I was once substitute-teaching for a middle school English class that was reading Of Mice and Men, and the lesson plans called for the students to take turns reading aloud. I ended up having a discussion with the students about how the book was honestly reflecting the fact that the word “nigger” was commonly used in that time and place, and that there was a difference between reading the book aloud and actually using the word themselves, but that if they were uncomfortable with even that, then when reading, they could substitute “black man”.
Let’s just say that that’s not at all what I’ve ever gotten from any of Steinbeck’s fiction. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Timshel means “thou mayest,” implying that God tells Cain that he has a choice whether or not to overcome sin. Lee sees this idea of free choice over evil a token of optimism that is central to the human condition”
Except it means nothing of the sort [it means: thou shalt rule/have dominion/reign (in context God is talking about mastering sin and desire; Cain does not, which is why he and his kin wind up East of Eden)], as surely Steinbeck was quite well aware (I assume he actually looked it up). The fact he changed it from timshol to timshel [not a word] is also intriguing, but that could be an error that crept in.
Thanks for pointing that out. It’s a significant discrepancy I’d never read of.
But it doesn’t transform Steinbeck into some Kafkaesque prophet of “you’re screwed no matter what,” and the lesson is “you kids get good grades or you’ll be jumping freights and stacking wheat.” The big takeaway from M&M is the bonds of trust, the protection of the weak, and how the poor workers in the bunkhouse finally band together to make George and Lenny’s dream come true. Virtue is still virtue even against overwhelming odds. Even the death of Lenny should be seen as an act of mercy, performed to spare him a much worse death not out of place in California.
No, that’s not what writing is. The author has a theme. The word “theme”, in my opinion is misleading (to me). In English class, it is the point of the story. The mmsssage the author wants to convey…especially in classic literature. For example, “Grapes of Wrath” was not just a journal of a pastoral story of a family’s trek west. The story has a theme. The author wanted to make a point. That’s good writing… Even today’s pulp fiction has a theme, if you look for it.
What you just said is absolutely, positivity, in no way whatsoever contradictory to what I said. (“What’s anybody’s point in writing anything? He came up with an idea, thought he could sell it for money, was right.”) You get that a theme is an idea, right?
I was going to bring this back around to both Steinbeck and Burns by repeating a fact I heard in a one-man autobiographical show about Burns, that he had been offered a post as an accountant at a plantation in Jamaica, and was planning to marry a woman named Mary Campbell (the inspiration for his poems “The Highland Lassie O”, “Highland Mary” and “To Mary in Heaven”) and had, indeed, bought passage to Jamaica. But his hopes were destroyed when Mary died of typhus before they could leave - “the best laid schemes o’ Mice and Men/Gang aft agley”.
All of this is true, but, unfortunately for future high-school essay-writers, Burns wrote “To A Mouse” in 1785. Mary died in 1786. Another beautiful story, shattered by the harsh touch of the truth.