: Characterization Essay, Research Paper
Of Mice and Men and The Pearl: Characterization
What is depth, and what does it mean? Depth is the extent, the intensity,
depth is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth.
Steinbeck and Characterization
What is depth, and what does it mean? Depth is the extent, the intensity, depth
is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a story of two traveling laborers
who are on their way to a job loading barley at a California ranch. The two most
important characters in the novel are George Milton and Lennie Small. They are
ordinary workmen, moving from town to town and job to job, but they symbolize
much more than that. Their names give us our first hints about them. One of
Steinbeck’s favorite books when he was growing up was Paradise Lost by John
Milton. In this long poem, Milton describes the beginnings of evil in the world.
He tells of Lucifer’s fall from heaven and the creation of hell. He also
describes Adam and Eve’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. By giving George
the last name of Milton, Steinbeck seems to be showing that he is an example of
fallen man, someone who is doomed to loneliness and who wants to return to the
Garden of Eden. Perhaps this is why George is always talking about having his
own place and living “off the fat of the land,” as Adam and Eve did before their
fall. Lennie is anything but small physically. He is a big man who is often
described with animal images. In the opening scene of the book his hands are
called paws and he snorts like a horse (Steinbeck, Mice 3). Yet Lennie is small
on brains and on responsibility. Someone has always taken care of Lennie and
done his thinking and talking for him. First his Aunt Clara looked after him,
and now George does. He is like a child, a term George uses several times in
describing Lennie to Slim. Lennie has a child’s short attention span and
tendency to hang onto one idea stubbornly–the rabbits he will get to tend. He
is innocent and “has no meanness in him.” In a sense, Lennie and George are both
small men. They will never be famous or amount to anything great. Even their
dream is a modest one. The ranch George is thinking about costs only $600. They
will have just a few chickens and pigs and, of course, rabbits(Steinbeck, Mice
56). They will not have to work real hard. George and Lennie are practically
opposites in the way they look and in their personalities. George is described
as small and quick with sharp features. Lennie is described as big, slow witted,
and shapeless of face. George can comfortably fit into the ranch hands’ world.
He plays horseshoes with the others and goes along to the whorehouse on Saturday
night. Lennie plays instead with his puppy in the barn and spends Saturday night
in Crooks’ room with the other outcasts – Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. Yet
it is very difficult to look at George and Lennie separately. Over and over,
under Lennie’s prompting, George explains that their uniqueness lies in the fact
that they are together. As Lennie says (repeating George’s words): “But not us!
An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look
after you, and that’s why.” It is said that Sigmund Freud, the famous
psychoanalyst, has written that each person has two sides – the ego and the id.
The ego is the person’s thinking side, the leader figure within him or her. The
id is the physical side of the person, the body and senses. George is obviously
the leader of the two men; he does all of their thinking. He remembers the
things that must be remembered and instructs Lennie about them. Lennie, on the
other hand, is all body. He “thinks” with his senses. The most important parts
of Lennie’s body are his hands. He likes to touch soft things, and he does so
without thinking. That’s why he keeps getting into trouble. Lennie crushes
Curley’s hand with his hand, and breaks the necks of his puppy and Curley’s wife
when his hands get the better of him. It is interesting to note that Lennie gets
in trouble only when George is not around. Steinbeck seems to be saying that a
body without a mind controlling it can easily get carried away. A person must be
a balance of ego and id. Another way to look at George and Lennie is
scientifically. Remember that Steinbeck was also a marine biologist. An
important biological relationship is symbiosis. Many times in nature two
different kinds of plants or animals live in what is called a symbiotic
relationship. That means each one needs the other in order to live. George and
Lennie need each other in the same way. It is obvious why Lennie needs George.
George does his thinking for him and tries to keep him out of trouble. But why
does George need Lennie? Lennie is more than just George’s companion who keeps
him from being lonely. Lennie makes George special. As George says to Slim in
Chapter 3, “L
ain’t got no people. I seen the guys that go around on ranches alone. That ain’t
no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean.” George tells
Lennie that he could have so much fun without him, going into town and maybe
spending his money in a whorehouse. But if he did these things he would be just
like all the other nobodies on the ranch. Lennie forces George to keep repeating
the vision of the future farm. George seems bored or annoyed each time he begins
to tell the story, but soon he gets more excited himself. Lennie’s enthusiasm
keeps the vision fresh and alive. When George spots Curley’s wife’s body in the
barn, he says, “I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay
all night in some lousy cat house….” George knows he will be just another
ranch hand without Lennie. One other way that Steinbeck hints at George’s need
for Lennie is that whenever George is in the bunk house without Lennie around,
he plays solitaire. George is basically a loner without Lennie. So Lennie is
right then when he says that George takes care of him, and he takes care of
George. There is a third way to look at the relationship of the two men – a
biblical way. Remember that the Bible was also a very important influence on
Steinbeck’s writing. George and Lennie’s story has some strong echoes of the
story of Cain and Abel in Genesis. Do you remember that story? Cain draws Abel
into a field and kills him. When God asks where Abel is, Cain replies, “Am I my
brother’s keeper?” George is not really Lennie’s brother, but he is the closest
thing to family that Lennie has. George is clearly Lennie’s keeper. He also is
Lennie’s killer. According to the Bible, after Cain kills Abel, he is forced to
wander the earth alone as a fugitive, longing for Eden but never getting there.
George too will be a lonely wanderer who no longer has his vision of a garden
and paradise without Lennie.
In The Pearl, a story about a poor Indian fisherman, Kino who lives on the Gulf
of California with his wife, Juana and his infant son, Coyotito. They live in a
simple hut and depend on nature for survival. Despite the poverty, Kino is happy,
honest, and hardworking.He is a dignified pearl diver who works hard to support
his family (Steinbeck, Pearl 21). He is a simple and natural being who functions
well in the traditional ways of the village. Kino is conscious of his poverty
and knows that money could buy things that he lacks. He hopes to find a pearl
that will guarantee him future peace. Like most human beings, he wants to get
ahead. Kino depends on nature for his income. When the waters are rough, he
cannot go diving. When the sun sets, his workday ends. The discovery of a great
pearl changes Kino’s life. The man who usually hears the “Song of the Family” -
the harmonious, soothing message that all is well in life – begins to hear the
voice of suspicion, the sounds of danger – the “Song of Evil.” This song is
really a powerful internal voice that he hears when danger arises, which links
him to his ancestors as a sort of built – in protection against death. It is
Steinbeck’s poetic way of referring to Kino’s survival instinct. On the other
hand, Kino’s intelligence and growth in social awareness help him realize that
he and other Indians have been exploited by the rich and powerful. At first,
instinctively, he senses the danger with the doctor and pearl buyers, but it is
only after his brutal encounter with the trackers that he becomes aware of the
extent of this exploitation. He comes to realize that human beings will kill in
order to gain money and power. As Kino moves away from his natural habitat, he
becomes isolated. With the pearl in hand, he marches toward the city – a
symbolic move toward a more complex civilization – in his belief that he can
deal with “civilized” people. He lays claim to the benefits of civilization -
power, money, an education for Coyotito – but soon realizes, when pursued by the
trackers, that he is a victim of the very society in which he hopes to earn a
profit. Some readers believe that Kino brings about his own downfall by going
against the forces of nature. Kino loses more than his social innocence in the
novel. He learns that he, too, can kill to protect his chance for wealth and
power. Some readers point out that Kino is the exploited but innocent man who
loses his innocence when he tries to venture beyond his social boundaries.
Others see Kino as the symbol of an honest, hard – working man destroyed by
greed. Still others see him as a man unable to escape his fate. Kinos, wife
Juana is another important character who is immediately pointed out in the first
chapter of The Pearl. She is a loving and devoted wife, the stabilizing force in
Kino’s life. At first you may see her simply as subservient. But Juana has great
inner strength and determination. For example, when Coyotito is bitten by the
scorpion, Juana acts immediately and sucks out the poison. She also insists that
they see the doctor – an unheard of event in the village. Juana has a strong
survival instinct where her family is concerned. When the doctor refuses to
treat the baby, Kino responds by ineffectually punching the gate; Juana puts a
seaweed poultice on the baby’s shoulder. She responds with the same kind of
direct action when she decides that the pearl is a threat to her family. She
tries to throw it back in the sea.