Welcome to English III. This is our blog spot. Here we will share our feelings and ideas about the works we are studying. I encourage you to be honest, but I EXPECT you to be mature and respectful.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Land of Misfit Toys: "They left the weak ones here..."
Chapter Four provides a look at the
"misfits" of the ranch. Even among "their kind," these four-Crooks, Lennie,
Curley's wife, and
Candy--show both the human need for acceptance and the desire for dominance.
Explain how so. Through which of these characters did Steinbeck best convey
these conflicts in the human condition? Explain specifically. (The deadline to post a response to this blog question is
midnight August 22, 2012.)
Crooks shows how he desires dominance by picking on Lennie about George not returning. He shows his desire for acceptance by being excited about Lennie and Candy visiting him, even though he tries to hide it. I don't believe that Lennie exactly desires acceptance and dominance because his childlike and dog-like mind only allows him to follow a leader and to obey. He can't comprehend power with his innocent mind. Candy asks about "getting in on" The Dream and offers all his money, which shows how he wants to be accepted. Curley's wife talks about how she doesn't feel accepted because all Curley does is talk about hitting people and he doesn't give her enough attention. She says she wishes she could hit him sometimes to show that she is just as capable, which proves her desire for dominance. I think Steinbeck shows these conflicts with Crooks. The characterization of Crooks shows right away that he is mistreated and reduced to basically nothing. His bitterness towards Lennie shows how affected he is by it, and when he picks on Lennie, Steinbeck proves that Crooks wants to be more than what he is made out to be. KG Block 3
Crooks shows his need of acceptance by telling Lennie his life story. It reveals that he has had a rough childhood, since he was black. He feels dominant by making Lennie feel how he felt. He feels that, doing this, at least he is better than him. Lennie isn't accepted that much because of his mental health. He doesn't understand things that much like everyone else. He desires for dominance. He wants someone who will see him more than just the mentally handicap man. He wants to do what he feels he should do. Candy wants acceptance, also. He has one hand and is often portrayed as the weakling. He doesn't want his issue getting in his way. He wants to help out George and Lennie with their dream land. He wants to be treated like anyone else would. Curley's wife wants her acceptance, too. Everyone sees her as Curley's prostitute wife. Curley doesn't really pay attention to her that much. She feels unwanted. She tries to get her dominance by flirting with the other men and trying to get them to do what she wants them to do. Steinbeck best conveyed these conflicts in Crooks. Crooks is black, which means he will be treated differently than the others automatically. He's been lonely for all his life, as he tells us in the book. Crooks says that he was the only black family in his neighborhood. -BP 1st
Crooks shows his need to be accepted by telling Lennie about what it was/is like to be a colored man. The story shows that he's always been an outcast, which you can also infer by the fact that he lives in his own room. He shows his need for dominance by immediately putting Lennie under him and twisting Lennie's mind. Crooks wants to be seen as more than just a colored man. Lennie doesn't really show his need to be accepted due to the fact that he's in such a simple state of mind that I'm sure he doesn't even know what acceptance is. He only focuses on George and his opinion and being able to tend the rabbits. He doesn't show his need for dominance because he doesn't even know how to do that. Candy shows his need for acceptance by immediately jumping on the opportunity to get in on the dream place with Lennie and George. He feels unaccepted once again when Curley's wife is killed because he knows things will always remain the same from now on. He just wants to be shown as something more even though he's missing a hand. Curley's wife shows her need for acceptance when she explains to Lennie how her own husband hardly talks to her. It shows that she wants someone to talk to. Her attitude even shows that. She shows her dominance by trying to put all the men under her power by seducing them. I believe Steinbeck showed the conflicts the best with the character Crooks because he's a colored man and will automatically be judged based on that. He has no hope. The others do, but he doesn't. He is always judged immediately. He's always been the outcast. -AR 1st block
Curley's wife is extremely lonely and an outcast because of her gender; because of this, she seeks out the company of the others and often acts inappropriately in her desperation for attention. She dislikes and rebels being "up in that house alla time" as well as being viewed as one of Curley's posessions. She asserts her domiance by threatening to get Crooks lynched without reason and when threatened by the other men,telling them that noone would belive them. Crooks resentment and need for dominance can be seen in his treatment of Lennie. However, he later bears his soul to Lennie and even "forgets for awhile" that he is black by talking to Candy and Lennie about the ranch. C.A.Block 1
The four characters of Crooks, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife show the human nature to crave acceptance and dominance in the fourth chapter of Of Mice and Men. They do this by Crooks acceptance of Lennie and Candy his first "friends" in a while, Curley's wife insulting the men and how she says that the men won't talk to her, and by Candy's dominance over Curley's wife. Though each of the men crave acceptance and some form of power, to me, Crooks best represents these human conditions. He has been left alone because he's black for years. He even talks about how just having someone there to talk to even if he can't understand him is preferable to his books. On the topic of dominance Crooks also tries to one up Lennie and Curley's wife. While he succeeds with Lennie, promptly upsetting him, Curley's wife removes that power with the use of one word. Steinbecks use of Crooks was craftily done and if correctly interpreted can show the reader more about himself and the human condition.
okay so I just wrote a big response and tried a million times to submit it but apparently my openID url was wrong and it finally went through and nothing posted. yay for me.
First off, I don't believe that Lennie belongs in that list. He was not worried with if he had attention or dominance. His mind was too simplistic to comprehend these ideas. Other then Lennie this chapter does an outstanding job at addressing the human need for dominance and acceptance. Steinbeck really conveys the desperacy for attention and the cravings for authority, by showing how Curley's wife is with the weak links of the bunch, and Crooks' delite to have company. Crooks is the most craving this domminance because he is willing to diliberately hurt Lennie and make him shrink just to make himself seem on top. He's had so much Neglect through out his life that for this one moment he means something to someone and he's not the poopy end of the stick. Even though everyone may be spiteful towards these kind of character actions I believe they deserve a bit of sympathy, for they must've had something happen to them to make them that way. TR 1st block
Of all the misfit characters that were left behind in this part of the book, Curley's wife stands out to me as one who craves the most acceptance and dominance. Being a woman and being viewed as a possession obviously has taken a toll on her. All she wants is to be accepted, to get attention, and to have someone to talk to but it is hard for her to fit in because the men always think that she is out to cause trouble. I think that she has found out that the only way to get the men to talk to her is to act provocatively, but at least she gets attention this way. On the flip side, she is already a very dominating person, in such a way that everyone mostly respects her. When she threatens to hurt crooks, everyone listens and crooks backs down. This is an obvious example of her dominant side. Crooks seems to crave acceptance almost as much as Curley's wife does. He complains about his life to Lennie. He complains about how he is never included in anything except horseshoes because he is simply black and the black men were in a way frowned upon in those days. Also, Crooks' anger boils up inside himself and he begins to take it out on Lennie just so he can feel some domination at least over one person. I believe that Crooks probably always wants to feel like he is better than someone, to dominate them, because the white people step all over him showing their power over him every day. He feels like he is nothing, and all he wants to do is fit in much like Curley's wife.
Brianna pate-first block In chapter four of mice and men the misfits reveal themselves. All the men went out for the night leaving crooks, lennie, curley's wife, and candy behind. Lennie went into the barn and stopped at crooks room. Crooks did not want lennie around but his loneliness got the best of him. Crooks let lennie come in. Crooks way of dominance was telling lennie george was not coming back. Lennie knew george would come back that he would not leave him. Candy comes along and he talks to lennie about the dream. Crooks comes in again trying to show hes bigger. Crooks said the dream was a joke. Candy stepped up and said no. The three men are shocked when curleys wife shows up. Curleys wife had the dominance over them all. She made them all nervous. When it came to being lonely she was to. Crooks was the one with the human conditions of being lonely forever though. Steinbeck did a great job setting the four apart but showed the major differences in their situations. He really showed the human conditions.
Because he is mentally handicapped, Lennie's views of people are not perverted by the world around him, and he often has child-like mannerisms; however, children are often needy and want to be accepted as human beings, – as they say, “big kids” - rather than incompetent little children. Lennie wants to be seen more for whom he is than for what he has - a mental handicap. He does not consciously desire for dominance, but once he goes into "panic mode", he immediately gains ultimate dominance to where the other person in the situation has zero control. Curley's wife not having a name implies that she is just a girl and doesn't matter; she is Curley's possession, rather than equal. In saying this, she must desire to be accepted as an equal to men. All she wants is for someone to talk to her and keep her from getting lonely, despite the way she throws herself at the men and how they call her a "tart". Curley's wife desires dominance to compensate for being female. She tries to put the other men down, and prove that she is above them; even being better than the ones she calls weak is significant to her. Candy is old and has a physical handicap. In this, he is different from the other characters. He feels that in a short time, the boss will cut him and he will be deemed useless. Candy wishes to be accepted as a hard worker, and not just some old man. He is not a very domineering man, but as soon as Curely's wife tries to put him lower than her, he attacks back to put her "in her place". Steinbeck best conveys these conflicts in the human condition through Crooks. The opening of chapter four describes the lonely surroundings of Crooks, and a conversation he has with Lennie. When he "s'posses" to Lennie about George not coming back, he secretly hopes to make Lennie upset and feel what pain he went through as a child. Nobody will take his word on anything, because he is just a black man - the only one on the ranch. In Soledad, there is only one other black family. In his loneliness due to color, he desires to be accepted as an equal man - not as a just a black man. As the aforementioned "s'possing" takes place, he realizes that in his "victory" he has boosted himself in rank over the mentally-handicapped man. Being "better" than a handicapped man is better than having rank over nobody. The reason I think he best conveys the conflicts in the human condition is the scene with Curley's wife. She attacks all the men as a whole, but she singles out Crooks and lashes out at him. The other men cannot be threatened to be lynched as much as he can be. The sad truth about those times was that black men were treated completely unfairly, unequally, and lowly. The other men have a chance at back-talking to Curley's wife, but he has no say in anything. There is little looking good in the direction of Crooks.
All of these characters get alienated at times because they're different. Curley's wife is often ignored because people don't respect and are threatened by her, yet she craves attention. She flirts with men constantly so they will look at her, but that's what makes them not want to be around her. She also wears bright, flashy clothing, but it helps scare people away. She puts other people down to feel more important, which shows that she's insecure.
In chapter four, the misfits of the ranch, Crooks, Lennie, Candy and Curley's wife, all show the need for acceptance and the desire for dominance. In striving for dominance, Crooks takes out his feelings on the Lennie by the way he talks to him and makes him feel about how he depends on George. He feels the need for acceptance when when complains about not being able to live in the bunk house and not being able to do what the other men do. As for Curley's wife, the way she puts her self out for grabs is her way of searching for acceptance. With the husband that she has, she is not happy. She feels she has to have the attention of all men to be happy with who she is. She shows the need for dominance when she is talking to Crooks. She made him feel bad about who he is when she threatens him. Crooks and Curley's was were the two misfits that showed the internal conflict the best in my opinion.
The "misfits" in this chapter all accept and dominate each other. Crooks does so in the way when Lennie and Candy enter his room and talk to him this is him being accepted. He dominates when he convinces Lennie that George had left him. Lennie is accepted when Crook's lets him in his room. He dominates when he makes like he is going to attack Crook's. Curley's wife is accepted when the men talk to her, but she gains dominance when she threatens to have them lynched. Candy gains acceptance when he is allowed to enter Crook's room. He dominates when he stands his ground against Curley's wife.
12 comments:
Crooks shows how he desires dominance by picking on Lennie about George not returning. He shows his desire for acceptance by being excited about Lennie and Candy visiting him, even though he tries to hide it. I don't believe that Lennie exactly desires acceptance and dominance because his childlike and dog-like mind only allows him to follow a leader and to obey. He can't comprehend power with his innocent mind. Candy asks about "getting in on" The Dream and offers all his money, which shows how he wants to be accepted. Curley's wife talks about how she doesn't feel accepted because all Curley does is talk about hitting people and he doesn't give her enough attention. She says she wishes she could hit him sometimes to show that she is just as capable, which proves her desire for dominance. I think Steinbeck shows these conflicts with Crooks. The characterization of Crooks shows right away that he is mistreated and reduced to basically nothing. His bitterness towards Lennie shows how affected he is by it, and when he picks on Lennie, Steinbeck proves that Crooks wants to be more than what he is made out to be.
KG Block 3
Crooks shows his need of acceptance by telling Lennie his life story. It reveals that he has had a rough childhood, since he was black. He feels dominant by making Lennie feel how he felt. He feels that, doing this, at least he is better than him. Lennie isn't accepted that much because of his mental health. He doesn't understand things that much like everyone else. He desires for dominance. He wants someone who will see him more than just the mentally handicap man. He wants to do what he feels he should do. Candy wants acceptance, also. He has one hand and is often portrayed as the weakling. He doesn't want his issue getting in his way. He wants to help out George and Lennie with their dream land. He wants to be treated like anyone else would. Curley's wife wants her acceptance, too. Everyone sees her as Curley's prostitute wife. Curley doesn't really pay attention to her that much. She feels unwanted. She tries to get her dominance by flirting with the other men and trying to get them to do what she wants them to do. Steinbeck best conveyed these conflicts in Crooks. Crooks is black, which means he will be treated differently than the others automatically. He's been lonely for all his life, as he tells us in the book. Crooks says that he was the only black family in his neighborhood.
-BP 1st
Crooks shows his need to be accepted by telling Lennie about what it was/is like to be a colored man. The story shows that he's always been an outcast, which you can also infer by the fact that he lives in his own room. He shows his need for dominance by immediately putting Lennie under him and twisting Lennie's mind. Crooks wants to be seen as more than just a colored man. Lennie doesn't really show his need to be accepted due to the fact that he's in such a simple state of mind that I'm sure he doesn't even know what acceptance is. He only focuses on George and his opinion and being able to tend the rabbits. He doesn't show his need for dominance because he doesn't even know how to do that. Candy shows his need for acceptance by immediately jumping on the opportunity to get in on the dream place with Lennie and George. He feels unaccepted once again when Curley's wife is killed because he knows things will always remain the same from now on. He just wants to be shown as something more even though he's missing a hand. Curley's wife shows her need for acceptance when she explains to Lennie how her own husband hardly talks to her. It shows that she wants someone to talk to. Her attitude even shows that. She shows her dominance by trying to put all the men under her power by seducing them. I believe Steinbeck showed the conflicts the best with the character Crooks because he's a colored man and will automatically be judged based on that. He has no hope. The others do, but he doesn't. He is always judged immediately. He's always been the outcast. -AR 1st block
Curley's wife is extremely lonely and an outcast because of her gender; because of this, she seeks out the company of the others and often acts inappropriately in her desperation for attention. She dislikes and rebels being "up in that house alla time" as well as being viewed as one of Curley's posessions. She asserts her domiance by threatening to get Crooks lynched without reason and when threatened by the other men,telling them that noone would belive them. Crooks resentment and need for dominance can be seen in his treatment of Lennie. However, he later bears his soul to Lennie and even "forgets for awhile" that he is black by talking to Candy and Lennie about the ranch. C.A.Block 1
The four characters of Crooks, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife show the human nature to crave acceptance and dominance in the fourth chapter of Of Mice and Men. They do this by Crooks acceptance of Lennie and Candy his first "friends" in a while, Curley's wife insulting the men and how she says that the men won't talk to her, and by Candy's dominance over Curley's wife. Though each of the men crave acceptance and some form of power, to me, Crooks best represents these human conditions. He has been left alone because he's black for years. He even talks about how just having someone there to talk to even if he can't understand him is preferable to his books. On the topic of dominance Crooks also tries to one up Lennie and Curley's wife. While he succeeds with Lennie, promptly upsetting him, Curley's wife removes that power with the use of one word. Steinbecks use of Crooks was craftily done and if correctly interpreted can show the reader more about himself and the human condition.
okay so I just wrote a big response and tried a million times to submit it but apparently my openID url was wrong and it finally went through and nothing posted. yay for me.
First off, I don't believe that Lennie belongs in that list. He was not worried with if he had attention or dominance. His mind was too simplistic to comprehend these ideas. Other then Lennie this chapter does an outstanding job at addressing the human need for dominance and acceptance. Steinbeck really conveys the desperacy for attention and the cravings for authority, by showing how Curley's wife is with the weak links of the bunch, and Crooks' delite to have company. Crooks is the most craving this domminance because he is willing to diliberately hurt Lennie and make him shrink just to make himself seem on top. He's had so much Neglect through out his life that for this one moment he means something to someone and he's not the poopy end of the stick. Even though everyone may be spiteful towards these kind of character actions I believe they deserve a bit of sympathy, for they must've had something happen to them to make them that way. TR 1st block
sorry for the horrible spelling..
Of all the misfit characters that were left behind in this part of the book, Curley's wife stands out to me as one who craves the most acceptance and dominance. Being a woman and being viewed as a possession obviously has taken a toll on her. All she wants is to be accepted, to get attention, and to have someone to talk to but it is hard for her to fit in because the men always think that she is out to cause trouble. I think that she has found out that the only way to get the men to talk to her is to act provocatively, but at least she gets attention this way. On the flip side, she is already a very dominating person, in such a way that everyone mostly respects her. When she threatens to hurt crooks, everyone listens and crooks backs down. This is an obvious example of her dominant side. Crooks seems to crave acceptance almost as much as Curley's wife does. He complains about his life to Lennie. He complains about how he is never included in anything except horseshoes because he is simply black and the black men were in a way frowned upon in those days. Also, Crooks' anger boils up inside himself and he begins to take it out on Lennie just so he can feel some domination at least over one person. I believe that Crooks probably always wants to feel like he is better than someone, to dominate them, because the white people step all over him showing their power over him every day. He feels like he is nothing, and all he wants to do is fit in much like Curley's wife.
Brianna pate-first block
In chapter four of mice and men the misfits reveal themselves. All the men went out for the night leaving crooks, lennie, curley's wife, and candy behind. Lennie went into the barn and stopped at crooks room. Crooks did not want lennie around but his loneliness got the best of him. Crooks let lennie come in. Crooks way of dominance was telling lennie george was not coming back. Lennie knew george would come back that he would not leave him. Candy comes along and he talks to lennie about the dream. Crooks comes in again trying to show hes bigger. Crooks said the dream was a joke. Candy stepped up and said no. The three men are shocked when curleys wife shows up. Curleys wife had the dominance over them all. She made them all nervous. When it came to being lonely she was to. Crooks was the one with the human conditions of being lonely forever though. Steinbeck did a great job setting the four apart but showed the major differences in their situations. He really showed the human conditions.
Because he is mentally handicapped, Lennie's views of people are not perverted by the world around him, and he often has child-like mannerisms; however, children are often needy and want to be accepted as human beings, – as they say, “big kids” - rather than incompetent little children. Lennie wants to be seen more for whom he is than for what he has - a mental handicap. He does not consciously desire for dominance, but once he goes into "panic mode", he immediately gains ultimate dominance to where the other person in the situation has zero control. Curley's wife not having a name implies that she is just a girl and doesn't matter; she is Curley's possession, rather than equal. In saying this, she must desire to be accepted as an equal to men. All she wants is for someone to talk to her and keep her from getting lonely, despite the way she throws herself at the men and how they call her a "tart". Curley's wife desires dominance to compensate for being female. She tries to put the other men down, and prove that she is above them; even being better than the ones she calls weak is significant to her. Candy is old and has a physical handicap. In this, he is different from the other characters. He feels that in a short time, the boss will cut him and he will be deemed useless. Candy wishes to be accepted as a hard worker, and not just some old man. He is not a very domineering man, but as soon as Curely's wife tries to put him lower than her, he attacks back to put her "in her place". Steinbeck best conveys these conflicts in the human condition through Crooks. The opening of chapter four describes the lonely surroundings of Crooks, and a conversation he has with Lennie. When he "s'posses" to Lennie about George not coming back, he secretly hopes to make Lennie upset and feel what pain he went through as a child. Nobody will take his word on anything, because he is just a black man - the only one on the ranch. In Soledad, there is only one other black family. In his loneliness due to color, he desires to be accepted as an equal man - not as a just a black man. As the aforementioned "s'possing" takes place, he realizes that in his "victory" he has boosted himself in rank over the mentally-handicapped man. Being "better" than a handicapped man is better than having rank over nobody. The reason I think he best conveys the conflicts in the human condition is the scene with Curley's wife. She attacks all the men as a whole, but she singles out Crooks and lashes out at him. The other men cannot be threatened to be lynched as much as he can be. The sad truth about those times was that black men were treated completely unfairly, unequally, and lowly. The other men have a chance at back-talking to Curley's wife, but he has no say in anything. There is little looking good in the direction of Crooks.
All of these characters get alienated at times because they're different. Curley's wife is often ignored because people don't respect and are threatened by her, yet she craves attention. She flirts with men constantly so they will look at her, but that's what makes them not want to be around her. She also wears bright, flashy clothing, but it helps scare people away. She puts other people down to feel more important, which shows that she's insecure.
In chapter four, the misfits of the ranch, Crooks, Lennie, Candy and Curley's wife, all show the need for acceptance and the desire for dominance. In striving for dominance, Crooks takes out his feelings on the Lennie by the way he talks to him and makes him feel about how he depends on George. He feels the need for acceptance when when complains about not being able to live in the bunk house and not being able to do what the other men do. As for Curley's wife, the way she puts her self out for grabs is her way of searching for acceptance. With the husband that she has, she is not happy. She feels she has to have the attention of all men to be happy with who she is. She shows the need for dominance when she is talking to Crooks. She made him feel bad about who he is when she threatens him. Crooks and Curley's was were the two misfits that showed the internal conflict the best in my opinion.
The "misfits" in this chapter all accept and dominate each other. Crooks does so in the way when Lennie and Candy enter his room and talk to him this is him being accepted. He dominates when he convinces Lennie that George had left him. Lennie is accepted when Crook's lets him in his room. He dominates when he makes like he is going to attack Crook's. Curley's wife is accepted when the men talk to her, but she gains dominance when she threatens to have them lynched. Candy gains acceptance when he is allowed to enter Crook's room. He dominates when he stands his ground against Curley's wife.
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