Ava O'Connor
May 14, 2015
English 7X
Steinbeck Comparative Essay
In this essay I will explore the two novels by John Steinbeck entitled, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl and compare the similarities they share. One of the main themes they have in common concerns the failure to achieve the American Dream and the connections that some of the characters have with each other. In The Pearl by John Steinbeck, the main character Kino discovers what he calls "the pearl of the world" and he plans to use it with good intentions but it makes him go crazy because he is so obsessed with becoming rich and he has changed his entire life by picking up the pearl. In Of Mice and Men, which is also by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie get a job, but Lennie gets George in trouble, which holds them back from achieving their dream of their very own ranch.
A consistent theme in both books was the failure to achieve the American Dream. In The Pearl, Kino wanted to become rich with wealth and have his son receive a formal education. The pearl that Kino thought was the key to wealth turned out to be the opposite. Instead of having a formal education for his son and loads of wealth, he got his house burned down and his son shot in the head. Kino did not try to achieve the dream by doing it the hard way, by working, instead he tried to cheat his way to the top by relying on a pearl to make his dreams come true. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie failed to actualize their dream. Their idea of the American Dream was having their own ranch and being alone with each other in harmony where Lennie would tend to the rabbits. They planned to live off of the "fatta the land" in their impracticable fantasy. At least Lennie and George didn't try to bend the rules of becoming wealthy like Kino did. To conclude, the only honest way to really achieve the American Dream is by working hard and following the rules because there will always be something that goes wrong if you try to take the easy way out. Kino learned that lesson the hard way and it caused great sadness to his family.
In Of Mice and Me and The Pearl, the two main characters that can be compared are Kino and George. Kino is the leader in his family and is responsible for taking care of his family and making sure they have what they need to survive. George is like Kino because Lennie is very childlike, and George has to take care of him. George is responsible for making sure that Lennie doesn't get in trouble because they have had to run away before, because of Lennie's stubbornness. George and Kino are basically the guardians for helpless people. In The Pearl, Kino is responsible for Coyotito who is a tiny baby with a scorpion bite. In Of Mice and Men, George is responsible for Lennie who has mental disabilities which can get them into trouble if he isn't careful. George and Kino can also be compared, because they both feel that there is a certain way to achieve the American Dream. For Kino, he feels that by grasping a pearl he can become the richest man in town. For George, he feels if he just keeps getting little jobs eventually he will just have a farm one day. Kino and George both have to make difficult choices. Kino has to make a difficult decision near the end of the story when he has to throw away his precious pearl back into the ocean where it once belonged. Kino decided it was for the better because it brought so much evil to his family and it was a hazard. The pearl itself is not evil, it is just a normal pearl but Kino turned evil because of what he believed it could to for him and his family. It was for the best that he got rid of the pearl because, "he was a man transfigured. Some power was given to him, and there it started," (pg. 26). It was probably very hard for Kino because he believed that that was his key to happiness and the key to wealth. George had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life that will haunt him forever. George had to shoot Lennie who was with him for so long and cared about him so much. George had to decide if he should shoot him before the angry mob came for Lennie. He figured that it was his responsibility to shoot Lennie because he didn't want to feel guilty for letting someone else kill him like the scenario with Candy and his dog. It was really hard for George but he knew that it was the right thing because Curley would have made his death very painful if George didn't take action. Slim saw how upset George was so he tried to make him feel better by saying, "you hadda George. I swear you hadda" (pg. 107). George and Kino also both suffered great losses. Kino lost Coyotito, his only son who was an infant. Coyotito was shot in the head while in a cave with his mother by a man who was after them. Kino was immensely upset by this and was angered that he got so wrapped up in his own selfish needs of becoming a rich man. The pearl shaped Kino so much that he killed a man because he had become a totally different man. George's situation is somewhat similar in terms of losing someone by a headshot. George lost Lennie but he was the one who had to complete the task of shooting him. Kino and George both lost the two people who made their lives happy and full, even though Lennie was a piece of work George still loved him no matter what. The next two characters that can be compared are Lennie and Coyotito. First of all, Lennie is a grown man and Coyotito is an infant but they are both very similar. Lennie is a grown man who acts like a child and is a lot of work to take care of. Lennie is also mentally disabled which makes him very naive. Lennie likes puppies and soft things and Lennie and Coyotito are helpless beings who could not survive a day alone. They need people like George and Kino to keep them up and running or they would either die or get into loads of trouble. Lastly, Coyotito and Lennie both get shot because of helplessness. Coyotito got shot because he can't defend himself or run away or even know when there is danger. Lennie got shot because he was touching Curley's wife's hair for too long and it got out of hand. Lennie had no intention of hurting anyone; it's just the way he is built. Lennie accidentally snapped her fragile neck, and she died, so George was forced to shoot him before the angry mob came for him.
A consistent theme in both books was the failure to achieve the American Dream. In The Pearl, Kino wanted to become rich with wealth and have his son receive a formal education. The pearl that Kino thought was the key to wealth turned out to be the opposite. Instead of having a formal education for his son and loads of wealth, he got his house burned down and his son shot in the head. Kino did not try to achieve the dream by doing it the hard way, by working, instead he tried to cheat his way to the top by relying on a pearl to make his dreams come true. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie failed to actualize their dream. Their idea of the American Dream was having their own ranch and being alone with each other in harmony where Lennie would tend to the rabbits. They planned to live off of the "fatta the land" in their impracticable fantasy. At least Lennie and George didn't try to bend the rules of becoming wealthy like Kino did. To conclude, the only honest way to really achieve the American Dream is by working hard and following the rules because there will always be something that goes wrong if you try to take the easy way out. Kino learned that lesson the hard way and it caused great sadness to his family.
In conclusion, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl have a lot in common in terms of themes and characters which can all be related. Kino and George are very similar and so are Lennie and Coyotito. The theme of the failure to achieve the American Dream was very relevant and shows how hard it is to actually succeed. The characters and themes may be similar because the books share the same author. John Steinbeck may have made the characters similar because he may be personally connected to them so they have similar qualities.
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