The Pearl and Of Mice and Men Comparion

Honors English 10--Mr. Hollister

Of Mice and Men & The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Introduction

In both of the novels, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl, John Steinbeck allows fate to be one of the main themes. At multiple different points in the plot of Of Mice and Men, fate is assisted by one of the main characters, Lennie, in ruining the plans made. And in The Pearl, fate allows many terrible things to happen with the assistance of the greed of Kino and the other people in the village.

Plot

Both stories, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl, follow a similar outline of important events in the story. The Pearl starts with more action, but both books have slow beginning. And the climax in both books is in chapter five. In The Pearl, Kino beats Juana because she was trying to throw the pearl back into the ocean. Then Kino ends up killing one of the dark figures that has been attacking him. Their brush house catches fire, and they hide in Kino’s brother’s brush house until they can escape at nightfall. In chapter 5, Of Mice and Men starts off with Lennie  in the barn with his dead puppy. He kills Curley’s wife and when George finds out, he tells Candy that they aren’t getting the farm they wanted.

Of Mice and Men

George and Lennie, to migrant workers during the Depression, head to a new ranch hoping to find work. They escaped from the last ranch after Lennie was blamed for raping a woman. As the story progresses you find that what Lennie touches he ends up destroying. It starts off with a dead mouse, and he crushes Curley’s hand in chapter 3. Then in chapter 5, he has a dead puppy, and has killed Curley’s wife. And that caused him to have to leave the new ranch. At the end of the book, Lennie's companion ends up shooting Lennie.

The Pearl

Kino, a Mexican-Indian pearl digger, his wife Juana, and their baby Coyotito were living a peaceful life. However, Coyotito was stung by a scorpion and they went searching for a pearl to pay for treatment. Kino ended up finding the pearl of the world, which ended up bringing evil and darkness to their lives. The fate that brought them the pearl also ended up taking their son from them. After which they ended up, casting the pearl back into the ocean, because they didn't want the evil it brought.

Settings

In both books, Steinbeck was able to create a very common area for most of the characters. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck turned bunkhouse into a main setting once arriving at the ranch. George and Lennie are staying in there, and end up meeting most of the other characters there. In The Pearl, he managed to do the same thing with the brush houses. He allowed it to become a very central area in the book. The book starts off in Kino and Juana’s brush house and many important scenes throughout the course of the book happen in and around the brush houses.

Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men, one of the major location of the story is in the bunkhouse. This is where most of the men on the farm were all living as they were working there. Many of the important scenes take place in the bunkhouse, and it seems like a very common area. The bunkhouse is where the place where George and Lennie, end up meeting almost everyone on the ranch. When the first get to the ranch they meet Candy, but in the bunkhouse they meet the boss, Slim, Curley, Curley’s wife, Whit, Crooks, and  Carlson.

The Pearl

In The Pearl, a lot of what happens takes place in and around the brush houses. Kino, Juanna, and Coyotito live in one brush house and they have neighbors in surrounding brush houses. At the beginning, Coyotito got stung by the scorpion in their brush house. The first time that Kino got attacked was actually in the brush house, and the next time he was attacked right outside. Then Kino, Juana, and Coyotito went and hid in Juan Tomás’s brush house, when they were waiting to flee at the end of chapter five.

Characters

In Of Mice and Men and The Pearl, you learn about two different couples, Kino and Juana, and Curley and his wife. In The Pearl you see that Kino and Juana both lean on each other. Juana couldn’t survive on her own, and Kino relies on Juana for support to make it through tough situations. In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is married to Curley because he is a stable option for her during the Depression., and Curley simply wants an attractive woman as his arm candy. If Juana and Curley’s wife didn’t need their husbands to guarantee their survival, they probably wouldn’t tolerate their behavior and stay with them.  

Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men, one of the main characters is Curley. In the book you get to learn about his relationship with his wife. Curley’s wife only married him because she had to. She said she needed to get away from her mother, so she married Curley because he was a better, more stable, choice. When she was talking to Lennie in chapter 5, she said that she didn’t love him, and you can tell that Curley doesn’t love her. He only married her because he wanted a beautiful woman as his arm candy. You can tell there is no love between them, and they don’t work together. If Curley’s wife didn’t need Curley for stability, she wouldn’t be married to him.

The Pearl

In The Pearl, two of the main characters is Kino and Juana, and throughout the course of the book you get to see how they work as a team. Whenever Kino begins to feel unconfident in himself, or in a situation, he looks at his wife and she is able to boost his self esteem.  It leans the reader more towards believing that Kino could not get by without having Juana. Even though, you see a glimpse of Kino’s anger towards Juana at the beginning of chapter 5, you still see that he needs her. Also, in the book Juana says that she needs a man to survive. She most likely wouldn’t even be able to feed herself without Kino. If Juana didn’t need Kino for her own survival, there’s no guarantee that she would even be with him.

Themes

In both books, one of the main themes is fate. In Of Mice and Men, fate, with service from Lennie’s inability to control his strength, and understanding of what to do, intervenes in the plans that George and Lennie were making for their lives. Fate brings Curley’s wife in the the barn, at the precise moment that Lennie is trying to figure out what to do with his dead pup. And in The Pearl, fate is what brings the pearl, and its darkness, to Kino and Juana.  Fate is also what takes Coyotitio away from them in the end.

Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men, fate ends up playing a very large role. With the help of Candy, it finally seemed that George and Lennie were actually going to get their dream farm, but then fate steps in. Chapter 4 is when all the pieces start fitting together for George, Candy was going to help with the money for the down payment on the barn, and that only meant that they had to work for a month or two at the ranch before they had all of the money that they needed. However, in chapter 5, fate brings Curley’s wife into the barn at exactly the right time. Lennie was attempting to figure out what to do with his dead puppy, and was unable to control his strength in the moment. He wasn’t sure what to do, and ended up killing Curley’s wife. After that, all of their plans fell apart.

The Pearl

In The Pearl, a recurring theme in the book is fate. At the beginning of the book, Kino and Juana’s lives change irreparably when fate allows a scorpion to sting Coyotito. Then a strike of beneficial fate hits, and Kino is lead to the pearl. And the events at the end of the book is caused by a combination of fate and the greed of Kino and others. Kino was caught between the destiny handed to him by fate and the destiny that he was trying to make for himself and his family. Which al leads to the final conflict, where Coyotito is taken away from Kino at the end of the story.

Symbolism

Both Of Mice and Men and The Pearl, have major symbols, that Steinbeck uses as foreshadowing for what will happen later on in the book. In Of Mice and Men, Candy’s dog is a symbol for what ends up happening to Lennie. Steinbeck uses the scorpion in The Pearl, as a symbol; Kino couldn’t get to Coyotitio fast enough to save him from the scorpion at the beginning of the book, nor the gun shot at the end.

Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men, one of the big symbols is Candy’s dog. At the beginning of the book, Carlson begins to complain about Candy’s dog being too old, weak, and useless. He tells Candy that it would be easier for everyone if he just took it outside, shoot it in the back of the head, and put it out of its misery. All along this was simply foreshadowing for what was to happen to Lennie at the end of the book. In chapter 6, George decided to shoot Lennie in the back of the head, because he was simply putting him out of his misery and it was a much more merciful death.

The Pearl

In The Pearl, the scorpion is one of the big symbols. In chapter 1, when Kino sees that there is a scorpion on the rope of Coyotito’s hanging box, he attempts to grab it. However, Kino isn’t soon enough. Coyotito moves, and the scorpion ends up falling and stinging him. You end up later finding out that this scene is foreshadowing for what happens to Coyotito at the end of the book. When they are in the desert/mountains, Kino is heading to fight off the trackers, but he wasn’t there quick enough. One of the trackers shot their gun before Kino could stop it, and it ended up hitting Coyotito.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear to see that Steinbeck made fate a main theme and a very large factor in the plot of both novels,  Of Mice and Men and The Pearl. In both books, fate, with the assistance of some of the main characters, causes many horrible things to happen. Fate didn’t care about the plans that George, Lennie, and Candy made in Of Mice and Men, nor all of the plans that Kino wanted to make with his newfound fortune. Fate managed to take everything away from the characters in both of the novels.