Steinbecks+Childhood+vs+Influence+on+characters

THEMES IN OF MICE AND MEN AND THE RED PONY BY: SAVANNAH CURCIO  [|John Steinbeck's] ways of writing are very different from other authors that we might have read. He has a certain style about him that makes him and individual we can pick out from many other authors. He writes with passion, great style, and detail. In his books __Of Mice and Men__, and __The Red Pony__, he has themes that keep coming about and repeating themselves. For example, he always seems to write about harmless characters dieing in grusome ways. He also seems to write often, about animals, and how they are constatnly changing the ways of man. But where do his ideas come from, and what inspires him to write about these many different life lessons?

John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 (Encyclopedia). He was born in the town of Salinas, California where ironically, Of Mice and Men is set in. His parents supported him greatly in his writing, although, his mother was not as supportive as his father was (Owens). His father always pushed him to be better at what he did and at what he wrote. He loved the fact that John had a dream to be a writer. His dad, along with his family and himself, always read every night. This just helped expand the ways Steinbeck could even think of writing.

In the tale Of Mice and Men, we see the personal struggles of two characters named Lenny and George. Lenny is not the smartest fellow in the bunch but he travels along with his friend George. George is the one who helps them along to live their lives. Although George must dicipline Lenny often, they get along and without each other, they would never survive. They live off the land and work in many different places and settings in order to get by. In the end of the story __Of Mice and Men__, it ends with George shooting Lenny in the head and killing him (Steinbeck, John //Of//). George gives no [|explination] on why he does this, but the book does. The book gives clues that George killed Lenny because Lenny has killed a girl (Curly's wife). Lenny is selfish, and he does not want to risk loosing his job. Due to that he takes lenny into the woods and shoots him. __Of Mice and Men__ can also represent and show racism and discrimination agains African Americans. Crooks is a black character who shows up quite a few times throughout this story. He is looked at as worthless, and he is disrespected. The role of American women is represented.

In the lifetime of John Steinbeck, the American dream for all American men was to go out and find a job on a ranch. It was hard for men like Steinbeck to find a job during the depression of the world (Owens). This theme of the “American Dream” can be found through out many of Steinbeck’s books including __The Red Pony__. This story is also set on a Ranch, in the mountains of California (Steinbeck, John //The//). John Steinbeck wrote these two books to show the pain that people went though during these times. It was written from his past experiences, and it shows that he himself may have tried to accomplish things that weren’t always easy. It shows that failing, sometimes, is just a part of everyone’s life. In of mice and men Crooks, represents African Americans in this time of depression and how they were always discriminated and looked down upon. Curly’s wife is just the ideal picture of women in this time period (WikiAnswers). Overall, many lessons are demonstrated in the books __Of Mice and Men__ and __The Red Pony__. Life lessons are learned that John Steinbeck has experienced throughout his life. The themes in his books are ones that everyone can take to heart and learn a lot from.

WORKS CITED

Encyclopedia of World Biography. Ed. Suzanne M. Bourgoin. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998.

Owens, Louis. “Chapter 1: Themes in Of Mice and Men. “Readings on Of Mice and Men Literary Companion Series. Sandiego: David Bender. 29-35. Print.

Steinbeck, John. //Of Mice and Men//. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin, 1994. Print.

Steinbeck, John. //The Red Pony//. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.

"WikiAnswers - Why Did Steinbeck Write 'Of Mice and Men'" //WikiAnswers - The Q&A Wiki//. Web. 31 May 2010..