Jean Jacques Rousseau, a famous Enlightenment philosopher, i said, We pity in otherwises only the those evils which we ourselves behave experienced. We as humans inevitably rule empathy towards deal who have realistic fears and realistic hopes. We can translate the twinge they intuitive feeling because we have gone by means of and through it too. In the riveting novella, Of Mice and Men¸ John Steinbeck creates exceedingly realistic characters who take a hop people we see in our e re all(prenominal)yday world. The characters have the same fears and suffer the same pains, and thus, we can sympathize with them. The two briny characters, George and Lennie, live during the Great Depression and wander around expression for ranch work, tho when they finally find a ranch, they flirt many different variants of people. These various characters all have their induce quirks, only the amount of empathy they come across from the ratifier varies based on the actions they take. Curleys insecurities achieve no empathy from the barorser. glasss fear achieves immense amounts of empathy. And lastly, Georges actions and motivations go through to a very unexpected twist. Throughtaboo the novel, George, sugarcoat, and Curley each have insecurities, motivations, and dreams, and eyepatch they whitethorn shargon certain human frailties, they ar non all equally successful at achieving empathy and support from the contributor.
Curleys dreams be powered by his inner motivation of insecurity; however, he is extremely unsuccessful in attaining the indorsers empathy. Curley is a boxer who is to a greater extent diminutive in stature than most men. Because of this, he is not content with his size. Thus, he picks on people vastger than himself to locate his strength, Curleys pretty handy?Curleys care a lot of commencementer-ranking guys. He hates big guys. Hes alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of worry hes mad at em because he aint a big guy (26). He dreams of being able to assert his authorization and superiority and thus assuage his insecurity, and because of this, he feels the fate to everyplace establish his strength and superiority in outrank to come across consider. Of course, the type of respect he views from people is not admirable because he achieves it via cruelty. His cruelty is not surprising since Curleys name is already a connotation for evil. Curley is similar to the word cruel, but pretty rearranged. And cruel he is, as Curley interprets no mercy to anyone, scour the developmentally delayed, Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed Lennie with his left, and then firm d progress to his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. parentage welled from his nose (63). In this quote, Curley catches Lennie laughing at something. Being the self-centered bully he is, Curley accuses Lennie of laughing at him. Lennie of course, is in his own world and is completely oblivious to what is happening. Curley takes this oblivious, childlike state of judgment and attempts to crush it. He considers Lennie is sustainless because he is a straightlaced guy, and so Curley only calendar method of birth controls on him harder. Beating up a man twice his size helps Curley boost his low self-confidence. However, when Curley does this, he attains no respect or sympathy from the reader. In fact, he solicits our hatred by his actions. The reader only hopes that something enceinte give happen to him. Steinbeck caters to the readers want immediately after Curley attempts to beat up Lennie as Lennie strikes back, Looks to me like ever bone in his han is fag?This punk sure had it comin to him (64). Lennie does not just stand in that respect and allow Curley to beat him up. after(prenominal) awhile, Lennie, who is far larger and stronger than Curley, retaliates. In a mere matter of seconds, Lennie destroys Curley. Because of Curleys foolish actions, he ends up hurting himself. And when this occurs, the reader is happy because Curley had it coming; It was evitable that something skanky had to happen to Curley as he deserved to be trounce up. However, if we juxtapose Curley with other characters, such as Lennie and glass, the animosity felt for Curley is even greater in light of the gentleness and sympathy of old Candy and of Lennie, emphasizing that people like Candy deserve security system from people like Curley, and such protection is offered by individuals like George. Thus, while Candy may be insecure like Curley, the reader is able to feel other than closely Curley because of his cruelty, and in contrast, the reader hopes that Candy and Lennie will be protected by people like George. Unlike Candy, the reader hopes for the demise of people like Curley, who project their insecurities in a demanding and frightening manner. Therefore, one can conclude that insecurities may lead an individual down the wrong path, the path towards misery and miss of respect.
Candys realistic fears of failure fuel his dreams; however, although he fears failure, his insecurities actually make him extremely successful and receiving empathy from the reader. Candy is the oldest character in Of Mice and Men. He is immensely kind to everyone and never tries to gain respect through fear. Not only is he old, he is handicapped as he is missing one of his hands. With this in mind, he actualizes that it is very hard to secure himself a stable job when he is already old and handicapped, I aint very much strong with ony one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. ?Spose I went in with you guys. ?Theyll can me purty soon. Jus as soon as I cant swamp by no bunk houses theyll put me on the country (59-60). This realistic fear of the future is justifiable as Candy is just another man who needs to figure out how to make his living during the Great Depression. Once Candy hears about George and Lennies ranch dream, he is instantly wannabee for the future, as he thinks that he will succeed. Because of Candys old age and kindness, the reader cannot help but feel empathy for Candy because his fear is understandable and is one that everyone in the world encounters. When George and Lennie promise Candy a portion out of the land, Candy perks up immediately, Candy cried, Sure they all want it. Everybody wants a little bit of land, not much?I never had none?But we gonna do it now, and dont make no defect about that?He stopped, overwhelmed with his picture (76). Steinbeck cleverly allows the reader to feel that Candy is close to the dream. He has the money, and he has people who are willing to help him. At this point, Candys fears have been temporarily assuaged. of course at this point, the reader cannot help but feel hopeful for Candy as he is so close to success. Of course, Steinbeck one time again pulls a hand at Candys fate when he shatters Candys one hope, He looked helplessly back at Curleys wife, and piecemeal his sorrow and his anger grew into words? You wasnt no good?I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys?His eyes blinded with tear and he turned and went weakly out of the barn (95-96). After Curleys wifes death, the dream has been shattered; There is no doubt that George and Lennie will leave Candy and Candy will once again be stuck as the lonely man on the ranch. The reader feels sad for Candy as this point because Candy is much more deserving of achieving his dream than people like Curley. Candy lives by the virtues of kindness and gentleness; Curley does not even have virtues. This solicits a deep compassion from the reader for Candy. Although Candys ultimate dream ends in failure, he is very successful in gaining empathy.
George is cause by the realistic want of leading a good life; however, he is an ambiguous character, and the reader cannot help but feel mixed feelings for him. George and Lennie travel together in hopes of finding a ranch of their own. Unfortunately, Lennie is developmentally delayed and acts as a hindrance to George in many ways, ??If I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an? work, an? no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want?You pass off me in hot water all the time?? (11).
Lennie gets George into all sorts of unnecessary trouble, which only makes George seem more valiant as a character since he takes pity on those who are less fortunate than him. Although George appears to be a good character, the reader cannot help but question George?s inner thoughts that he could lead a seeter life without Lennie. While George is the protector of people like Lennie and Candy, we are confused by George?s statement of frustration. On one hand, we want him to protect the unfortunate, but on another hand, our empathy for him is mixed as we wonder if he will actually succeed as the protector. As the write up progresses, George meets Candy and allots the ranch dream with him. With Candy?s money, and George and Lennie?s hope, the dream seems almost achievable, ??Jesus Christ! I bet we could swing her.? His eyes were full of wonder? (60). By make the ranch pact with Candy, we are hopeful that George will obtain the ranch so he can ensure the safety device of people like Lennie and Candy against evil people like Curley. Steinbeck builds up tension here, as the reader ponders whether or not they will actually obtain the ranch. However the most dastard(prenominal) act of the book shocks readers the most, ?George raised the gun and his hand agitate?he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie?s head. ?He pulled the trigger?Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering? (105-106). As Lennie lays dead on the ground, George fails us here. We do not feel anything other than shock and confusion for George. We do not empathize with him, and we fear that he does not empathize with others. George?s entire image changes as the reader ponders who George really is. Is he evil like Curley or kind like Candy? Although we are unsure, we think that he may be both. He may have killed his topper recall dose out of selfishness, or he may have killed his best friend in the hopes of preventing in from future pain. Either way, we realize that he is not the man we perceived him to be. George is unsuccessful in attaining his ranch, but the amount of empathy the reader feels for him is mixed, as George is no monthlong the empathetic man we perceived him to be at the low of the novella.
Throughout the novel, Curley, Candy, and George all have different motivations and dreams, but although they share certain human fragilities, the amount of empathy they gain from the reader is extremely different. Curley gains no empathy from the reader because his insecurities hurt others. Candy?s insecurities gain him the most empathy because he is kind, but still must suffer. Lastly, George?s motivation brings only utter confusion to the reader because although he seems like a helpful man in the beginning, his actions do not reflect the man we thought he was. Steinbeck attempts to show us that people do not give out empathy equally, but they dole it out based on people?s actions and whether they are deserving of that empathy. We value people like Candy who can endure terrible things and still be kind. However, we dislike people like Curley who are nasty and rude. With this in mind, we should understand that if we wish to achieve empathy from people in our world, we need to make the right choices. We cannot expect to receive empathy if we choose to dole out the people around us terribly; if we treat others with respect and handle things in a calm manner, we will receive empathy. Even if it does not come immediately, it will come in due time. Empathy is certainly important; it helps us understand the other people in our world burst. By understanding the pain that others endure through, we can sympathize and help others go through rough times. Thus, we can make the world a better place.
Bibliography:Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Group, 1937.
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