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The two novels that I have studied, Great Expectations and Of Mice and Men, are very different. Of Mice and Men is set in 1930 s America during the Great Depression. There was a high unemployment rate, which meant that people had to travel along vast amounts of land for a single job. It was a struggle for financial freedom, which is a theme to the novel. Great Expectations is set in England in 1891. During this time, death was a common occurrence and happened often.
The main character Pip begins to tell us about death right from the start of the novel and it is a constant theme throughout it. The landscape in Of Mice and Men starts on a very grand scale first describing golden foothill slopes, and then describing the rocky Gabilan Mountains. This gives the reader the impression of an immense landscape that has had little or no human contact If I was seeing this area for the first time, the first thing I would notice was how massive and peaceful the area was. I would then notice the smaller things that give the area its natural individuality like: leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs across them. The atmosphere of peace and tranquility is achieved by how Steinbeck describes certain areas: the water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands. This imagery is very powerful because water makes me feel relaxed and the phrase slipped twinkling, helped to emphasize the relaxed slow feel of the area.
The yellow sands, makes me imagine warmth like a slow afternoon. This leads onto the general fact that Steinbeck has not included any swift motions in his description. Everything is slow, methodical and relaxed. This vivid description helps us appreciate the setting and we it helps to emphasize the entry of the characters shattering the peace later on in the chapter.
In Great Expectations, the landscape is introduced to us in a very different way, than in Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men was set in 1930 s America, but Great Expectations was set in 1861 England and therefore has a very different landscape. We are addressed directly by Pip, and he describes the landscape from his own point of view. Ours is the marsh country, Pip is directly describing the landscape from his own mind, his own opinions come through. This makes the landscape seem more attached to humanity. In Of Mice and Men, there is little human contact, but in Great Expectations, Pips opinions of the landscape around him make it more real to us because we can directly relate to it.
Deep savage lair, is an example of this because we can directly relate to his fear. Dickens uses man descriptive words to help develop an atmosphere of mystery and fear: dark flat wilderness, and low leaden line. The imagery here makes us think about a dark, depressing, scary, heavy, frightening area. Pip describes his surroundings with detail and emotive language that it leads us to believe that he lives and has lived there for a long time. Pip lives with the village blacksmith, which is not far from the marshes, which he describes.
This means that he frequents this place regularly and therefore adds authenticity to his statements. The landscape is both novels suggest a different way of life. In Of Mice and Men, we hear more about the wildlife and the nature of the area. In the beginning of the first chapter during the vivid description, there is a part where it hints on the fact that there has been human activity in this area before: There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores a path beaten hard by boys. There is now a permanent mark in the landscape of where people have been. Again, in the quote, the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it, we can see that people have been here and left their mark on the landscape.
The land is used by many people, it is used by: boys coming down from the ranches to swim, tramps as a rest area. George and Lennie also use it as a meeting place in case anything goes wrong: if u jus happen to get into trouble like you have always done before, I want you to come right here an hide in the brush. Land is exploited in the forms of farming. During those times, farming was the main kind of industry where jobs could be found. The land is exploited because crops are being grown continuously to feed people and make a profit. In Great Expectations the landscape forms the story in a different way, in Of Mice and Men, we see more of the wildlife and we only hear of the two migrant farmers entering the wildlife.
In Great Expectations, we only hear about the landscape as it affects the characters. The landscape has an effect on young Pip; he describes certain areas in such a way that it creates the image of evil, lonely and dark. Death is also evident as his whole family except him and his sister is deceased, which brings a presence of death on the young Pip. The words bleak and low are used which suggests that the area scares Pip very much. The landscape makes a big impact on Magwitch. When we are first introduced to him his appearance is described as: soaked by water, smothered in mud, lamed by stones, cut by flints, stung by nettles, and torn by briars, who limped and shivered.
Magwitch has been broken by they landscape, by nature before he meets Pip. As a direct result of this, he is in severe discomfort and has many injuries. There are no verbs used in this description. It helps to give us an immediate view of Magwitch because he appears suddenly it carries on the suspense; the mind is focused on the appearance of Magwitch. In this landscape, Magwitch seems very lonely and vulnerable.
Dickens uses several emotive phrases like he hugged his shuddering body clasping himself as if to hold himself together. This makes us feel sorry for Magwitch because he is injured by the landscape and he is cold and all alone, he has no food, no shelter from the elements, he has no one. We are also made to feel compassion for Magwitch near the end of the chapter: picking his way with sore feet among the great stones, Magwitch has felt the wrath of nature and has the wounds to remind him, so he is very careful and even with sore feet he is still moving, still struggling to get...
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Research essay sample on Comparing Great Expectations And Of Mice Men
