Mice And Men - Language and Symbolism

Language and Symbolism

The language of the narrative is fairly simple; most vocabulary is of an everyday kind, except for names of items of farm equipment to which Steinbeck refers. In the dialogue, Steinbeck uses slang and non-standard terms (“would of”, “brang” and so on) to convey an authentic sense of the speaking voice.
Apart from the symbolism in the title, we should note the symbolic function of the killing of Candy's old dog. At various points in the novel shooting is mentioned as a way out of trouble (as when George says he would shoot himself if he were related to Lennie). The killing of the dog parallels the shooting of Lennie: both are depicted as merciful, in both cases the shot is in the same place (base of the skull) and Slim approves both killings.

Where else in the text can you identify animal parallells?

They could be simile's, metaphors or straightforward references.

Site Test

Sharing the workload is always a good thing.

Everone should find one helpful website that relates to Metamorphosis and our recent studies.

Post the weblink and write a few notes on what is to be found on the site.

View each other's links!  That's the point!

A Simple One

Character and relationships are important to any IB exam answer.

An understanding of how characters interrelate, how their relationships develop and ultimately what they represent will improve any exam answer.

So...

Write a brief account, including reference to action (but not necessarily quotation), of the relationship between Gregor and Grete. 

Make reference to how the character's actions show this relationship.

Make a brief comment on what you think the relationship represents when considering a symbolic reading of the text.