Revise all the Themes of Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck (Mr Salles)

[@JulzR6]

thank you so much u helped me the night before the exam :)

[@bayleyscott2398]

+Mr Salles Teaches English I don't believe that Steinbeck's purpose of characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife as means of pushing an agenda of anti-racism and anti-sexism. I do believe, however, there is a significance of Crooks being black and Curley's wife being a woman. Crooks was not included in the novel BECAUSE he's black, but because of WHAT COMES WITH him being black. The isolation, the neglect, the loneliness, the alienation. Same situation with Curley's wife. She's included not because she's a married woman, but because of what comes with being a married woman. Shut up in a house, not able to talk to people, and so on and so forth. There are clearly many things that we could discuss in this book, and I think that was his attention. Start conversation. However, it seems that we are straying too far, looking too deep into things, which is common with literature as we see authors disappointed because their message is either overlooked or misconstrued. That's what Crooks and Curley's wife has become. They really represent the fact that everyone shares human emotions and the failure of their dreams. If anything, I believe pointing to racism and sexism does the opposite of Steinbeck's intention to unite and create a common ground for everyone. It sets them apart instead of showing humanization. Labeling them as just fillers and metaphors for racism and sexism drains all the personality out of the characters, thus counteracting exactly what you think it is that Steinbeck is trying to do. I would like to say, though, that this is literature and it is open to interpretation and in no way mean to denounce your thoughts, but just present another way to look at it.

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

Bayley, it is great to get such an impassioned defence of your interpretation. We can probably both agree that Steinbeck would have been delighted that he could engender such debate so long after publication. For what it is worth, I don't really see that much difference between your viewpoint and mine - but you have expressed your view very eloquently and hopefully this will help other viewers clarify their own perceptions. Thanks for posting so fully.

[@georgejensen2129]

congrats on 5k subs Sir. Just wondering with the idea of Christianity. You said that the Easter story involved Jesus dyeing on the Friday and resurrecting on the Sunday. As oppose to Lennie arriving on the Friday and Dyeing on the Sunday, what quote from the book should I use for this idea? I couldn't find it in the book

[@aslantokbas4881]

there is no quote but they arrive on Friday we know that from when they talk to the boss, and the day after, the day after he dies

[@philipgraham6990]

The idea that Lennie is the only innocent and 'good' character, but still manages to be killed is a beautiful and rather tragic idea that I am now desperate to use in my exam, thanks Mr Salles for showing me this

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

+Philip Graham I hope you found a question in which you could use it.

[@jackgittens2006]

How did the exam go?

[@leobunting8035]

Could you do a video on the 4 quotes you need on eva smith to get an A*?

[@zarastar2574]

Yes please

[@mrjacobburke]

Hello the exam board I do is ocr and many of your videos are for the aqa exam, is there any distinct difference between the exam boards?

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

+mrjacobburke No, my current students do OCR, and I use the same videos.

[@mennasbeads]

Watching this the night before my exam haha. Hopefully it’ll be fine, I’ll try update you.

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

Yes, please do. I look forward to it

[@mennasbeads]

@@MrSallesTeachesEnglish I’m fairly confident, well I feel like I don’t quite know enough quotes but I did well in the mock so I’m hoping that I get a good question/question choice for the essay question.

[@decloh99]

Hi again, I have been wondering (this is my own idea) that there is a theme about lying and keeping secrets from people. On a small scale we see how Curley's wife withholds the information about the possibility of becoming an actor to Curly, and as a result they are not close as you would expect in a marriage, it seems as though there is this barrier between them. On a larger scale, we see how George essentially lies to Lennie about the dream farm (he himself knows that their dream is out of reach). In this case, this leads Lennie to do the morally bad things - hide the dead puppy when he should admit his wrongs and worse of all, kill Curley's wife. He kills Curley's wife because he is scared that this dream (which is of course, a lie) could be taken away. In this way, could Steinbeck be suggesting that lying to people, hiding things from them will ultimately lead to terrible things. You could then possibly blame George as the "Bad Guy" and he could be seen as responsible for the death of Curley's wife and the animals Lennie kills. Perhaps Steinbeck is suggesting that even though George is presented as the good guy that even the good guys have bad qualities and that there is no hope for the future I am not really sure about this idea Mr Salles, is this a good idea/theme? Hope to hear from you soon!

[@decloh99]

+Declan Loh +Mr Salles what do you think?

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

+Declan Loh Well, this is tricky. I don't think we have evidence that Curley's wife withholds this information, and if she does, it is not a lie. Similarly, at the point that Lennie kills Curley's wife, the dream ranch is not a lie. There are, however, plenty of other ways of questioning George's goodness. Watch the last ten minutes of this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJybkn2XiJago8U

[@Azoria4]

What about brutality?

[@UnGodlyliFe]

+MrChubbymeat As far as brutality is concerned it came up last year so its VERY unlikely to be repeated again this year. That said, brutality is basically everything that's cruel and violent in OMAM so you can talk about: Curleys wifes being killed by the most innocent character Candys dog being killed due to his old age Lennie continuous progression into violence (starts of killing mice ends up killing people) Carlsons Luger a Nazi like symbol Candys powerlessness a victim to the brutality of ranch life George killing Lennie a very controversial depiction of brutality since it could be argued it was done out of kindness, nevertheless, any act of murder is brutal and a sin.

[@SelasKuma]

Exam tomorrow uhh

[@aarxn_dnb]

+ChantelMonique same, good luck :)

[@SelasKuma]

+azzy You too!

[@SelasKuma]

+Piss Taker Good luck! Don't forget to talk about themes lol I always forget

[@lukespeck110]

Peak because all you dumb fucks will fail

[@SelasKuma]

+Luke Speck LOL I know for a fact I'm not failing, troll

[@LiteraryVoice]

Nice

[@sammystarfx]

Thanks for doing this video:)

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

+Samystarf x You are welcome. I hope it has everything you need.

[@sammystarfx]

+Mr Salles Teaches English It does:) But what can you say about the American dream and also when you talk about the effect on a reader do you talk about a reader in the 1930's or a reader today.

[@MrSallesTeachesEnglish]

Yes, I ignored the American Dream didn't I? I'll add something on that, though it is really to say that the American Dream cannot be attained - that's all there is to say about it really. Why it can't be attained is the result of the other themes I mention. Both types of reader are relevant.

[@sammystarfx]

+Mr Salles Teaches English Thanks:)

[@imjustwatchingyoutube2397]

Wish me luck for my exam tomorrow guys 🥲

[@abdullahnooreldinalkhawari704]

after all that, we understand that George is sus and we have to vote for him XD

[@IceWuulf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKq4eGObnNGpla8&pp=ygUWbm90IGZ1bm55IGRpZG4ndCBsYXVnaA%3D%3D tsk tsk tsk

[@benlemmon7327]

corona gang

[@Nafisax]

what about POWER? for example Curleys Wife has power because she is a woman and lennie has power over the animals.

[@aslantokbas4881]

power is not a theme, its what characters posses due to socio-economic classes, race gender age and their destined fate.