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NicoletteStarke
OConnor
HonorsEnglish9
12February2016
TheWritingsofJohnSteinbeck
InthewritingsoftheauthorJohnSteinbeck,differentcharactersandsettingsareusedall
toportraythesametheme,thefaultsofman.Inthetwonovels,
OfMiceandMen
and
Tortilla
Flat
hereflectssimilaritiesthatoutlineamajorsocietalproblemsinthetimeoftheGreat
Depression.ThisistheerathatJohnSteinbeckgrewupinsoalotofhiswritingsaregreatly
impactedbythemagnitudethissituation.Heuseshispersonalexperiencestoinfluencehis
writingsinthesetting,theme,andcharactersalongwithgrabbinginspirationfrommigrant
workersfromthemidwestandothercountries.
Inthenovel
OfMiceandMen
thetwomaincharactersthatthestorysurroundsareLennie
andGeorge.ThesetwomenarefarmworkersrightintheheartoftheGreatDepressionandthey
findworkmainlyinCaliforniawhereagriculturewasbooming.Thesetwomentraveltogether
fromplacetoplaceseekingworkandwatchingovereachother.Lennieisthemostdedicated
personyouwillcomeacross.HewoulddoanythingforGeorgeandhehasaveryhappy
disposition.Lenniesstrengthisunmatchablebutheisnotthebrightest.Lenniehasamental
disabilitythatmakeshimactmuchyoungerthanheis.ThisgetsLennieintoquiteabitoftrouble
becausehejustdoesntunderstandthedifferencebetweenwhatiswrongandrightwhichiswhy
Georgeissoimportantinhislife.Georgeisabletokeephimoutoftroubleforthemostpartand
whenLenniedoesfindhimselfintrouble,Georgecannormallygethimoutofhisproblems.Of

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thesetwomen,Georgeisthemoreintelligentonealthoughheisnotterribleeducatedhimself.
HeistheonethatarrangesfortheirjobsandlivingarrangementsandhewatchesoverLennie
morethanLenniewatchesoverhim.Thesetwomencomplimenteachotherperfectlywiththe
GeorgeasthebrainsandLennieasthebrawngivingthemperfectbalance.DuringtheGreat
Depressionitwasextremelystrangefortwomentotraveltogetherforworkwhichreallymade
thisduosounique.
In
TortillaFlat
afewofthemaincharactersandsupportingrolesgreatlyreflectGeorge
andLennieintheaspectsofpersonality.Oneexampleofacharacterthatshowssimilartraitsto
LennieisThePirate.Theothercharactersinthisstoryknew...hisheadhadnotgrownupwith
therestofhisbody.(Steinbeck57)Thisisadescriptionthatisveryaccurateincharacterizing
Lennie.Theyarebothalsodescribedasa...huge,broadman(Steinbeck57)IthinkJohn
Steinbeckusedtwomenthathavedisabilitieslikethesemendoinbothoftheirstoriesbecause
theyreallyappreciatethissimplethingsthatmostpeopleoverlook.Theyappreciatewhatthey
aregiveneventhoughtheyaregivensolittle.Inmyopinionthisisverysymbolictothepeople
livingintheGreatDepressionbecausemanyhavesolittlethattheyhavetolearntomakedo
withwhattheyhaveandsavewhattheycan.Thesetwocharactersalsohaveaparticular
appreciationtowardsdogs.Ibelievethatthedogswereusedasasymboltofurtherportraytheir
innocencebecausetheirisnothingmoreinnocentthanapuppyintheeyesofmany.Thereare
alsostrikingsimilaritiesbetweenDannyandGeorge.Theyarebothkindofviewasthebrilliant
protagoniststhatcandonowrong.Thatisuntiltheendofeachofthebooks.Ineachofthese
novelsthesemenbothloseapartofthemselvesinametaphoricalsense.Dannytakeshisown
lifebyfallingoffacliffwhileintoxicated.GeorgedoesnotdieattheendofthestorybutI

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believethatasmallpartofhimdoesbecausehetakesthelifeofLenniewhohewassodevoted
toforsolong.Georgelostasmallpartofhimselfandwhentakenoutofcontext,heappearsas
thevillainwheninrealitythatwasthemosthumanethingtodoforLenniessake.These
charactersbothtryanddowhatisbestfortheirfriendsevenifitharmsthemselvesphysicallyor
morally.Thesemenforgivealmostanymistakeandchoosetokeeptheirfriendswhenmostof
thetimealltheydoiscausethemgrief.
Inbothofthesenovels,thesyntaxisextremelysimilar.InoticedthatwhenSteinbeckis
narratingthesebooks,hespeaksinafairlysimplistictone.Heissubtlydescriptivebutnotsothe
storydragson.Contradictingthesimilarsyntaxofthetwonovels,thedictionofthesebooksare
extremelydifferent.InTortillaFlattheyspeakinaverymedievaltone.Usingwordslikethy
andthoujustasanexample.Thesemensoundofahigherclassbecauseofthelanguagethat
theyusewheninrealitytheyonlyhaveinheritedwealthandwenttowarforthemajorityoftheir
younglife.OneexampleofthisiswhenPilonsays,Whenoneispoor,onethinks,IfIhad
moneyIwouldshareitwithmygoodfriends.Butletthatmoneycomeandcharityfliesaway.
Soitiswiththee,myoncefriend.Thouartliftedabovethyfriends.Thouartamanofproperty.
Thouwiltforgetthyfriendswhosharedeverythingwiththee,eventheirbrandy.(Steinbeck11)
InOfMiceandMenthecharactersspeakinanextremelydifferentfashion.Theyusealotof
slangwhichgivesoffthelesseducatedappearanceincomparisontotheothernovel.One
exampleofthisiswhenLenniesaystoGeorge,Iwontgetinnotrouble,George.Iaintgonna
sayaword.(Steinbeck16)Bothoftheseformsofspeechareaccuratetothestoriesbecause
aroundthetimethatTortillaFlatisbased,ifyouownedahouseyouwereconsideredvery
highclasswhichDannydid.InOfMiceandMenthecharacterswerejustsimplefarmworkers

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soitwasfittingforthemtospeakinalesseducateddialect.Bothoftheseformsofdialect
contributeanextremeamounttothecohesivenessandsettingofthestoriesgivingthereadera
reallyclearideaofthelifestylesthatthesepeoplelived.
LikeImentionedbefore,thesebooksbothfollowalongthesameguidelinesofthefaults
ofman.Theybothstronglyshowtheselfishnessthatsomepeoplepossess.Thisisaccentuated
bytheappreciationofthesimplethingsthatLennieandthePiratepossess.Steinbeckbrings
forwardproblemsthataffecteverydaylifestilltothedaywhichheportraysthroughrelatable
characterssoallreaderscantrulyunderstandthemagnitudeoftheseissuesandpossiblewaysto
solvethem.

WorkCited:
Steinbeck,John.
TortillaFlat
.NewYork:ModernLibrary,1937.Print.
Steinbeck,John.
OfMiceandMen
.NewYork:Penguin,1993.Print.