Grapes Of Wrath And Of Mice And Men: Character Study :: essays research papers

Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men Character Study     The Ameri cannister Novelist, John Steinbeck was a powerful writer of dramaticstories about good versus bad. His own views on writing were that not onlyshould a writer make the story well-informed good but also the story written shouldteach a lesson. In fact, Steinbeck focused many of his novels, not on averageliterary themes quite he tended to relay messages about the many hard truths oflife in The United States. Upon winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 theSwedish academy introduced him by saying "He had no mind to be an unoffendingcomforter and entertainer. Instead, the topics he chose were serious anddenunciatory" This serious focus was not exempt from his dickens works "The Grapesof Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men". "The Grapes of Wrath" has been recognized bymany as "the greatest novel in American History" and it remains among thearchetypes of American culture. Although "Of Mice and Men" may not havereceived as much fanfare as the other it is still a great classic that waslately made into a motion picture.     The focus of "The Grapes of Wrath" Is one family, the Joads, who hasbeen kicked off their Oklahoma farm and forced to move to California to look forwork. The story has historic significance as it is true that many familieswere forced, in the same way as the Joads, to leave their homes to look forwork during the depression. It is in this fact that one can see how Steinbecksintention in "The grapes of Wrath" was to depict the hardships people wentthrough during an actual event in American history. Perhaps the most solemnmessage in this novel was the poor treatment of the dispossessed families asthey reached California. In "Of Mice and Men" the reader is presented with astory that takes place in the same prospect of "The Grapes of Wrath" This storydetails the hardships of two traveling companions while they are working at aranch in California.     The common thread between these two novels is not necessarily the plotor the setting rather, it is the way in which Steinbeck relays his message.That is to say that, although both novels carry different story lines they both exhibit hard truths about human suffering. Steinbeck reveals these truthsthrough his depiction of characters. In each story it seems that the characterswere crafted by Steinbeck in a bias manner so as to emphasize the overallmessage of the book. It is quite obvious that all of Steinbecks characters are