Comparing of mice and men with the withered arm Essay

institutionOf mice and men is a novel written in a establish in America du nonwithstandingt ag ainst the depression. It was written by John Steinbeck and fit(p) on a gap in So leadad, a sm either rural field of operation in California. This eye-opening tale is ground on dickens contrasting men, George, a sm tout ensemble, in guaranteeigent yet modest troops and Lenny, as big as a bull and as strong as an ox, except ostensibly mentally challenged, who travelled around with each otherwise operative as ranch hands to earn enough m sensationy to eventually admit their own piece of local atomic number 18a networkd and succeed in living the Ameri plunder pipe vision.The wizen build up is a pathetic story written by the legendary author John Steinbeck. It is set is Wessex (the s protrudeh west of England) and is based around four-spot main quotations Rhoda Brook, a milkmaid on a dairy, her male squirt, husbandman bank, the owner of the dairy and paternity to Rhoda Brooks child and Gertrude pose, the teenage married wo universe of Farmer Lodge. All of these characters feel iso belatedlyd collect to their fond status yet s constructween them there is an ill-starred set of events involving witchcraft, intolerance and expirationAbout the authors-John SteinbeckJohn Steinbeck grew up in California in the early 1900s. in that location he at beed school, univer seaty and worked on a ranch. This is where he got the inspiration for the short novel Of mice and men. Working a ranch hand he saw up close and personally the pleasant of events he speaks of in his day record book, which is why he is capable of bringing the characters he uses to breeding. He wrote such other stories as the pearl, the red pony and the moon active is atomic pileThomas HardyThomas Hardy was brought in Dorset in the mid 1800s. He experienced with family in a small cottage and kindred most children of his generation worked art objectually from a real younkerfu l. The inspiration for his short stories and novels came from his grandmothers tales. He would sit in front of the suggest in his house and listen to the old wives tales she would tell him. The withered arm is one such memory he has shared with us in his transcendent writings. When Hardy was old enough he moved to capital of the United Kingdom where he lived with electricity, telephoned and other luxuries he had never experienced as a child. Although he came to know London, the lifestyle and the concourse very well, it was in the departed he knew close only from old stories that he chose to base his exceptional talesShow how effectively these stories study the ages they were set in. Examine character settings and hearty conditionThere are several themes to include in this es hypothesize, loneliness, visions, and the role of women. These are bonny a few of many I ordain discussDreams are an important factor in both stories and I will explain why First of all what is a m oon according to the Readers Digest Great encyclopedic Dictionary, Third Edition a inhalations are a Train of thoughts, images, or fancies passing through mind during sleep Conscious indulgence of fancy, reverie, affair of moon- kindred ravisher, charm, goodness, etc.As it is described above, a dream is around intimacy you indulge in, to efflux momentarily from life. This captivatems to be the context that John Steinbeck intended his characters in Of Mice and manpower to dream in. The role of dreams in of mice and men is improbably important. After the paries Street crash hundreds of men became unemployed and had to travel around working as ranch hands for a raciness of cash. And most of these peck had what is known as the great Ameri potentiometer dream, to own their own bit of land where they can live work and be proud of, something they could accost their own. These ranch hands or bindle stiffs as they became known had nothing apart(predicate) from what they could c arry in their bindle. All their earthly possessions were kept wrapped in a piece of cloth and had to be light enough so that they could walk around with it where ever they went.George shared the great American dream and believed that one day he would be able to achieve it. Lenny was incredibly simple minded and exitful, some(prenominal) wish a young child. He only remembered what he cherished to remember which in his case was financial aid the rabbits and live with George on their own piece of land. When we are commencement introduced to George and Lennys dream it is clear that they progress to spoken of it many a time before. Lenny orients the excitement of an eager child on Christmas morning honorable at the thought of being in the place he so longed to be. To us their dream sounds very simple except for them if it was to happen it would literally be a dream pursue accepted, this is the section from where we are prototypical introduced to the dreamSome day were gonna witness a jack unneurotic and were gonna pay pip a little house and a couple of an a cow and some pigs and-An live of the fatta the lan Lenny shouted. An put one across rabbits. Go on George Tell around what were gonna have in the garden and close the rabbits in the cages and the rain in the winter and the stove, and thick cream is on the milk the give in care you can hardly cut it. Tell around that, George.Whynt you do it yourself. You know all of it. zero(prenominal) . . you tell it. It aint the same if I tell it. Go on . . . George. How I get to tend the rabbits. salutary, verbalize George. Well have a big vegetable patch and a hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, well just say the hell with goin to work and well build up a kick up in the stove and set around it an listen to the rain comin chain reactor on the roof-NutsThe key line in that section is when Lenny says An live of the fatta the lan That sentence rounds up the great American dream, to be able to live on your own land and look subsequently yourself. Lenny, with his child-like mentality, believes whatever he hears, so when George tells him that they will in reality get their own land, he believes with all his heart. To Lenny, the question is not if, precisely whenGeorge, how longs it gonna be boulder clay we get that little place an live on the fatta the lan an rabbits? tho George is really keeping Lenny sweet because he knows how difficult and unlikely fulfilling the dream would. That is why he shows so much surprise in the bunk-house when glass gets involved and eventually saysS target I went in with you laugh ats. Thas three hundred an fifty bucks Id put in. I aint much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. Howd that be? George was very defensive at first but eventually adapted to the idea. The section goes on they throw off into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was approach shot true. George said reverently, Jesus Christ I bet we could drop off herThe line underlined in that section is highly important because however much George and Lenny spoke of this dream, unlike Lenny, George new the likelihood of it actually happening was extremely improbable but now he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. This dream had been based on a kind of fantasy, the centering a 10 year old male child fantasises of licentiousnessing football game for England, you al centerings think about but never look to it to happen, and George dismay and delight in their new found wealth to put towards this home is clear when he says reverently Jesus Christ I bet we could swing her. Candy does not seem to have a dream until he meets George and Lenny. He is swept up in the plausible verity of this dream, a dream he would probably be also terrified to initiate by himself. Candy is not content with his life on the ranch, but he doesnt think that there is anyt hing that he can do but now the three men really have something to aim for which is inwardly reasonable sight, they are expecting a dream come out trueGeorge and Lennys dream is the most potent throughout Of Mice and custody but it isnt the only one Curleys wifes dream was to be in the images and star in a Hollywood heroic as is shown when she saysNother time a met a computerized tomography, an he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside dance palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soons he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it. She looked closely at Lenny to see if she was impressing him. I never got that letter, She said. I always thought my ol lady stole it. headspring I wasnt gonna stay no placeWhether or not the letter was sent she s tood by her dream and wouldnt accept that she capability not have make it on to the silver screen. Also Crooks, the dark stable buck made a forefront of his a dream, the thin g he wanted above any thing else was retainership and fit rights. This is shown when he speaks to Lenny whilst the others are in town. In this conversation his jealousy of Lennys race, and of his affinity with George are quite clearly shown. This is what he saysGeorge can tell you screwy things and it dont matter. Its just the peaching. Its just bein with another guy. Thats all. He PausedHis voice grew soft and persuasive. S fix George dont come back no more. Spose George went into town to-night and you never heard him no more. Crooks pressed forward in some kind of private victory. Just spose that. He repeatedCrooks goes on torturing Lenny speaking about George not coming back until Lenny goes on the offensive and questions Crooks. When Crooks senses he could be in hazard he backs off and goes on to sayMaybe you can see now. You got George. You know hes goin to come back. Spose you didnt have nobody. Spose you couldnt go in to the bunk-house and play rummy cause you was black . Howd you like that? Spose you had to sit out here an read books. Sure you could play horseshoes process it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. He whined. A guy goes garner if he aint got nobody. Dont open no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. I tell ya, he cried. I tell ya a guy gets too nongregarious, an he gets sickCrooks speaks to opens his heart to Lenny even though he said he didnt even want him there, but that hold out speech shows Crooks resent for what George and Lenny have and how his dream is to be around mountain and be cast aside just because he Just some nigger. This envy however comes out at first in anger, which also shows the jealousy coming through for what the two friends haveIn the withered arm John Steinbeck reflects the time his novel is set in through the implication of dreams through different characters. George and Lenny have the great American dream which was shared by millio ns during the depression, Curleys wife dreams of being a movie star, and as the film industry really kicked off during the time this book is set in and crooks dream is that of the coloured man during this time in history, to have equal rights and companionshipIn the withered arm dreams are also extremely important but some are shown are shown in a completely different way to the dreams in Of Mice and Men. When talking of dreams in The Withered offshoot you have to discuss the dream, which the story is based around, Rhoda Brooks dream. Rhoda was a milkmaid on an eighty cow dairy And was well known around her small union for two things, one was her affair with Farmer Lodge, the wealthy land owner, which go international here with a child, and number two for the rumours spread by the villagers about her usage of unnatural powers and per figure outing rituals etc. using witchcraft.These rumours came from her involvement with a man by the name of sorcerer Trendle, a wizard if you w ill. straight Farmer Lodge had, since his affair with Rhoda Brook, betrothed a beautiful young women named Gertrude and obviously after her marriage to Farmer Lodge became known as Gertrude Lodge. Rhoda Brook initially hated Gertrude Lodge with a purpose. She would send her son to get a look at her to find out whether she was somewhat and kind etc. She was basically extremely jealous of Gertrudes youth and beauty and was envious of her marrying the Father of her son. In Rhoda Brooks dream she is visited by Gertrude Lodge, only not by the Gertrude Lodge that had get married Farmer Lodge but by an older distorted Gertrude Lodge. This is an extract from the story describing the dreamBut the figure which had occupied her so much during this and the previous geezerhood was not to be banished at night. For the first time Gertrude Lodge visited the supplanted women in her dreams. Rhoda Brook dreamed since her assertion that she really saw, before falling asleep, was not to be believed that the young wife, in the pale silk dress and white bonnet, but with features shockingly distorted, and wrinkled by age, was academic term upon her chest as she lay.The insistence of Mrs. Lodges person grew heavier the blue eyes peered cruelly into her baptistery and then the figure thrust forward its left hand mockingly, so as to make the wedding ring it wore glitter in Rhodas eyes. Maddened mentally, and nearly suffocated by pres current, the sleeper struggled the incubus, still regarding her, withdrew to the foot of the bed, only, however, to come forward by degrees, resume her seat, and flash her left hand as before.Gasping for breath, Rhoda, in a last desperate effort, swung out her right hand, seized the confronting tone by its obstructive left arm, and whirled it backward towards the floor, s shrewding up herself as she did so with a low cry O, merciful heaven she cried, sitting on the edge of the bed in a cold feat that was not a dream she was hereShe could feel h er antagonists arm within her grasp even now the very flesh and bone of it, as it seemed.This dream shows the Rhoda Brooks hatred is pure jealousy of Gertrudes relationship with farmer Lodge and of her youthful looks. In the dream the way the fantasm flashed the wedding ring at Rhoda showed a great deal if envy and resentment for what Gertrude has. And also how Gertrude is disfigured shows that even though Gertrude is a more or less young woman to allone else, Rhoda sees her as a disfigured old hag. During the 1800s children born through unmarried parents were looked down upon, well not so much the children as the parents, but as Farmer Lodge have the land where most villagers lived and worked Rhoda was the one who was unaffectionate because if it.Although the book describes Rhoda Brook as a faded woman on thirty and as a woman of well defined features with a large frame I would imagine fro her to have a relationship with Framer Lodge she would have had too have been a beautif ul, popular young woman in her late teens early twenties and because of rejection from her Childs father and her community she had become less showy and more worn, and this dream made Gertrude the older, unattractive woman. But still she had the ring on and still she had the love of Farmer Lodge.Although this dream left Rhoda rear shaken she wasnt everyplacely bothered about it until the day Gertrude appeared at her front door and showed her a strange mark which she had discovered on her left arm. Gertrude said she awoke with the problem two weeks ago when the clock soft on(p) two. In naming the night and the hour Rhoda Brook had her encounter it looked as if Rhodas dream was more than just a dream, after all there were rumours about her using witchcraft.Gertrude Lodges dream in The Withered Arm is similar to that of the dreams in of mice and men. She longs to be loved by Farmer Lodge and when she begins looking less attractive she becomes worried and will go to any length to st ay beautiful. This reflects the time it was set in because a wealthy man would tend to marry beauty and when this beauty begins to lessen they would become uninte put downed and move on to mortal new. Gertrude makes a point of this in a conversation she has with Rhoda BrookRhoda shivered. Thats fancy, she said hurriedly. I wouldnt mind it, if I were you.I shouldnt so much mind it, said the younger with hesitation, if if I hadnt a notion that it makes my husband dislike me no, love me less. Men think so much of personal appearance.Some do he for one.Yes and he was very proud of mine at first.Keep your arm covered from his sight.Ah he knows the disfigurement is there She tried to hide the tears that fled her eyes.Gertrude just wanted to feel loved and not be cast aside by her husbandThomas Hardy reflects upon the multiplication this short story was set in, just as Steinbeck did, by using characters. The way Farmer Lodge could have women how and when he pleased or until they were nt as idle on the eye and also how people used to believe in witchcraft. Hardys story could have been believed as a true story not much more than a century ago. nakedness is an extremely important theme throughout both stories. Nearly every character is an outcast in his or her own little way, notwithstanding being part of a bigger community. In Of Mice And Men George and Lenny really stand out because they arent alone. People during the depression would work a month on a ranch, take their earnings and be on their way. As George said whilst speaking with LennyGuys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the worldAnd it was true. These Ranch hands or Bindle stiffs arrived alone, worked alone and left alone. But George and Lenny were different because they travelled around together. Georges conversation with Lenny actThey got no family. They dont belong no place. They come to a ranch an work up a stake an then go inta town an blow their stake, and the first thing y ou know theyre lbf. their tale on some other ranch. They got nothing to look leading toLenny was delighted. Thats it thats it. Now tell how it is with us.George went on. With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no bar-room blowin in out jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in cast aside they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.Lenny bust in. but not us An why? Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and thats why.I have underlined We got somebody to talk to because that is an extremely important line. Crooks says to Lenny when talking about loneliness A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. But George and Lenny are friends and have each other, and although Lenny can be a Burden on George he is glad they are together. They have a kind of father and son relationship, with George the father and Lenny being the son. George knows that Lenny isnt too bright, he thinks like a child, so the only way George can keep him form doin bad things is by keeping him in check the way a father would. There are many vitrines of this. The first one is when the two men have just escaped from weed and Lenny is drinking the revolting water. George saysLenny Lenny for gods sake dont drink so much. Lenny continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. Lenny. You gonna be sick like you was last night.George speaks to Lenny firmly like this so he knows he doing something wrong the way a father would but he also does other things similar to a father for example praising him so he knows hes done something right, like when George tells him not to speak when they get to the ranch. Lenny remembers this so George saysGood boy. Thats swell. You say that over two, three more times so you routine forget it.He also brags about Lenny to other people such as when he first speaks to slim about work ing slim asks if George and Lenny have ever bucked Barley and George repliesHell, Yes. I aint nothing to send for about, but that big bastard there can put up more grain alone than most pairs canGeorge feels he has to show Lenny off to new people the way a parent would with their childSome people were suspicious of George and Lenny because they never saw people change of location around together. One person was the boss at the ranch. He grilled George because he thought that George was stealing Lennys pay. This is part of their conversationI said what stake you got in this guy? You takin his pay by from himNo, course I aint. Why ya think Im selling him out?Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest isThis reflects upon the time it was set with most people travelling alone, trusting no oneAnother lonely character on the ranch is Curleys wife. Despite the fact she has recently become married to Curley she is isolated on the ranch. Throughout the whole book she isnt allocated a name, making her out to be on of Curleys possessions like Curleys shoe or Curleys leg. She walks around the ranch heavily made up, with rouge lips and her hair in curls, dressed to impress, apparently looking for Curley but she is just trying to get vigilance from the Ranch hands. As the only women on the ranch you would expect the men to be all over her but it is the exact opposite, in fact most of them dislike her, they call her jail bait, tart and several other offensive names because they think they se her large(p) them the eye. When Curleys wife speaks to Lenny in the barn she tells him all about how lonely she is, she saysWhy cant I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.Lenny said, Well, I aint supposed to talk to you or nothinI get lonely, she said. You can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. Howd you like not to talk to anybodyShe has probably handsome u p quite lonely and only married Curley to get away(predicate) from home. She tries to get attention by dressing up but when she realises she wont get it she tries talking to Lenny because she knows he wont tell her to go away because she can out talk him. He is very simple and doesnt like confrontation. Both Curleys wife and Crooks use Lenny to talk to about their loneliness. It is quite humorous how Curleys wife spent all her time on the ranch look for attention but when she finally got it from asking Lenny to inter-group communication her hair she didnt want it and its what led to her unfortunate death. As Curleys wife was the only woman on the ranch she represented the way women were tempered during the period in the same way Crooks was the only coloured man on the ranch.He represented the way an entire race was treated and felt during and before the depression. Crooks is the crippled stable buck, the book describes him as a proud aloof man, and his loneliness came out as ang er. In chapter four he speaks to Lenny about how he feels. He is defensive at first but soon opens up and eventually becomes quite friendly. Hes very specific about his rights and shows this when Lenny says I seen your light. Crooks very sharply replies with Well I gotta right to have a light. The conversation between Lenny and Crooks spans over several pages but leads up to Crooks saying thisA guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont make no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. I tell ya, he cried. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely, an he gets sickHes happy talking to Lenny because Lenny is simple. He wont offend him or tell other people what hes been speaking about and Crooks is happy to have spoken to someone but when George gets back form town and finds Lenny in the room with Crooks, Crooks soon backs off and becomes defensive again.The other characters on the ranch, Carlson, Curley and Slim are probably lonely just as the rest but the book doesnt go into too much part icular proposition about them but there is one part where a man named Whit finds a magazine article written by someone who used to work on the ranch. He seems very proud of this and shows it off to Slim. It would appear Whit had started to become friends with this person before they left which would have been a real rarity for people on the ranchThere is a big part for loneliness in The Withered Arm too Thomas Hardy chooses to constantly switch your attention, by not concentrating on one characters lonely portrayal, but on three, this is of the main characters of Rhoda, Gertrude and the boy. The first three chapters are mainly focused on Rhoda and you instantly espy how emotionally isolated she is, when the others chat to each other she doesnt cooperate in, you see how she is different and lonely from the rest, although it doesnt help when they speak of Farmer Lodge.Since her affair with him she is outcast and although the other women recognise this, they dont incur her. The end of the story concludes Rhodas loneliness when still no one communicates with her even after the recent death of the son. Rhoda brooks only companion was her son. Much like Curleys wife in of mice and men her son doesnt have a name, he is known simply as the boy. The boy is also very isolated through no fault of his own. He is like a slave to his mother running errands for her and acting like her spy this is shown very early on when she saysTheyve just been saying down in Barton that your father brings his young wife home to-morrow, the woman observed. I shall want to send you for a few things to market, and youll be pretty sure to meet em.Yes mother, said the boy. Is father married then?Yes. You can give her a look and tell me what shes like, if you do see her.Yes, mother.If shes dark or fair, and if shes tall as tall as IThe boy responds to Rhoda Brooks every command with yes mother, as if hed been trained that way. It reminds me slightly of the film Psycho the way he lives with h is mother and agrees with her every command. It is no fault of the boy that he is isolated but it is a classic example of the times and even straight off in a sense, that the townspeople didnt want their children associating with him because if his background. It is quite ironic that the boy, who spent so much of his life alone, happened to be hung aloneThe other lonely character in The Withered Arm is Gertrude Lodge. After receiving the unfortunate curse of the withered arm her husband paid her no attention and she became rather isolated. After making the trip with Rhoda Brook to see conjurer Trendle she also, due to what she saw there, stopped speaking with Rhoda. She spent her time waiting for conformation of a hanging so she could get her blood off and go back to how things used to be. This is when she saysO, Lord, hang some guilty or innocent person soonIt is quite ironic that she should say this due to the fact she wanted someone to be hung so she could continue life the way she wanted it but it turned out to lead to her deathThomas Hardy used loneliness to reflect upon the times the book is set in by basing Gertrudes loneliness around superstition and witchcraft and Rhoda Brook and the boys loneliness around Rhodas affair with Farmer Lodge which at the time would have led to rejection from society.Hopefully in this essay I have explained how both stories reflect the times they were set in by pointing out the importance of dreams, loneliness, social class, relationships and role of women. I believe both authors used characters to get their point across about life and mentality at the time and made it clear without actually saying it how much things have changedTo conclude I would like to say how both stories are captivating and entertaining but also if you look at them closely enough they can be used as historical references into the way people lived and worked in the times they were set.