Of Mice And Men And The Pearl: Characterization
...the intensity,
depth is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth.
Steinbeck and Characterization
What is depth, and what does it mean? Depth is the extent, the intensity, depth
is a distinct level of detail. When someone talks about depth of
characterization, they are talking about the level of intensity that someone is
using in order to describe a character. John Ernst Steinbeck, in The Pearl, Of
Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath describes many of his main characters in
great depth. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, a story of two traveling laborers
who are on their way to a job loading barley at a California ranch. The two most
important characters in the novel are George Milton and Lennie Small. They are
ordinary workmen, moving from town to town and job to job, but they symbolize
much more than that. Their names give us our first hints about them. One of
Steinbeck's favorite books when he was growing up was Paradise Lost by John
Milton. In this long poem, Milton describes the beginnings of evil in the world.
He tells of Lucifer's fall from heaven and the creation of hell. He also
describes Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. By giving George
the last name of Milton, Steinbeck seems to be showing that he is an example of
fallen man, someone who is doomed to loneliness and who wants to return to the
Garden of Eden. Perhaps this is why George is always talking about having his
own place and living "off the fat of the land," as Adam and Eve did before their
fall. Lennie is anything but small physically. He is a big man who is often
described with animal images. In the...
View Full Essay
