Discuss the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is set in Soledad, which means solitude or loneliness. This is certainly NOT accidental! Loneliness is a recurring theme throughout the novel. George expresses how, “Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” He acknowledges that it is only his friendship with Lennie which prevents him from becoming “hard”, like the ranch hands who travel alone.
Curley’s wife is lonely as she has nobody to talk to. She is a solitary woman in a male universe. Although she wears the red clothes of a harlot and is coquettish, this may be the only way to gain attention in a world where a man would visit brothels to:
“Get everything out of his system all at once.”
Seemingly, women are viewed as little more than sex objects.
Curley’s wife is never given a name, revealing her isolation from others. She complains that Curley only talks to her about fighting and “gets mad” when she talks to other men.
Another nameless character is Crooks – probably given this title as a nickname referring to his crooked back. Although an intelligent man and champion at the horse-shoe game, he is shunned by the other men because of his colour and disability. He “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse” and lives the life of a recluse once work is done.
Candy is also a lonely man. He seems disinterested in life, having lost a hand and being relegated to position of Swamper, the worst post on the ranch. His one true companion, his dog, is shot to put it out of its misery. However, the mere promise of a place in George’s dream breathes life back into him
The sense of loneliness which pervades the book is perhaps best expressed at the very close of the novel. Carlson is so unfamiliar with friendship that he cannot comprehend George’s grief when Lennie is shot:“What the hell ya’ suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
For each text, the lit. exam features a 10 mark/20 min extract question followed by a choice of two 40 minute essay or empathetic (Imagine you are...) question. If I was setting the exam this year, this is the question which I think is due to come up- complete with essay plan!!
Give advice to the actor playing Edward
Remember:
· You cannot change the script!
· You can give advice on how a character speaks/moves and also make brief suggestions about lighting and effects
· Always explain why you have given the advice you have given- what response are you hoping to get from the audience?
· Try to use quotations in your answer- some are provided in the essay plan
· You would have about 40 minutes to complete this task
Paragraph 1: Explain who Edward is and why he is an important character.
Paragraph 2: Edward as a child Edward first meets Mickey (P.22). How would you tell the actor to behave? “Pardon” What would you be trying to show? Mickey and Edward “clamp hands together”. How should the actor perform the moment they become Blood Brothers?
Paragraph 3: Edward leaves Liverpool as a young boy. How should he behave as he says goodbye to Mickey and Mrs.Johnstone.?
Paragraph 4: Edward sets Mickey up with Linda before leaving for university. (P.66) “Will you talk to Linda?” Remember that Edward loves Linda too. How can he show this to the audience but not to Linda and Mickey?
Paragraph 5: Edward returns from university and Mickey argues with him. Edward confesses his love for Linda- but she has already married Mickey! “Mickey: Beat it… before I hit you.” How would Edward feel at this point and then when he hears about Linda’s marriage?
Paragraph 6: Mickey shoots Edward. How should Edward behave when Mickey enters the council chambers withn a gun? “Linda and I are just friends”
Paragraph 7: Conclusion: Summarise the instructions you have given to Edward. What do you want the audience to think about him and how have you tried to do this?
Give advice to the actor playing Edward
Remember:
· You cannot change the script!
· You can give advice on how a character speaks/moves and also make brief suggestions about lighting and effects
· Always explain why you have given the advice you have given- what response are you hoping to get from the audience?
· Try to use quotations in your answer- some are provided in the essay plan
· You would have about 40 minutes to complete this task
Paragraph 1: Explain who Edward is and why he is an important character.
Paragraph 2: Edward as a child Edward first meets Mickey (P.22). How would you tell the actor to behave? “Pardon” What would you be trying to show? Mickey and Edward “clamp hands together”. How should the actor perform the moment they become Blood Brothers?
Paragraph 3: Edward leaves Liverpool as a young boy. How should he behave as he says goodbye to Mickey and Mrs.Johnstone.?
Paragraph 4: Edward sets Mickey up with Linda before leaving for university. (P.66) “Will you talk to Linda?” Remember that Edward loves Linda too. How can he show this to the audience but not to Linda and Mickey?
Paragraph 5: Edward returns from university and Mickey argues with him. Edward confesses his love for Linda- but she has already married Mickey! “Mickey: Beat it… before I hit you.” How would Edward feel at this point and then when he hears about Linda’s marriage?
Paragraph 6: Mickey shoots Edward. How should Edward behave when Mickey enters the council chambers withn a gun? “Linda and I are just friends”
Paragraph 7: Conclusion: Summarise the instructions you have given to Edward. What do you want the audience to think about him and how have you tried to do this?
"Blood Brothers" Pictorial Guide
Blood Brothers Pictorial Guide
Draw a picture for each of the following events as your revision guide to the narrative (storyline) of Blood Brothers .
1. Mrs. Johnstone’s husband leaves her, although she is pregnant and has seven children!
2. Mrs.Johnstone finds out she is expecting twins.
3. Mrs.Lyons persuade Mrs.Johnstone to give her one of the babies and swear on The Bible to keep this a secret.
4. Mrs.Lyons sacks Mrs.Johnstone and frightens her with the twins superstition.
5. Edward and Mickey meet and become “Blood Brothers”.
6. The Policeman catches the children throwing stones.
7. Edward moves to the countryside, leaving Mickey sad and lonely.
8. The Johnstones are rehoused in the country.
9. Edward, Mickey and Linda are reunited and become great friends.
10. Edward goes to university and Mickey marries Linda.
11. Edward and Mickey argue once Mickey is on the dole.
12. Mickey is sent to prison and becomes depressed.
13. Linda and Edward have an affair.
14. On the day they find out they are twins, Mickey shoots Edward; the police shoot Mickey.
Draw a picture for each of the following events as your revision guide to the narrative (storyline) of Blood Brothers .
1. Mrs. Johnstone’s husband leaves her, although she is pregnant and has seven children!
2. Mrs.Johnstone finds out she is expecting twins.
3. Mrs.Lyons persuade Mrs.Johnstone to give her one of the babies and swear on The Bible to keep this a secret.
4. Mrs.Lyons sacks Mrs.Johnstone and frightens her with the twins superstition.
5. Edward and Mickey meet and become “Blood Brothers”.
6. The Policeman catches the children throwing stones.
7. Edward moves to the countryside, leaving Mickey sad and lonely.
8. The Johnstones are rehoused in the country.
9. Edward, Mickey and Linda are reunited and become great friends.
10. Edward goes to university and Mickey marries Linda.
11. Edward and Mickey argue once Mickey is on the dole.
12. Mickey is sent to prison and becomes depressed.
13. Linda and Edward have an affair.
14. On the day they find out they are twins, Mickey shoots Edward; the police shoot Mickey.
"Blood Brothers" Quotations
Similarly, learn these Blood Brothers quotations.
Fate and Superstition
•“You never put new shoes on the table”
•“But y’know the devil’s got your number.” The narrator suggests the mothers will be cursed for their unnatural agreement.
•“Mouths to feed. You’re expecting twins.” Mrs.Jonstone discovers she is having twins the scene immediately after the shoes are left on the table.
•“They say that if either twin learns that he was once a pair, they will both immediately die.” Mrs.Lyons create a superstition that will prove to her haunt her... and ultimately come true!
•“Wherever I go you’ll be just behind me.” Mrs.Lyons words to Mrs.Johnstone. Actually, fate keeps throwing them together.
Mothers
•“You can’t stop the milk. I need the milk. I’m pregnant.” Mrs.Johnstone tries to fend for her children, even before they're born.
•“They say I should put them into care, but… I love the bones of everyone of them.”
•“There’s a girl inside the woman,
She’s waiting to break free,
She’s washed a million dishes,
She’s always making tea.” The narrator describes Linda's life of drudgery shortly before
she begins the affair with Edward.
Mickey
“This means we’re blood brothers and that we’ll always have to stand by each other.”
“You’re great you are Mam.” Mickey's words when Mrs.Johnstone agrees to let him and Linda live with her.
“Leave me alone will y'? I can’t cope.” Mickey's words to Linda when she asks him to stop taking the pills in prison.
"(Screaming) You!Why couldn't you have given me away?" A very different response to Mrs.Johnstone at the end of the play.
Class
The twins should share the same fate as they are "as like each other as two new pins".
Whereas Edward's public school leads to "talk of Oxbridge", Mickey attends a local comprehensive where the atmosphere is "all boredom and futility".
"I could have been him!" Mickey's final words are almost certainly true!
"And do we blame superstition for what came to pass? Or ... class?" The narrator asks you to decide.
Fate and Superstition
•“You never put new shoes on the table”
•“But y’know the devil’s got your number.” The narrator suggests the mothers will be cursed for their unnatural agreement.
•“Mouths to feed. You’re expecting twins.” Mrs.Jonstone discovers she is having twins the scene immediately after the shoes are left on the table.
•“They say that if either twin learns that he was once a pair, they will both immediately die.” Mrs.Lyons create a superstition that will prove to her haunt her... and ultimately come true!
•“Wherever I go you’ll be just behind me.” Mrs.Lyons words to Mrs.Johnstone. Actually, fate keeps throwing them together.
Mothers
•“You can’t stop the milk. I need the milk. I’m pregnant.” Mrs.Johnstone tries to fend for her children, even before they're born.
•“They say I should put them into care, but… I love the bones of everyone of them.”
•“There’s a girl inside the woman,
She’s waiting to break free,
She’s washed a million dishes,
She’s always making tea.” The narrator describes Linda's life of drudgery shortly before
she begins the affair with Edward.
Mickey
“This means we’re blood brothers and that we’ll always have to stand by each other.”
“You’re great you are Mam.” Mickey's words when Mrs.Johnstone agrees to let him and Linda live with her.
“Leave me alone will y'? I can’t cope.” Mickey's words to Linda when she asks him to stop taking the pills in prison.
"(Screaming) You!Why couldn't you have given me away?" A very different response to Mrs.Johnstone at the end of the play.
Class
The twins should share the same fate as they are "as like each other as two new pins".
Whereas Edward's public school leads to "talk of Oxbridge", Mickey attends a local comprehensive where the atmosphere is "all boredom and futility".
"I could have been him!" Mickey's final words are almost certainly true!
"And do we blame superstition for what came to pass? Or ... class?" The narrator asks you to decide.
Of Mice and Men Key Quotations
Learn these quotations and success should be yours!
The Dream – something “reprehensible”
“We’re gonna have a little house, an’ a coupla acres … an’ live of the fatta the lan’.” -G. and L.’s dream
“Every damn one of ‘ems gotta little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it.”
“I planted crops for damn near ever’body in this state, but they wasn’t my crops and … it wasn’t none of my harvest.” -Candy
Lennie “usta like to hear about it [the dream] so much I got to thinking that maybe we would.” -George
Loneliness
“Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” -George
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” -Crooks
“What the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” –Carlson after Lennie’s death
Prejudice
“ It’s just a nigger saying it, and a busted back nigger.” –Cr.
Society Lacks Compassion
“When they can me here I wish’t somebody’d shoot me.” –Candy
“S’pose they lock him up and strap him down and put him in a cage.” -Slim describes what will happen to Lennie if he is caught by the sheriff.
George and Lennie
“Lennie, for God’s sake, don’t drink so much.” –George plays a paternal role for Lennie
Lennie has a ‘big paw’: Steinbeck uses bestial language to describe Lennie
“I ain’t mad. I never been mad.” –George reassures Lennie before shooting him as a mercy killing.
“If I was bright… I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in me own crops.” –George
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SIMPLY LEARN THESE QUOTATIONS. YOU MUST STUDY ALL YOUR NOTES.
The Dream – something “reprehensible”
“We’re gonna have a little house, an’ a coupla acres … an’ live of the fatta the lan’.” -G. and L.’s dream
“Every damn one of ‘ems gotta little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it.”
“I planted crops for damn near ever’body in this state, but they wasn’t my crops and … it wasn’t none of my harvest.” -Candy
Lennie “usta like to hear about it [the dream] so much I got to thinking that maybe we would.” -George
Loneliness
“Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” -George
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” -Crooks
“What the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” –Carlson after Lennie’s death
Prejudice
“ It’s just a nigger saying it, and a busted back nigger.” –Cr.
Society Lacks Compassion
“When they can me here I wish’t somebody’d shoot me.” –Candy
“S’pose they lock him up and strap him down and put him in a cage.” -Slim describes what will happen to Lennie if he is caught by the sheriff.
George and Lennie
“Lennie, for God’s sake, don’t drink so much.” –George plays a paternal role for Lennie
Lennie has a ‘big paw’: Steinbeck uses bestial language to describe Lennie
“I ain’t mad. I never been mad.” –George reassures Lennie before shooting him as a mercy killing.
“If I was bright… I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in me own crops.” –George
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SIMPLY LEARN THESE QUOTATIONS. YOU MUST STUDY ALL YOUR NOTES.
Welcome
Welcome to the Deyes High GCSE English revision site, for all your GCSE needs! Below are some grreat resources to help you revise. Good Luck! Mr.Mc
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