Of Mice and Men Commentary

â€Å"Of Mice and Men† is a novel written by the 1962 Nobel Prize winner, John Steinbeck. It is an emotional tale of the extraordinary friendship between George and Lennie, who are traveling workers in the harsh depression years of the 1930s. George is a caring person whose love to Lennie is just like a father-son relationship, where Lennie, a mentally challenged man whose strength lies in body rather than brain, appears to be very dependent on George. â€Å"Of Mice and Men† teaches a universal theme about the nature of human beings that a person whose power exists over another turns corrupt.Steinbeck exploits the theme of power and control in his novel through the extensive use of sexism, racial discrimination, and the power of the strong over the weak. Sexism is the belief that one sex is superior over the other. In â€Å"Of Mice and Men†, Steinbeck undoubtedly shows that the power is centered on the majority sex, which is the males, against the minority, the f emales, where in this novel is â€Å"Curley's wife†. By simply keeping the character nameless and using the expression â€Å"Curley's wife† to identify her is a clear example of referring to her as an object without any respect rather than a person. Curley's wife† shows how women during the early 1900s were inferior under the men. She is merely the spouse of Curley as far as all the men in the ranch are concerned. â€Å"They are only forced to relate to her through Curley; if they fear him or want no trouble, the men will stay away from her. George, for example, has set goals in his mind that he is committed to, thus he will stay away from her in order not to get into any trouble. On the other hand, if they do not fear anyone, they can enjoy their time with the intention of forming a physical relationship with her.Lennie, whose childish mind cannot comprehend why he should stay away from Curley's wife, falls into the trap and gets severe consequences for doing s o. â€Å"She is simply a person living in the ranch with the purpose of only to obey Curley with no voice to complain to. All the men including Curley may go to the â€Å"cathouse† and enjoy their time; Curley's wife on the other hand, may not dare to do the same, along with Crooks. During the 1900s, racial discrimination was widely used throughout America, a land that is filled with various ethnic groups. Steinbeck portrays the cruel racist manner that is used throughout on the stable buck, Crooks.He lives a separate, isolated life under everyone in the ranch, and is incapable to protest, merely because he is black. He is terribly labeled with the epithet of a â€Å"nigger† from everyone else. Steinbeck portrays him as an unfortunate man for being born black with no power at all and may not do anything about it. He is not allowed to enter any white man's room, and to slightly raise his own degraded dignity, does the same, not allowing any white man to his room; altho ugh he only says so, it is not necessarily true as we later on see that George and candy enter.Crooks is a person where all the sorrows and miseries of another can be thrown on him because he is powerless to object. As soon as Curley's wife feels insulted from him and Candy, she threatens him verbally, using her superior social status as a white woman, â€Å"Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung out in a tree so easy it ain't even funny†. Although most people in the ranch appear to want friendship, they all live with hidden fear of each other.The years of the great depression left everyone trying to look stronger and better than the other, or otherwise the strong will get rid of them; the killing of Candy's dog is a great symbol for that which makes it clear. Candy's dog is ought to get shot and killed, even though it has spent its lifetime with Candy, because it is now old and useless. The stronger, in this case man (Carlson), mercilessly shoots Candy 's dog, who knew nothing of his grief fate. Candy then sees his reflection upon the killing of his dog, that he will soon get too old and therefore useless, which will then have him left alone.This pushes him into desperately asking George to permit him to join with him and Lennie for the pursuit of their own dream ranch, â€Å"Tha's three hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in, I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some†. On the contrary, Curley is a man who takes advantage of his authority and power to oppress and mock others to make himself seem stronger and even more powerful. He uses his power and gender to boss around with workers of his ranch and his wife, respectively. However, when he chose to do so towards Lennie, Lennie reacts angrily and smashes his hand.Through the intense use of sexism, racial discrimination, and the power of the strong over the weak, Steinbeck successfully exploits the theme of power and control. Whether it is mentally, physically, or money wise, power seems to be moving from one person to another depending on the situation. Perhaps it really is the roots of evil; that occurs as a result of someone realizing his power over others, and then uses it for his own personal desires, while taking advantage of others. In other words, as the Arabic proverb professes, a person's power and freedom is corrupt when it limits the power and freedom of another.

Literary Devices in “The Woman at the Store” Essay

There are many different literary devices used in Katherine Mansfields The Woman at the Store, they are used effectively. Regularly Mansfield uses personification, characterization and irony. This short essay will show what the main literary devices are in this story. Irony has a significant literary device in this story; the storys plot is enormously ironic. The reader expects that the womans husband will be coming back soon, but he is dead already, which is ironic. The reader does not expect that the child knows that her mother killed her father. And that this is shown in something as pure as a drawingAnother key literary device in this story is her characterization. She characterizes the characters in this story so realistically that the reader has the idea that he has known the characters for all long time already, and he can visualize them perfectly. For example, when Mansfield writes about Jo: Not once that day he had sung I dont care, for dont you see, my wifes mother was in front of me! It was the first that we had been without it for a month, and now there seemed something uncanny in his silence. With this sentence the reader knows that Jo normally is a happy man, that he likes to sing, that he does not like mother-in-laws and that he now knows that something special is going to happen. Another important literary device is the use of personification. One good example is: the sun pushed through the pale clouds and shed a vivid light over the scene. This describes how the sun found a hole to shine through.  There are many different literary devices used in The Woman at the Store but irony, characterization and personification are some key devices and Katherine Mansfield uses them well but that is what she is famous for.

railroads essays

railroads essays The post-civil war age was one of great industrialization, urbanization and growth in our country. None of this could be possible, however, without the amazing progress in the system of railroads throughout the continent. Before the end of the 19th century, more than 190,000 miles of track spanned across our country, making the west available to the wave of urbanization that swept the nation at this time. Before the 1865, the west was sparsely populated and contained few significant towns with which to entice the population. With the creation of the western railroads, however, it seemed that everybody was eager to get out and see the west. New towns sprung up and old towns were modernized to keep up with continual flow of people. Luxuries on the trains such as the Pullman sleeping car were devised to make the journey comfortable, and it seemed that the progress in technology and industrialization could not be stopped. As expected, there were many faults with the system, but most of them were human and had nothing to do with the actual efficiency of the railroads. For example, towns that were lucky enough to host a station became booming cities, while those that were bypassed withered away. This often led to severe competition in the system, and many a railroad promoter was made rich by the monetary gifts made to them by towns that wanted to be along the rails. Also useful in supplem enting small town business were the railroad workers themselves. After a long day of working on the rails, they would flock to nearby towns and indulge in alcohol and prostitutes. These towns were appropriately named hells on wheels, and catered to as many as 10,000 workers at a time. But human shortcomings related to the railroads were a small price to pay for the expansion that resulted in the western portion of our nation. Sacramento became a relative metropolis because of its location on the end of the rail line, and several ot...

Airplane Ears

Airplane Ears Airplane Ears Airplane Ears By Maeve Maddox Filip from Sweden has a question about an unpleasant accompaniment to flying: My question is simple but yet hard to explain. Its about the phenomenon blocked ears, or cap of the ears or whatever you might call it. You know when you land with an airplane and you feel theres pressure inside your ear and after a while . . . the bubble bursts. I guess you understand what it is Im referring to. So, my question is, what is it really called? . . . Whats right, in both English and Latin? I certainly know what Filip is referring to. Once my ears remained blocked for more than a week after a flight. Thats when I began carrying a big package of gum when flying. I chew furiously at take-off and upon landing. That seems to do the trick for me. No more blocked ears. Since I didnt know the medical term for this phenomenon, I decided to call it airplane ears. Apparently thats a term that other people use. Heres the definition from the Mayo Clinic site: Airplane ear is the stress exerted on your eardrum (tympanic membrane) and other middle ear tissues when the air pressure in your middle ear and the air pressure in the environment are out of balance. You may experience airplane ear at the beginning of a flight when the airplane is climbing or at the end of a flight when the airplane is descending. These fast changes in altitude cause air pressure changes and can trigger airplane ear. Airplane ear is also called ear barotrauma, barotitis media or aerotitis media. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†At Your Disposal6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know

Understanding Diffusion in Geography

Understanding Diffusion in Geography In geography, the term diffusion refers to the spread of people, things, ideas, cultural practices, disease, technology, weather, and other factors from place to place. This kind of proliferation is known as spatial diffusion. The three main types of this phenomenon are expansion diffusion, stimulus diffusion, and relocation diffusion.   Spatial Globalization is a form of spatial diffusion. Inside the home of an average American couple, youll find a good example of globalization. For instance, a womans handbag may have been made in France, her computer in China, while her spouses shoes may have come from Italy, his car from Germany, hers from Japan, and their furniture from Denmark. Spatial diffusion begins at a clear point of origin and spreads from there. How quickly and through what channels the diffusion spreads determines its class or category. Contagious and Hierarchal Expansion Expansion diffusion comes in two types: contagious and hierarchal. Infectious diseases are a prime example of contagious expansion. A disease follows no rules, nor does it recognize borders as it spreads. A forest fire is another example that fits this category. In the case of social media, memes and viral videos spread from person to person in contagious expansion diffusion as they are shared. Its no coincidence that something that spreads quickly and widely on social media is deemed going viral. Religions spread through contagious diffusion as well, as people must come in contact with a belief system to somehow to learn about and adopt it. Hierarchical diffusion follows a chain of command, something you see in business, government, and the military. The CEO of a company or the leader of a government body generally knows information before it is disseminated among a wider employee base or the general public. Fads and trends that start with one community before spreading to the wider public can also be hierarchical. Hip-hop music springing up in urban centers is one example. Slang expressions that owe their genesis to one particular age group before being more widely adopted- and perhaps eventually making it into the dictionary- would be another. Stimulus In stimulus diffusion, a trend catches on but is changed as it is adopted by different groups, such as when a certain religion is adopted by a population but the practices are blended with the customs of the existing culture. When slaves brought Voodoo, which has its origins in African tradition, to America, it was blended with Christianity, incorporating many of that religions important saints. Stimulus diffusion can also apply to the more mundane as well. Cat yoga, an exercise fad in the United States, is much different than the traditional meditative practice. Another example would be the menus of McDonalds restaurants from around the world. While they resemble the original, many have been adapted to suit local tastes and regional religious food doctrines. Relocation In relocation diffusion, that which moves leaves behind its point of origin but rather than simply being changed along the way or changing when it arrives at a new destination, it may also change points along the journey as well as the eventual destination, simply by being introduced there. In nature, relocation diffusion can be illustrated by the movement of air masses that spawn storms as they spread across a landscape. When people immigrate from country to country- or simply move from the country to the city- they often share cultural traditions and practices with their new community when they arrive. These traditions may even be adopted by their new neighbors. (This is especially true of food traditions.) Relocation diffusion can occur in the business community as well. When new employees come to a company with good ideas from their previous workplaces, smart employers will recognize the found knowledge as an opportunity and leverage it improve their own companies.

How creative am I Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How creative am I - Assignment Example This helped me improve my reflective personality. During the last summer holiday, I went to visit my family members and I helped them running the family business in town. I was able to understand complicated things correctly and clearly in a short time. All these experiences showed to me that my creativity level was good. There are various ways of enhancing your creativity. One should exhibit more traits that are associated with creative personality, for instance, being reflective, resourceful, clever, self-confident, unconventional, capable, cautious, and intelligent among others (Gough 1398). Other ways of improving creativity are: engaging in creative hobbies, being alert in your observations, adopting a risk taking attitude, being open and receptive to other people’s ideas to promote diversity of point of views, to be more playful, overcoming negative attitudes that may block creativity, developing intrinsic motivation due to the fact that the true reward of creativity is the process itself, fighting the fear of failure, and having self-awareness, as well as brainstorming to inspire new ideas.For supervisors and managers, creativity can be very helpful in the making of decisions due to the rapidly changing business environments. It assists them to view problems as well as alternatives that others cannot. The other way is that it assists in problem solving. One is able to come up with new great ideas. Next, it motivates the staff by boosting their self-esteem and professional development.

Leadership Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership Style - Essay Example In transformational leadership, one individual take control and make the group reach to its collective goals. In transformational leadership, leader creates a shared vision and all those who follow him succeed in the context of achieving long-term objectives. There are four different components of transformational leadership. In this style of leadership, leader motivates each individual follower to perform up to his potential. He councils each follower, provide guidelines and monitor his performances. Leader communicates openly in this style and share ideas freely with the followers. It is obvious that bringing a turnaround in the company, motivating people becoming a role model for followers are source of the prominent benefits of transformational leadership. In addition, the convincing style of leadership, leader acting as role model and sharing a common vision are the positives upon which every organization would went to thrive. It is also a fact that every individual to different to another individual and leaders care for individual also helps a great deal in guiding the organization on the path of success (McCrimmon, 2008). Most prominent example of transformational leadership is of Sam Walton, who uses to visit all Wal-Mart stores across the United Sates and meet all the associates and executives of the company. He always encourages managers and professional to share their ideas in an open and frank manner. Apart from sharing the ideas, he always praised them and appreciated them for the good work they were producing. One can positively conclude that effective transformational leadership results in high performance and achievement of company objectives, beyond expectations (Hall et al, 2002). However, critics have repeatedly pointed out that in transformational leadership, styles become more important than the substance. It should be the other way around substance should enjoy more value than the personality. Conclusively, the paper has discussed