Interesting view on structure in 'Of Mice and Men'

A study of Todorov's theory concerning structure held really interesting insights today with Charlie Falla (Year 10).  He sorted the structure and then went on to discuss the idea of equilibrium and balance in the novel. He suggests that there is a disrupted sense of equilibrium at the beginning as we learn throughout the novel that George and Lennie's friendship is unusual especially in view of the context at the time and the idea that men actually lived lonely lives (certainly the men like Lennie and George who worked wherever they could and had no home).

He argued that this is actually the natural state for men at the time: loneliness.  So, Lennie's death which is so heavily foreshadowed by the author is done so because the world is actually out of kilter (out of balance) and needs to return to a balance.  For Lennie and George (Candy and Crooks) to achieve the dream would actually break the natural order of the time.

It's almost as if the world, at the time, was so disrupted from the ideal, which would encompass friendship, companionship and equality that disorder has become the natural state of being.

(Sorry for the blurriness, but you can still make it out: I will be telling him about his spelling of 'meant')

Charlie then went on to identify evidence from the novel to support his view.

Todorov's theory states that most stories demonstrate the following five steps:

1. A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
2. A disruption of that order by an event
3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. A return or restoration of the equilibrium

1/ At the opening of the novel Steinbeck describes a perfect setting where hillsides 'run deep and green' and the warm water twinkles 'over yellow sands in the sunlight'.  An ideal that Lennie and George step into.  It is arguably an ideal that stronger men should look after weaker men.

2/ In chapter five Lennie says"'Don't you go yellin'" and shakes Curley's wife until her body flops "like a fish".  He has disrupted the 'order' on the ranch.

3/ George and Candy realise that their order, their plan, is off: the dream is finished and George admits "I think I knowed we'd never do her" almost as though he was always aware of the disorder of their relationship in these times.

4/ George repairs the damage by killing Lennie, interestingly his hand shakes "violently" illustrating the strength of feeling against going through with it.  When Lennie's body falls the the ground he lies on the sand "without quivering" suggesting peace has been restored.

5/ At the end of the novel, as Charlie believes the real equilibrium asserts itself.  George is now truly alone, just like he has been at his solitaire games.  Although Slim takes him away, he takes him for a drink.  This is the only thing that will now comfort him.  It is arguably tragic that Carlson doesn't recognise the loss, saying "What the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys", but this is the natural way of things according to Charlie: men don't understand companionship and it doesn't matter to Carlson that Lennie is dead, or in fact for the past few days he has been in his company.

I think I'd argue against the evidence Charlie has used in his last point, but his point definitely holds water!

 

Example Essay - Curley's Wife

Page 34-35

Part (a)

In this passage, what methods does Steinbeck use to

present Curley’s wife and the attitudes of others to her?

Refer closely to the passage in your answer.

AND then Part (b)

How does Steinbeck present attitudes to women in the

society in which the novel is set? [30 marks]

In John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ (hereafter OMM) Steinbeck tackles many issues faced by people in the 1930s. As the 1930s were difficult times for most people it is a perfect setting to reveal the true characters of people.

The issue of sexism was very present in the 1930s compared to how it is now.  Steinbeck’s use of the character of Curley’s Wife is the only female character in the novella.  Steinbeck uses different methods to diminish the importance of Curley’s wife.

Steinbeck never gives Curley’s Wife a name.  This is done to show that she does not have any identity or position on the ranch.  As Curley’s Wife is a representation of all women in the 1930s I feel Steinbeck uses her to show that she does not have any identity or position on the ranch.  As Curley’s Wife is a representation of all women in the 1930s I feel Steinbeck uses her to show that most women back then had no identity or position in the working world.

Steinbeck uses methods of introduction to show the reader the hardships of women in the 1930s.  Steinbeck never introduces Curley’s Wife throughout the novella.  I feel Steinbeck does this to show that although to the reader she is an important character, she is insignificant in the 1930s society.  However Curley’s wife upon meeting George and Lennie never introduces herself.  This shows that the character herself feels insignificant in society.  She feels that she is unwanted and no one cares for her so no one would need to know her name.  Curely’s Wife is also only introduced to other people as “Curley’s Wife”, I think that Steinbeck does this to show that Curley, her husband, is in possession of her, like so many other women in 1930 in other situations.

No characters in the novella care for Curley’s Wife and very little attention is given to her.  However many of the men only see her as an object. I think Steinbeck conveys that idea by his description of her.  When we and George and Lennie are first introduced to her, Steinbeck takes a long time to describe her.  ‘She had full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up.  Her finger nails were red.  Her hair hung in little clusters, like sausages…’  This I feel Steinbeck uses to present Curley’s Wife as an object to the men and society.  It is to show that Curley’s wife is worth as much as she is wearing.

But Steinbeck doesn’t only use the description of what she is wearing, he also fully describes her actions.  This is to show the physical awareness the men have towards her.  ‘She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’  Steinbeck’s description of Curley’s Wife’s actions, I think, is to not only describe the men’s physical awareness, but to show the desperation of Curely’s Wife and the women in the 1930s.

Steinbeck presents the men’s reactions towards her as hostile through the use of language.  When George first meets her he responds to her ‘brusquely’.  I think this is to show the hesitance men have towards Curley’s Wife.  I feel Steinbeck not only does this to make us feel sympathy towards Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s, but also towards men in the 1930s as they have to be extremely careful and hostile so they can keep their jobs.

This I think is the contrast Steinbeck is trying to make towards Lennie’s reaction.  As Lennie does not understand normal social behaviour he is in awe of Curley’s Wife.  I think Steinbeck does this to show that two people who don’t fit into society are maybe the ones that do.

John Steinbeck uses different methods to present Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s.  I fell Steinbeck uses Curley’s Wife as a representation of injustice in the 1930s.  Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s Wife as manipulative, however I feel he only does this to make us feel sympathy to Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s.  The fact that Curley’s wife has to be manipulative to get attention which she is so starved for does not kill any sympathy that the reader could have for her but drives it so that the reader is more sympathetic.  I also feel that Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a reflection on men in the 1930s as they are manipulative yet despise Curley’s wife because she is manipulative; they do not realise that it is them that made her so in the first place.  I feel that ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a perfect representation of the treatment of human beings in the 1920s.

JPS Comments:
The candidate has failed to mark out where part b appears in her answer, however it is quite clear that context is built in throughout the answer and so addresses point 5 and 6.  The candidate achieves All band 4 as well as 5.1 and 5.2 - as the candiate is familiar and exploratory, as well as conssitent in her investigation of the novel and the idea under question.  Towards the end there is some overlapping of point and explanation and her answer could have been more concise.  The candidate makes the point that Curley's wife is manipulative but fails to back this up with evidence - an investigation of the language chosen by Steinbeck may have shown how she is sexually manipulative, but does not appear to be sexually overt with Lennie in the barn - perhaps an interesting discussion point.

Approaches to Section B

Okay, there are two approaches to Section B that AQA seemed happy with last year.  As you know the task is split into two parts: a and b.  Part a is pretty straight forward, it will ask about how Steinbeck has portrayed a character, or how a certain theme is explored and that sort of thing, we're all familiar with this type of question.  But rather helpfully they have made the second part (b) context based.

Now hints and tips: Last year when I marked this paper I had some great 'history' essays!  There was one in particular that was utterly exceptional, but he wasn't able to go past about 2-4 marks for part b because at no point did he make the overt connection between the context and the text.

For instance he would have said something like:

In the 1930s the American people were still suffering from the Great Depression meaning there were not a lot of jobs available and people struggled to get by.
ZERO marks.

What he should have said was:

At the time the novel is set, the early 1930s, the American people were suffering from the effects of the Great Depression; there were not a lot of jobs around and life was a struggle for thousands just like Lennie and George.

I've over simplified it I know, but hopefully you will see the obvious difference.

AQA informed us last year, at least my supervisor did, that to proceed beyond 14/30 context must be addressed.  If you do not tackle part b then you can't go up into the higer bands.

Now, at the beginning I said there were two approaches.  You can either answer part a and then part b, or AQA will allow a student to go beyond 14/30 if context is addressed as part of a whole response.  I marked a good deal of essays that didn't reference 'b' in their margin, but had answered it as part of their whole response by tying in context throughout.

Example essay with task

a) How does the author present the character of Crooks?

In 'Of Mice and Men' Crooks is presented as a lonely man who quickly gains our sympathy as readers.  Steinbeck's novel as a whole uncovers the loneliness at the heart of American society at the time, using a microcosm of this society represented by the ranch.  The ranch houses a number of figures arguably intended to represent different aspects of mankind.  The boss and his son represent the capitalist figures in society who are withdrawn yet threatening to those below them, while George represents a man of his time, trying to do the right thing; Lennie represents everything that is good about mankind and its gentle quality, however he is unable to control his destructive ability or even to comprehend this quality.  In many ways Lennie is mankind itself at its best and worst, arguably he is the element of Man that attempts to be good, but is ultimately destructive.  Steinbeck is potentially using him to illustrate that men, by definition, will destroy whether they set out to or not.  Slim also is a flawed man, he is cold and indifferent even though he is princely, 'a master craftsmen', wishing to be shot rather than grow old and useless like the dog and by extension, Candy.  However, in all this Crooks is set apart.
Crooks' home itself is a lean-to against the larger building, the barn.  This suggests that in whatever structure there might be, whether it is the structure of society or physical housing, someone like Crooks will always be at the fringe, he is after all a 'nigger'.  Candy informs us of this fact in chapter two, prior to meeting Crooks, he isn't mean about him in the way that he is about Curly's wife, but he states very plainly the view towards black people through his choice of language.  He even points out that he saw Curly's wife not only 'give Slim the eys', but Crooks as well.  He suggests two things here, firstly that Curly's wife is so sexually promiscuous that she looks beyond the bounds of race, or that she is so desperate she will consider setting race aside.  Furthermore he suggests quite clearly that Crooks is at the bottom of the pile.
Curly introduces both Crooks and Curly's wife prior to their physical introduction to the narrative; he sets up both the theme of gender inequality as well as racial inequality.  Later Crooks tells Lennie that all white people 'smell' to him.  He is a bitter and twisted man, both psychologically and physically due to his back. It is almost as if the world has physically trodden him down and keeps him down.
In the weighting of introductions Crooks receives more attention than any other character considering he does not move the narrative on at all.  In chapter four, Steinbeck is at pains to describe his living conditions, his posessions and his nature.  His 'single-barrelled' shotgun suggests that he is willing to defend himself, yet lacks conviction as he has a single-barrel opposed to a double barrel.  Moreover he is aware and frustrated by his rights, or practical lack of them.  His 'copy of the 1905 civil code' is 'mauled', interestingly Steinbeck uses an animalistic expression to describe its shabby state, possibly linking Lennie and Crooks together through this idea as well as illustrating the ferocity he feels towards the law.  Furthermore, Crooks has 'gold-rimmed spectacles', which suggest he is a man who spends a great deal of time reading, but also feels somewhat reverential towards this ability and so uses expensive spectacles indicating that he values the freedom it offers him.
The character of Crooks is a uniquely tragic one, literate and skilled he should have more reason to hope and dream yet he has the slimmest shade of doubt out of all the men.  He has a 'meagre yellow' light of hope quite literally which is only confirmed when Curly's wife says 'I could get you strung up so fast, it ain't even funny', at this all hope is expunged and Steinbeck achieves a greater level of sympathy for his character as well as building up the animosity of the reader towards Curly's wife, ultimately making her death difficult to sympathise over.

b) Now it is your job, based on the above to carry on the context side of the essay.  The question is: How does Steinbeck use the character of Crooks to highlight racial issues at the time?
Put your answers to this in the comments box below.

Section B tips and example for CONTEXT

Section B tips and example for CONTEXT

Section B questions are split into two parts and can be confusing if you don't consider both parts from the outset.  You will have been shown that Section B splits the question over a response to a section of text in the novel in part b, as well as a contextual question, in connection to the extract, in part b.  If you do not answer part b and have omitted any reference to the context, which means the time and setting and its historical relevance then it is not possible to advance beyond 14/30.  This is what the examiners have been instructed.

Last year, when I examined papers for AQA, I had some great essays in regards to part a, but when it came to part b, either nothing written at all, or a small paragraph, or a lot written about the Depression, or the Dust Bowls - however when this wasn't linked back to the text, 'Of Mice and Men' it was meaningless.  Part b responses that showed a lot of knowledge scored ZERO!  Because they hadn't, for instance talked about the connection between gender equality and Curly's wife - they had just stated that at the time it was very sexist - so what?  What's that got to do with anything?

One boy wrote two whole sides for part b and it was good stuff, interesting and well written but he scored about 2 marks because at no point had he written about the characters and their relation to the context.  He knew his facts but had not plaited them together.
DON'T GET CAUGHT OUT.

Here's an example:
The part 'a' question is about Curly's wife and how she is presented.  In this section I have written about how she is depicted as an untrustworthy character, how she seeks attention etc... you'll have looked at his in class already.  Here is my part 'b' answer to the question:
Part b) How does Steinbeck present the role of women at that time?
Curly's wife, although presented throughout the majority of the text as either a 'tart' by the men, or a threat by Steinbeck, is as much a victim as George, Lennie, Candy and Crooks.  She uses her feminity to gather attention and create a sense of identity for herself.  In the 1930s women were living in a period  where the right to vote was very new.  IT wasn't until the 20s that it was ratified, but even though women still had this right they were not seen as equals to men.  Often women worked in the home, keeping the house, or bringing up children or worked in the service industry as waitresses or maids.  In 'Of Mice and Men' the only employment that is granted to women and supported by the men is the role of prostitute.  The men speak very highly of the 'cathouse' run by Susie and deplore the 'kewpey pie dolls' in Clara's place, a rival cathouse.  The men show that they have standards, but expect women to provide one of two functions: sex or solace.  Curly's wife provides Curly with neither of these it seems.  Then men joke that Curly has 'yella-jackets', a regional term for wasps or bees, 'in his pants', meaning that he is highly motivated to have sex, which explains why he's always looking for his wife and why she is always nowhere to be found.
As Curly's wife is never seen at home we can summise that she is unhappy as a domestic woman of the time.  She dresses up, needlessly, on the ranch, but she is motivated by a sense of sexual identity, an identity that Curly is strangling in his single-mindedness.  The men's identification of the uses for women illustrates that at the time women were regarded, not as equals, but as objects and consumable objects at that.  It is interesting to note that Curly's wife is referred to as a 'tart', as this is a sweet pastry and is consumable.  She is called this in a derogatory manner and it is interesting that, while she is objectified, the men take no pleasure in this.  They identify her a sexually promiscuous - a 'tart', because on the surface this is all they are capable of seeing as women who dress the way Curly's wife do, arguably, are only seen by them in the cathouse.  The men are somewhat hypocritcal, they are happy to accept women in the cathouse who dress this way, but not on the ranch.  The men compartmentalise the geography of acceptability: in a cathouse it is fine to dress as a 'tart' is the implication, while it is not so in the working world.  In this way women seem to occupy a fantasy role that is acceptable, while in reality they are castigated and controlled.  Steinbeck is subtly damning of the attitudes of the men in this era.

In the above response there is reference to text, characters, the wider novel AND context.  An answer like this would push past 14/30 and set you on the road to 20+ which puts you in sight of the top two bands.
Remember as long as you tie context into your answer you CAN go past 14/30 - part b is not an 'extra bit', it is a vital bit!
Good luck
Mr Stirrup

Example Essay: Band 4

Question 21

Part (a)

How does Steinbeck use details in this passage (pp.19-20) to present the bunkhouse and its inhabitants?

and then Part (b)

In the rest of the novel, how does Steinbeck present the lives of ranch workers at that time?

(30 marks)

Candidate's Response
Part A
In 'Of Mice and Men' (hereafter OFMM) Steinbeck presents the inhabitants as lonely men. On the shelves, where there is only two, they have no personal belongings insinuating they have no family, thus leaving them lonely.

Not only are they lonely, but not very wealthy either; the shelves/bunks contain many magazines and articles as well as talcum powder, soap and razors.

The decor of the bunkhouse is very plain conveying the inhabitants' way of life as well as how they view their 'home'. "Inside the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted." The word 'white' indicating plain, reflecting their daily lives: plain and boring.

Not only is the room scarcely decorated, but the interior is very cheap. They don't even have any chairs to sit on, instead they have 'grouped' boxes' for people to sit on. On the table there was playing cards, indicating the workers like to play cards and possibly gamble.

In conclusion, Steinbeck presents the bunkhouse and its inhabitants as bleak and lonely, the place barely liveable. The 'lice, roaches, and other scourges', a prime example.


Part B
In the rest of the novella Steinbeck presents the ranch workers in a number of ways; not only are they lonely, but racist is another way they are portrayed.

The way they are portrayed as racist is when they use the term 'nigger' to talk about Crooks, the stable-buck. Not only do they call him 'nigger', he also has a separate room from the rest of the ranch workers, segregating him.

Furthermore, Crooks is slightly disabled because of his back. However, Candy is disabled as well because he only has one hand. Steinbeck uses disability as a way of making us feel sympathetic towards Candy and Crooks because they are damaged therefore they can't do much.

Steinbeck doesn't only portray the characters in a negative way, he presents Lennie in a positive way, however it could have been seen as negative. The way he does this is by exploiting Lennie's disability; although Lennie is food at work he clings to his American Dream ('How I get to tend the rabbits') of getting to 'tend the rabbits' which George knows will never happen.

Another character portrayed in a positive way is Slim - he is respected by all the workers. 'Slim's a jerkline skinner. Hell of a nice fella.' This quote is Candy’s representation of Slim and what he thinks of him, the word 'nice' indicating his respect and fondness of him.

In conclusion Steinbeck portrays each character differently and each with a different level of respect and authority throughout the novel. In my opinion, as a reader, you come to realise life as a ranch worker, especially in the 1930s with the dust bowl and depression was a difficult life.


JPS Comments
The candidate does not go into a great deal of depth or detail concerning the wider themes and ideas of the novel.  Part b is seriously lacking in significant reference and use of the context of the time and how the trim quality of the bunkhouse is suggestive of general poverty  There was opportunity to discuss the use of light in the extract, but this was missed.  There is an attempt to discuss Crooks' situation and context is implitcly referred to, however this was a good departure from the bunkhouse as a focus to possibly discuss the difference in the two homes and possible following ironies.  The candidate would not have been penalised for making this leap from focus as long as the comparison was a useful exploration that opened up insight into the bunkhouse as a solitary setting despite its communal quality.