Compare and contrast ‘Of Mice And Men’ and ‘The Pearl’ Essay

Compare and contrast ‘Of Mice And Men’ and ‘The Pearl’ looking especially at how Steinbeck has interwoven the social and political concerns of that time. The story ‘Of Mice And Men’ is quite similar to the story of ‘The Pearl’. Both stories deal with the social and political issues of that time. The stories deal with the issues of sexism, racism, greed, loneliness, hardship but also with friendship and ambitions. John Steinbeck was born in 1902, Salinas Valley, California. In 1929, aged 27, he completed his first novel ‘Cup Of Gold’. He did work as a labourer and journalist for five years. After writing his first novel, he moved back to California where he wrote many more novels and short stories. Steinbeck often wrote about what he understood or what issues he felt were important to him. For example, he wrote many novels about the labouring people, he wrote ‘Bombs Away: The Story Of A Bomber Team’, he wrote about his travels and even a saga about his family history. He even studied marine biology so that he could write the ‘Sea Of Cortez’. He won the Nobel Prize in 1962. John Steinbeck died at the age of 66, in 1968. This essay will discuss the various themes of the two novels written by John Steinbeck. These themes include the hardship and suffering endured by the characters of both of the novels, racism, sexism, greed, dreams, loneliness and friendship. The first book we read, ‘The Pearl’, had two main characters, these were Kino – the man of the family who was husband to Juana and together had a baby boy called Coyotito. The book begins with a description of the scenery and of the daily routine of the family. The story really starts when Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion. Juana takes control of the situation and in turn does a heroic thing by asking for the doctor. Of course the doctor refuses to go down to the brush houses, so when the family decide to go to the doctor, the whole village goes with them for support. The doctor refuses to treat baby Coyotito because of the fact that Kino and Juana couldn’t pay for the treatment. Also, the fact that the doctor was racist didn’t help either. Kino and Juana were left helpless. Soon after that incident with the doctor, Kino found the ‘pearl of the world’. It should have brought them riches and happiness, but instead led them to the destruction of all their possessions and even to the death of little Coyotito. When Kino gets the pearl, he dreams of all the wonderful things he could do with the pearl. They weren’t extravagant dreams, but of simple things, such as giving Coyotito an education, a wedding for Kino and Juana in a church and new clothes. It all goes horribly wrong though, when Kino decides that the pearl buyers are trying to rip him off. This leads to the decision that Kino, Juana and Coyotito will go to the city to try and sell their pearl. The townspeople were split into two: the people that thought Kino was a brave man fighting for a better future, and they supported Kino’s family, but then there were others who thought Kino was a fool and they tended to be the jealous people. The story ends with Kino and Juana going back to their village after Coyotito’s head was violently shot away. The couple had lost everything, they had lost their home, their boat, and their baby son. Kino ends up throwing the pearl back into the ocean where it came from. The story ‘Of Mice And Men’ starts off with Lennie and George, two white men who are on their way to a ranch. They have a dream that they will one day own a little place. This would provide them with security and comfort. Lennie and George travelled together, unlike many other ranchers. George looked after Lennie, as Lennie seemed to have the mind of a child, even though he was much smaller. As the story goes on, we learn that the pair were working at a ranch in Weed, when Lennie wanted to feel this girl’s dress. The girl panicked, as did Lennie, who then wouldn’t let go of the dress. When he did, the girl told the men at the ranch, who then wanted to lynch Lennie. As a result Lennie and George had to hide to in an irrigation ditch for a day. They got a job though a few miles south of Soledad. However, when they get there, they can sense there’s trouble ahead. The bosses’ son Curley, has it in for Lennie, because Curley is a little guy who hates Lennie as he is a big guy. Not only is there Curley they should have to look out for, but also Curley’s wife. She had been described a ‘tart’ and after Lennie and George had meet her, George called her ‘jail bait all set on the trigger’. Lennie quite liked her, but George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley and his wife. Of course, there was the incident which involved Lennie crushing Curley’s hand which almost broke every single bone in it. Luckily he was blackmailed into not telling anyone about the incident but there was a lot of anger and resentment. When old Candy, the one-armed swamper and Crooks, the black, disabled, stable-buck, hear of Lennie and George’s dream, they too, want a part of it. However, when Lennie is left alone with Curley’s wife, he accidentally kills her. He runs off to the brush as George had once instructed him to do if he ever got in to trouble. When Curley finds out, he leads the other men to go out with him to shoot Lennie. Curley really didn’t seem upset that his wife had died, but it was more to do with the fact that Lennie was the one who had killed her. George knew where Lennie was and went over there. George realised that Lennie had very few choices left. George decided to shoot Lennie. Soon after Lennie’s death, some of the men found George. Slim tried to comfort George. The novel ended with Carlson saying something trivial to Curley. The main characters in the books lived in poor conditions. Kino and Juana and Lennie and George had little money, but the characters are strong in the novels as a result. The hardship they had suffered and endured made them stronger as characters. Both migrant workers and Kino’s people had few rights and little respect. Kino’s people were mainly fishermen and they looked for pearls. Kino’s family just barely survived. Everyday they ate the same things for breakfast – a corn-cake and a little pulque. They couldn’t afford to eat anything different, even if they wanted to. There is a description of Kino and Juana, in the story that the beggars in the city had made. They saw Juana’s old skirt, ‘the tears in her shawl’, the beggars even saw through the age of Kino’s blanket and they saw the amount of times his clothes had been washed was a lot and so the beggars, who were ‘great experts in financial analysis’ came to the conclusion that Kino and Juana were ‘poverty people’. In the beginning of the story, the family seem to be happy and comfortable. Steinbeck describes their mourning routine s though Kino and Juana didn’t mind being poor, but we learn that isn’t true. When Coyotito is stung by the scorpion, Juana and Kino feel helpless as they cannot afford to treat their son. To make the situation worse, Coyotito is their first born son, and so it is very important that they are able to provide adequate medical treatment for him. When Juana has to make do with the seaweed poultice, we learn that the traditional methods of treating a scorpion bite were frowned upon by Juana, as the remedy lacked the doctors ‘authority’ just because it was simple and it didn’t cost a penny. Not only that but they couldn’t afford to get married even. Lennie and George were very poor too. On average they got 50 dollars a month, but they got accommodation and food. The migrant ranch workers, tended to live in filth conditions and many had body lice. For example, in ‘Of Mice And Men’ when George is being introduced to the place by Candy, George gets angry when he sees a bottle of lice-killing stuff above his bed. Candy tells George that the previous guy that stayed there, was the kind of guy that would ‘wash his hands even after he ate’. This gives off the impression that most of these men didn’t think much of personal hygiene. These migrant workers never had permanent jobs, so when they were in-between jobs they lived in real poverty. They had no security in their lives, and they must have got very lonely all by themselves, so at least Lennie and George had each other. In ‘The Pearl’, it was very difficult finding the pearl that would change a person’s life. Finding on would be like winning the lottery. Even if they were to find one, who’s to say that they’ll be able to cash it in? the pearl buyers bought the pearls cheaply from the naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve village people, who thought they were getting a good deal, and in Kino’s case, when he tried to stand up for himself, he paid the price of his son. In the case, ‘Of Mice And Men’, the migrant workers would never get a cut of the profits. They do all the work but they don’t ever get to reap what they sow. This is the reason why Lennie got so excited from living of the fat of the land. ‘The Pearl’ didn’t seem to concentrate too much on the theme of racism. Steinbeck looked at the affects of the persecution of Kino’s people, generations ago and on Kino’s generation now. Steinbeck focused on the collapsing of Kino’s people. For example, after the European settlers moved in, they took over almost everything leaving the Indians with very little rights. The doctor did make a comment though, that showed his racism. The statement he is saying that these ‘little Indians’ are not even human but animals instead. The novel ‘Of Mice And Men’ though, did discuss racist themes. The men at the ranch call Crooks – the only black man on the ranch – ‘nigger’. All but the exception of Slim who had won the respect of every man on the ranch. Slim called Crooks by his name and in turn Crooks showed respect for Slim. At that particular time in America, separation of whites and blacks was widespread. As a result, Crooks had to live by himself. He wasn’t allowed in the bunkhouse purely because he was a Negro. Apparently the men at the ranch say that he stinks. Crooks is bitter towards these men. In fact, when Curley’s wife comes in Crook’s room, and Crooks warns her not to come in there she threatens Crooks, by claiming that she can have Crooks lynched so easily that it would be no bother to her. Juana and Curley’s wife are not treated equally by the men around them. However, it is fair to say that Juana was treated with a lot more respect by her husband. Juana was a strong woman and Kino recognised and respected her for that. For example, when Coyotito was stung, Juana took charge of the situation it was her who decided to call the doctor and her who decided to go to see the doctor. Although she was ‘obedient’, she had an important part of the relationship. She kept the family together but one of the sad things of Curley’s wife’s life was that nobody respected her of loved her – not even to Curley. He seemed to have no respect for her. The men at the ranch called her a ‘tart’, a ‘looloo’ and all sorts of other names. I think that both women were misunderstood and weren’t given enough respect. The dreams that Juana and Kino had were quite different, from what Lennie and George dreamt. However, we learn that there are many similarities in both the characters’ dreams. For example, Kino and Juana just want to get married in a church and Lennie and George would love to have the choice of not going to work. Both dreams are affected by what was the most important belief, ‘The Pearl’ saw that Kino wanted an educated son because through his son, his people could learn. Whereas Lennie and George wanted their little place, because land meant power, and in their case, freedom. The difference between the two stories though, is Lennie and George’s dream is told throughout the story and we know it and understand what they want, but Kino’s dream is only told to us when Kino believes that they can be a reality. Loneliness is something that almost every character felt. Kino and Juana went through such a lot, that after having gone back to the village, I doubt they will ever full fit in again. They will feel alienated from the village people and the community that was so close was ripped apart by Kino’s pearl so the community was trying to pick up its own pieces. George’s loneliness doesn’t play that big a part in the novel. He is lucky to have Lennie and he realises that, but George needed more that just companionship from Lennie – he needed to talk to someone. This was why George was so quick to tell Slim some of his most innermost thoughts, and secrets. Lennie was just like a child, and children cannot have adult conversations. This is far better than the others on the ranch. Crooks isn’t allowed to make friends with others because he isn’t anything more than just a ‘nigger’ to them. Candy too, is discriminated against because of his disability and his old age. The shooting of Candy’s dog was a fine example of how if something isn’t of any use any more – then just kill it. I think Steinbeck tried to get his readers to be more aware and understanding towards the underprivileged. Steinbeck understood these people, so he wrote about them. There is a hidden moral here to be learnt, that I feel Steinbeck was trying to give across. I believe Steinbeck was saying that in those times and even now, money doesn’t always equal to prosperity. Take for example, the doctor, he was a wealthy man in ‘The Pearl’, but he wasn’t actually happy and content. Kino and Juana were by far better off than the doctor, as they had love, not money, even though money can seem to solve problems. As for George and Lennie, they seemed to be happy enough in their dreams and ambitions, far happier than Curley, who had inherited his father’s wealth. Curley could have even been jealous of the ranch men and their freedom. Steinbeck showed that none of his characters, in either book, were fully content with their situation. This could be saying something about the nature of humans, how the grass is always greener on the other side, and how nobody is going to fully happy with wealth.