Justice+League

Justice League Gabrielle Cataldo Darby Church Sara Frost Brianna Lipa

One thing I noticed in both //Of Mice and Men// and //The Pearl// was how John Steinbeck tended to have a pattern of repeating certain events and structures of the story. In //The Pearl//, whenever danger was near, or something was thought to be bad, the novel discussed how the Song of Evil was supposedly heard. Also, when something was thought to be good, or something was thought to help Kino and his family, The Song of Family was evident. In //Of Mice and Men//, one thing that kept repeating was George's story. Every time something bad would happen, or Lennie needed to be calmed, George would tell Lennie about how one day they were going to have their own ranch, with their own cows, and crops, and rabbits. -Sara Frost

While reading these two books, it reminded me of another book I read last year, called __Mao's Last Dancer__ by Li Cunxin. In the book, it told a story about a frog that wanted the get "out of the well". the well represented his future, and his family's past, being stuck in the lower class.

"No use, my son. I've tried all my life and so did your forefathers. Forget the world above. Be satisfied with what you have, or it will cause you such misery in life."

This quote reminds me of the theme that ran through both __the Pearl__ and __Of mice and Men__. Both stories had a distinct separation in social classes, with the main characters basically at the bottom of the food chain, and "stuck in the well." Also, in both of the stories, the main characters were given an opportunity to change their lives, supposedly for the good, such as the pearl was found by Kino, and the plan to buy property collaberated by George, Lennie, and Candy. However, both of the opportunities destroy them, resulting in death of people very close to them. This is another reason why the Pearl and Of Mice and Men reminded me of the above quote, because the quote talks about how you should be happy with what you have, because if you dare to attempt to live a life that is too good for the life set up by society, then you will fail.

Also, in both __The Pearl__ and __of Mice and Men__, Steinbeck used the imagery of an animal in the most innocent characters. In the Pearl, Coyotito was seen as a baby coyote, which, ironically, gets him killed because his wail sounded like a coyote. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie was pictured as a dog by the way he acted. He was submissive and loyal, curious and innocent. Steinbeck's use of imagery of an animal in the writings helped overall to get a better understanding of the characters and set up the ending of the stories.

-Gabrielle Cataldo