Exam (elaborations)
A* REVISION NOTES GCSE ENGLSIH LITERATURE"OF MICE AND MEN"
My revision notes on "Of Mice and Men" - using ambitious vocabulary to discuss the characters and the themes
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Ambitious Vocabulary for an “Of Mice and Men” GCSE essayIntroductory points:
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The important
thing to remember when discussing the themes of literature is that they are not set in stone; they may
overlap and you may see a theme in a piece of literature that is not often discussed. There is not a
prescriptive list of themes for any given literary work. The main and most transparent themes of “Of
Mice and Men are
Loneliness/ isolation (intertwined with this is the theme of the human desire to belong or to ‘be at
home’; man’s continuous search for a place where he belongs and is accepted)
Dreams (the impossibility of the American Dream)
Prejudice
Companionship
Man’s propensity for cruelty
Slim – charismatic, valued, poised, empathetic (synonymous word: compassionate), self-assured,
perceptive (discerning), a quiet observing man, the voice of reason, well-respected (interchange this
word with “revered” so as to avoid repetition and so as to show expansive vocabulary), kind
(synonymous word: benevolent), held in high esteem, “the prince of the ranch”, Slim is always present
when a significant event in the novella occurs – this gives the reader the feeling that Slim is ubiquitous.
Even Curley (a man with no depth of feeling or any degree of perception) respects Slim. When Lennie
smashes Curley’s hand, Slim is the one who intercedes and tells Curley he will not have George and
Lennie fired).
By elevating Slim’s character to a person who is respected and admired by all other character (even
Curley who is portrayed as malign) Steinbeck is in effect isolating Slim from the others; who does Slim
have to respect, to rely upon and to share his thoughts with? He is portrayed as being above all other
characters and hence Steinbeck attributes him with loneliness (the theme of loneliness permeates the
novella). It is also to be noted that Slim is possibly the only character with dreams. There is no indication
that he is aspiring towards anything. He is self-sufficient and accepting of what he has in life. This is
another distinction between Slim and the other characters that sets him apart; by setting him apart in
this way Steinbeck attributes his character with ‘loneliness’.
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