Literary Comparison of of Mice and Men, the Pearl, and...

English II 2 May 2013 I Pledge John Steinbeck’s Literary Style John Steinbeck is an author who wrote in the early 1900s that makes use of setting, characterization, theme, irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism in his many novels. Steinbeck has modeled most of his work off of his own life. His home state, California, has been found to be the setting for some of his novels. Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, and The Pearl are all novels by John Steinbeck. These novels not only encompass rich sensory details of each setting, but also use characterization, theme, irony, and symbolism to their advantage. Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, and The Pearl have similarities in setting, although one does not take place in the same area as the others.†¦show more content†¦When Doc asks him why he did it, Frankie replied, â€Å"I love you,† Instead of fighting to try and get Frankie freed, Doc runs out of the police station (Cannery Row 173-175). The theme that emerges here is: sometimes broken things should be cleared out of the way to make way for change, even if it means giving up something that one has grown accustomed to. Doc did not try to avoid getting rid of Frankie, although it may have caused him pain to let go of someone who has been around him for so long. This theme also appears in Of Mice and Men. Lennie, throughout the story, is known to like to pet soft things, but he accidently kills small animals from petting them too hard. Despite this, George says that when they get enough money to buy a house together, he will let Lennie tend the rabbits. Throughout the story, Lennie constantly asks George to repeat to him the story of getting a house with rabbits that he will be in charge of. One of the coworkers of Lennie and George complains to his boss, Candy, that his dog is old, crippled, and no longer useful, so he suggests that he shoots the dog to put it out of its misery while Candy gets a puppy from one of the workers (Steinbeck 45). Two workers go outside and shoot the dog while Candy lays down silently looking at the ceiling (Steinbeck 47-50). After a while, Candy asks Lennie and George if he could pay for some of the cost of the house, and in exchange, he could tend the house. Candy goes on to explain that the reason he