Mary's+Essay

Ever think about why people act the way they do? Based on the writings of John Steinbeck, he put much thought into the matter. Many of his writings show the way people act from day to day, to the way they act when there is a rare or influential situation. Then again some are just plain wierd. From the stories that are found in //The Long Valley,// to the strange happenings in //Of Mice and Men//, Steinbeck shows a very diverse set of human behavior and characteristics.

For example, the young scientist in the short story //The// //Snake,// meets a young woman who seems almost possessed. She appears in his labrotory and asks to feed the snake he is keeping. Then she wants to buy it but keep it in the lab. She seems sneaky and quiet, sneaking up behind the man when he isn't looking and peering over his shoulder. It's almost as though she has the characteristics of the snake or another sneaky animal. "Dr. Phillips nervously turned his head. The woman was standing beside him. He had not heard her get up from the chair. He had heard only the splash of water among the piles and the scampering of the rats on the wire screen." (Steinbeck, Long 79) This shows only one example of the strange happenings of Steinbeck's characters.

Along with the short stories found in //The Long Valley,// is the short story titled //Johnny Bear.// The man named Johnny Bear has a knack for spying on the people within the town and then repeating the conversations in front of crowds to get what he wants out of the townspeople. He is never seen at the time of his spying and he, again, seems to be a sneaky and somewhat possessed character. Overall the stories held by the pages of //The Long Valley// show the strange ways humans act around others. However, in //Of Mice and Men,// Steinbeck shows more about the characters by the way they talk rather than the way they act. He uses a large amount of curse words to show the anger that George has built up nside. Many of the charcters seem to be that way. Sometimes the way George acts toward Lennie makes the reader think that he really does care for Lennie. At other times it seems more like he is extremely annoyed at the thought of taking care of him.

Sadly in the end, George can no longer take the idea of caring for Lennie. Lennie can't understand the severity of some of the things he has done due to the condition of his mind. He kills mice by petting them and doesnt understand his own strength. Then he doesn't realize that he cannot hold onto a screaming girl's dress only because it is soft. His final act was similar to the dress incident. When Lennie is led on by a Rancher's wife, he touches her hair and won't let go. When she begins to screan, he shakes her to get her to stop and accidentally kills her. George can't handle the idea that he can't control Lennie. To me, that would not be a justifiable reason to take a gun and shoot someone. But once again Steinbeck shows the strange way that people think and the sometimes outrageous things that they do. "George's voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at his right hand that had held the gun." (Steinbeck, Of Mice 107) This shows the growing guilt that George had after killing Lennie. But if he loved him so much, why would he kill him just to keep a job?

Why Steinbeck chooses to focus directly on human behaior is unclear. There seems to be no specific reason other than he was simply fascinated by the human mind. His choice of words and even the way he describes some characters shapes the overall way that we percieve many of his characters. But it may always be a mystery as to why he chose such extreme behaviors. Either way the stories Steinbeck wrote were powerful in their own ways. Some can even be related to the way humans act everyday. Because after all, you can never be sure of what to expect from the people living around you.

WORKS CITED

[|**//Modern American Literature//**]. Vol. 3. 5th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999. p231-236. Web.

Rollyson, Carl, ed. //Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Second Revised Edition.// Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000. Print.

Steinbeck, John. //Of Mice and Men.// New York: Penguin Books, 1937. Print

Steinbeck, John. //The Long Valley.// New York: The Viking Press, 1970. Print.