Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men Literary Terms Review Literary Theory Character Analysis

Allegory • A story that expresses a moral and in which characters and events represent ideas. • Animal Farm • The Lord of the Flies • Ralph = order and leadership • Jack = savagery and the desire for power.

Allusion • A reference in one literary work to another literary work. • The best laid schemes of mice and menGo often askew,And leave us nothing but grief and pain,For promised joy!

Foil • A character who contrasts with another character. • The "straight man" in a comedy duo is a comic foil. • Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Foreshadowing • Hints in a story that suggest what will happen later. • The euthanasia of Candy’s dog

Imagery • Sensory details in literature. Anything that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted.

Irony • Language in which the literal meaning is opposite to the underlying meaning. • Dramatic irony • The audience knows what the characters on stage do not know.

Modes of Literary Analysis Psychological Interpretation Literary Darwinism Marxist Theory

Psychological Interpretation • The application of psychological principles to the study of literature. • Sigmund Freud • Ego = The thinking component • Id = The body and the senses • George and Lennie: two halves of a single consciousness

Literary Darwinism • Uses the language of science to describe and interpret literature • Symbiosis = interdependency between two species • Why does Lennie need George? • Why does George need Lennie?

Marxist Theory • A study of the class struggle in literature between a dominant class and those they oppress. • Capitalist owners vs. enslaved masses who work for them. • The power of the few depends upon the acquiescence of the masses. • Who or what are the oppressors in Of Mice and Men?

Interpretations of George and Lennie • George Milton • Steinbeck’s favorite poem: Paradise Lost by John Milton • What is the origin of evil in the world? • Lucifer’s fall from heaven • Creation of hell • Adam and Eve’s fall from grace and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. • Lennie Small?

George and LennieAttraction of Opposites • George • Small • Quick • Sharp features • Lennie • Big • Slow-witted • Shapeless of face

George and Lennie: Marxist View • Ranch hands=proletariats • The Boss and Curly = capitalist/ownership class • Rabbit farm= communist utopia • "From each according to one's abilities, to each according to one's needs.“ • In a godless world, man just determine his own fate.

George and LenniePsychoanalitic view • Ego and Id • Pleasure principle • All behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure. • Sexuality: Lennie and Curley’s wife • Aggression: Curley and Carlson • Reality principle • Mastery over the id • The ability to delay gratification.

George and Lennie: Darwinists • Symbiotic or Parasitic? • Can Lennie live without George? • Reversion to the primitive • Can George live without Lennie? • He must. • George must evolve or die.

George and Lennie: Biblical Allusion • Cain and Abel • Cain lures Abel to a field and kills him. • “Am I my brother’s keeper?” • Cain is forced to wander the earth alone as a fugitive. • He longs for Eden, but will never get there.

Biblical Allusions (cont.) • Curley’s Wife • Snake in the Garden • Eve, the temptress

Slim and Carlson • Slim • “Prince of the ranch” • Intuitive • His ear hears more than is said to him • He looks through and beyond people. • Understanding beyond thought. • Jerkline skinner • The Master craftsman. • Alpha male

Slim: Ideal Man Voice of compassion, reason, justice? The Super Ego "An' s'pose they lock him up an' strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain't no good, George."

Carlson: The Anti-Ideal • Coarse and insensitive. • After George has shot Lennie and is upset about it, Carlson says, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?“ • Selfish and gluttonous: id-driven. • He volunteers his Luger to kill the dog and also later to use in tracking down Lennie.

Candy and Crooks: Prophets • In Greek tragedy, the prophet is often blind and outcast. • Only those outside society can see the truth. • America suffers because it ignores the voices of its prophets.

Curley • Lennie overpowers Curley by crushing his hand • Symbol of the hand • At the moment Curley is to recover his honor by killing Lennie, George proves to be the faster draw, thereby stealing his place beside Slim in the male hierarchy.

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and men

Of Mice and Men..

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and Men

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Of mice and men

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OF MICE AND MEN.

Of Mice and Men

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“Of Mice and Men”

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Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men