George And Lennie example essay topic

Of Mice and Men - comparing the book ending with the film ending The final chapter of Mice and Men begins in the brush near the Salinas River. Steinbeck describes the pool and surroundings creating a calm, lazy atmosphere. .".. the hilltops were rosy in the sun... A pleasant shade had fallen". This is similar to the beginning of the book in the way it describes the setting.

Earlier in the book, the water snake that swims through the pool lives. At the beginning of chapter six, the snake that swims through the pool is speared by the heron. This image could represent Lennie's fate, a sign that his luck is about to change. An extra point is shown near the bottom of the page.

The wind picks up a lot, after the snake is still eaten. It then dies again and the heron still stands. This could represent the trauma that will be triggered in George if Lennie dies. But like the wind, this will subside and life will go on. As Lennie drinks, a bird startles him. This shows he is very much on edge and anxious.

In the film, George is running through the brush, searching for Lennie. This is the equivalent of the beginning of chapter 6. Curley and his crew are out to get Lennie. This links with the chase at the beginning and incorporates the same dramatic loud music. We keep on getting reminders of the threat of Curley and the men. The sounds of dogs etc and pictures of Curley come every so often, increasing our anxiety and tension if we become too calm.

Back in the book, Lennie begins to hallucinate Aunt Clara as he sits waiting for George. She speaks in Lennie's voice, about how Lennie doesn't appreciate George, "You never give a thought to George". Lennie is repeatedly pleading with Aunt Clara, "Aunt Clara, ma " am. I tried and tried. I couldn't help it". I think she is a figment of Lennie's imagination.

An image projected from Lennie's guilty conscience. Next comes an abominable talking rabbit from within Lennie's head, also speaking with Lennie's voice. This time the rabbit reflects Lennie's fear of what George will say or do, ie. not let Lennie tend the rabbits, and beat him and leave him. Lennie refuses to believe the rabbit, "He's nice to me. He ain't gonna be mean". Lennie is confronted by his own subconscious in both cases, in the form of guilt and fear.

This shows Lennie is in deep turmoil, when his subconscious can overcome his conscious. This section is cut from the film, probably because it has a comical quality which distracts from the tense atmosphere that is created. In the film, George is frantically searching for Lennie in the brush near the pool. The music calms down then stops, all we hear are natural noises, e.g. birds. George is quietly calling for Lennie. Our anxiety and adrenaline calms down with the music and the natural sounds create quite the opposite atmosphere of the chase.

When George finds Lennie, the rabbit hallucination subsides back into Lennie's head. He is glad to see George, who quickly stops Lennie shouting in case he gives him away. Now that George has found Lennie he is faced with the next problem. What to do now. He is uptight and uneasy, "George came stiffly near... " Steinbeck reminds us of the men hunting Lennie out, the threat is still there.

George is worried by the shouts in the distance and Lennie is bewildered at George's lack of anger, "Ain't you gonna give me hell? ... like you always done before". He remembers George's exact words. This shows George means a lot to Lennie, and that he looks up to him. As George recites his "live so easy" speech, he is thinking about something else, and doesn't really mean what he says. "He said woodenly... His voice was not monotonous, had no emphasis".

He then stops, Lennie is confused. George has the bigger picture to think about. Giving Lennie hell is unimportant and he wants their life together to end on a good note, if death is what it comes to. George then talks about other guys and about them, this cheers Lennie up greatly. George however knows the reality of the situation, and isn't so cheerful. The shouts of men along with crashing in the brush, force him to press on with what he plans to do, "for a moment he was business-like".

George asks Lennie to look across the river as he, "tells how it's gonna be". .".. darkening slopes of the gabi liens". This could represent the darkening end of Lennie's life and creates an ominous atmosphere. In the film, George and Lennie find each other and run towards one another. Lennie stumbles and falls to his knees. They hug, portraying a father-son image, with Lennie hugging George round the waist.

George looks around warily. We then see Curley on a horse, with his bandaged arm. This reminds us he wants revenge. Lennie talks, but George is in deep thought about what to do. He sits behind Lennie as he stares across the river. Back in the book, voices of men urge George to raise the gun, but he can't bring himself to shoot and drops his hand.

He knows he has to do it soon, there are crashing footsteps in the bushes. George explains to Lennie how he has never been mad at him, he wants him to know before he is gone. George tells Lennie that everybody is going to be nice to him and not hurt him. He is talking about in heaven. Voices force George to raise the gun a second time and point it at the back of Lennie's head. This time he manages to overcome himself and keep the gun steady, "The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied".

In order to pull the trigger, George had to overcome his love for Lennie, yet it is the strength of his love for Lennie that helps him to pull the trigger. He knows he is better off dead. Now in the film, George is building up to shooting Lennie and he rests his hand on his shoulder for support. We know he must be in deep turmoil over what he is about to do. We then see a close up of George and Lennie.

The sheer look on George's face fills us with anxiety, and there is no music, only natural sounds. George stands up and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. This is followed by a close up of George. We see his devastated, sad face, before he drops to his knees and the camera shows a long shot. After the short echoes of a gunshot, there is silence.

Followed by the same slow, sad music as the opening of the film. This is all a great shock to the audience, because unlike the book, we have no idea that George has Carlson's luger and that he plans to shoot Lennie. The silence is time for the audience to accept what has actually happened. A shot of George on a train fades in, he looks very sad and upset.

He has flashbacks of working on the ranch with Lennie, shown in slow motion. Lennie puts his hand on George's back as they walk off, this is a happy memory for George. In a way the film is like a loop, George is back on the train again. Except without Lennie.

We now return to the point in the book where George has shot Lennie. He cannot accept what he has done, and throws away the thing that killed Lennie, "George shivered and looked at the gun, and then threw it from him... ". The men then burst into the clearing calling for George. But George just sits looking at the hand that shot Lennie as if it was not part of him. How could it have just killed his best friend?

Slim comforts George. "I just done it... George said tiredly". The whole thing has drained George mentally and physically. George is in his own thoughts and doesn't care about anything else, "Yeah.

He had your gun... Yeah. Tha's how". He doesn't really care how. George goes with Slim for a drink. Curley and Carlson don't understand what's "eatin them two guys".

This just shows how insensitive and slow they are. I thought the film ending was good in the way that it generated more emotions than the book. The shock when Lennie was shot, the sad aftermath etc. The way it is left in the air slightly, lets you decide how George copes and is food for thought after the film.

The book however tells us that George goes on with life, with help from Slim. Both the book and the film have their qualities but the film had edge on controlling the audience.