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Of Mice and MenLiterary Terms ReviewLiterary TheoryCharacter Analysis

AllegoryA story that expresses a moral and in which characters and events represent ideas.

Animal Farm

The Lord of the FliesRalph = order and leadershipJack = savagery and the desire for power.

AllusionA 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!

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

ForeshadowingHints in a story that suggest what will happen later.

The euthanasia of Candys dog

ImagerySensory details in literature. Anything that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted.

IronyLanguage in which the literal meaning is opposite to the underlying meaning.

Dramatic ironyThe audience knows what the characters on stage do not know.

Modes of Literary AnalysisPsychological InterpretationLiterary DarwinismMarxist Theory

Psychological InterpretationThe application of psychological principles to the study of literature.Sigmund FreudEgo = The thinking componentId = The body and the sensesGeorge and Lennie: two halves of a single consciousness

Literary DarwinismUses the language of science to describe and interpret literatureSymbiosis = interdependency between two speciesWhy does Lennie need George?Why does George need Lennie?

Borrows from the language of science to describe10Marxist TheoryA 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?

If this novel proves the falacy of the american dream was Marx right?11Interpretations of George and LennieGeorge MiltonSteinbecks favorite poem: Paradise Lost by John MiltonWhat is the origin of evil in the world?Lucifers fall from heavenCreation of hellAdam and Eves fall from grace and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Lennie Small?

What paradise have we lost and why? Steinbeck does not address political or sociological explanations for the human condition. He leave his readers to ask and answer those questions.12George and LennieAttraction of OppositesGeorgeSmallQuickSharp featuresLennieBigSlow-wittedShapeless of face

13George and Lennie: Marxist ViewRanch hands=proletariatsThe Boss and Curly = capitalist/ownership classRabbit 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 viewEgo and IdPleasure principleAll behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure.Sexuality: Lennie and Curleys wifeAggression: Curley and CarlsonReality principleMastery over the idThe ability to delay gratification.Lennie is Georges only way to get back to the garden.Lennie depends on George.Is George using Lennie?

15George and Lennie: DarwinistsSymbiotic or Parasitic?Can Lennie live without George?Reversion to the primitiveCan George live without Lennie?He must.George must evolve or die.

George and Lennie: Biblical AllusionCain and AbelCain lures Abel to a field and kills him.Am I my brothers keeper?Cain is forced to wander the earth alone as a fugitive.He longs for Eden, but will never get there.

Cain draws Abel into a field and kills him. When God asks where Abel is, Cain replies, "Am I my brother's keeper?" George is not really Lennie's brother, but he is the closest thing to family that Lennie has. And George is clearly Lennie's keeper. He also is Lennie's killer. According to the Bible, after Cain kills Abel, he is forced to wander the earth alone as a fugitive, longing for Eden but never getting there. George too will be a lonely wanderer who no longer has his vision of a garden and paradise without Lennie.

17Biblical Allusions (cont.)Curleys WifeSnake in the GardenEve, the temptress

Slim and CarlsonSlimPrince of the ranchIntuitiveHis ear hears more than is said to himHe looks through and beyond people.Understanding beyond thought. Jerkline skinnerThe Master craftsman. Alpha male

Slim: Ideal ManVoice 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-IdealCoarse 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. Other examples of Carlsons insensitivity: wants to kill candys dog because it offends his senses. He is incapable of empathy.21Candy and Crooks: ProphetsIn 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.

CandyCrooksCause of social ostracizationOldBlackSymbolic physical disabilityHand

BackMaking the best of adversityWorks despite his disability. Resists despairHas made peace with his lot in life and enjoys more freedom and job security than the white men.VirtuesFaithCompassionEnduranceIntelligenceThe most important thing in lifeHomePrideSurprising distinctionMoney in the bankSon of landowner and thus superior in class to all characters including the Boss, who is new money. Fastidious in his habits; educated, lives in nicer quarters, keeps possessions.CurleyLennie overpowers Curley by crushing his handSymbol 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.

Aggression untempered by conscience (super-ego)Powerless and universally despisedBoth George and Lennie together defeat Curley24