Crroks tries to convince Lennie that Geroge is never coming back - this makes Lennie rage
  3. Crooks suddenly becomes interested in the "berry ranch" dream
  4. Curley's wife walks in. And after some verbal abuse towards Crooks, she chats with Lennie (who avoids her because of George's orders). He is fascinated by her hair and "stokes" it, just like his dead mouse (foreshadowing).
5. 5
  1. Lennie "had broken her neck" while getting get to be quiet
  2. Lennie runs away with Carlon's gun to the Salinas river after burrying Curley's wife under the hay. George told him previously to come there whenever he is lost and wait for George. Lennie has remembered.
  3. George kills Lennie while he is talking about the "berry ranch."
THEMES
1. The American Dream
  1. The American dream is shown as an impossible concept. We can see that Lennie continuously seems to dream about “tending rabbits” and owning a “berry patch”. Plus living and working in freedom; a representation of the American dream. But this all his hopes and dreams are crushed when George pulls that trigger.
  2. Even when Steinbeck shows it's success it is only shown for a short amount of time with Candy, G + L are collectively working together
  3. In the end, reality defeats idealism. The dreamers wish for unlimited happiness, for freedom to work in sync with their desires. Steinbeck expresses the inevitability of fate and the fragility of human dreams.
    1. "To a Mouse" - Robert Burns: The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how different "thinking men" and "unthinking animals" seem, everybody suffers and dies in the end.
      1. Lennie is the mouse as he cannot comprehend the past and present and destroy anything that is there
2. Great Depression
  1. A great deal of migrants had to travel to the West due to the Wall Street Crash that lead to the Great Depression. G & L being some of them
  2. He wants us to empathise with the workers; to understand the hardships they went through
  3. At first glance, all the characters seem depressed and in a bad place. This is to emphathise the mood of the depression era.
3. Utopianism
  1. How OMAM explored the failure of this
  2. Rigged society
  3. Failure of American Dream
  4. Prejudices
  5. Great Depression
  6. All examples of how Americans had not succeeded in finalising a complete society which was at peace.
  7. There is a difference in ideals (Left wing and right wing)
4. Companionship + Tragedy of lonlieness
  1. How Candy, Crooks and Curley's wife see companion ship. And each of them is seperated through gender, race or age. Each seeking companionship.
  2. Curley's wife is always hanging around the bunk house: “I’m tryin’ to find Curley, Slim.” to seek for some sort of human connection since she is always isolated by orders of her husband
5. Prejudices
  1. Sexism - She is seen as someone who should “stay the hell home where she belongs”. This reminds us of the prejudice of women belonging in the kitchen since she has no job at the ranch.
  2. Racism - Crooks is always separated from the rest and is given an even lower standard of living; which is in the “harness room” - but by telling us that he “read a lot”, Steinbeck is seemingly suggesting that there’s more to him than just skin colour.
  3. Ageism - Candy’s worth is only measured by what he can physically do when in fact he is old, lame and not needed. The powerless are targeted by the powerful. This is shown when Curley (“The Boss’s son”) keeps on taunting Lennie about his size.
6. Right wing
  1. Supports parties, republicans, conservative and nationalists
  2. THE BOSS: They don't interfere with society and social lives.
  3. They are very traditional in their thinking and believe that life it the "survival of the fittest".
  4. They believe in freedom and human's choices
7. Left wing
  1. Supports communism, labour, democrats and parties
  2. They interfere with society and social lives and aim to have a world with equality
  3. Multicultural and evolving. They want to bring in the new
TECHNIQUES
1. Foreshadowing
  1. When Candy's dog is "shot"
  2. "A water snake slipped" in the pool and ate the bird to show that George seems to be at peach with Lennie through out his whole journey but in the end - ends up killing him (irony)
2. Metaphors
  1. To describe people's personalities. This phrase, "Godlike eyes fastened on to him," is a metaphor that shows how Slim looked at people as if he is a higher.
3. Imagery
  1. "On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees—"
  2. "the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool."
  3. There was Animal Imagery through Lennie and Candy
4. Symbolism
  1. Curley's wife
    1. Could symbolise the biblical character Eve; who brings death and life in the world
    2. Women who are repressed by male societies
  2. Lennie
    1. Lennie is symbolic of the archetypal "wise fool," who is mentally inferior but able to reveal the best and the worst of others.
    2. People who are discriminated against their own mental handicaps
  3. Curley
    1. Symbolic of people who feel inferior by flaunting their power and status but are very small
  4. Crooks
    1. Symbolic of racial discrimination
  5. Candy
    1. Undervalued and discriminated against because of their age.
  6. Slim
    1. The archetype of the hero, king, or perfect leader. He represents those few who, in their wisdom and strength, seem larger than life.
  7. George
    1. Is the "Everyman" who goes through extrodinary situations even though he is an ordinary man.
  8. Carlson
    1. Oblivious to the feelings of others and care about what affects them
  9. The dream farm is symbolic of Lennie and George’s friendship. It is what keeps them grounded and when Lennie kills, he ruins their chances of essentially going to "heaven."
  10. Crooks’s room represents the retreat (and the jail cell) of the repressed. Here we see the most obvious manifestations of discrimination: name calling, isolation, fear, and the threat of death.
5. Similies
  1. "Flies shot like rushing stars"
6. Circular structure
  1. The story ends when it began but far more tragically

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	Created by 18rmaryam over 9 years ago