‘Of Mice and Men’ †novel and film comparison Essay

This is a comparison between Steinbeck’s original novel Of Mice and Men and the 1992 film version. I will be comparing the two beginnings, the presentation of Curley’s wife, and the treatment of a powerful scene. Of Mice and Men is one of those classic stories about friendship, loyalty, sacrifice and broken dreams. The 1992 film was directed by Gary Sinise, who also played the part of George Milton. This film was in fact the first film he had ever directed and I believe it to be very successful. The film follows the overall content of the novel, however, there are some key differences: The introduction to the film has two complete differences, the presentation of Curley’s wife, and also the treatment of a powerful scene, which will be focused on the ending. In the beginning of the Novel, it is set in Soledad. Steinbeck creates a very tranquil opening and gives the impression that it hasn’t been disrupted by human interference. ‘’On the sand bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them’’. However, even before the reader is introduced to the two protagonists, Steinbeck includes that this peaceful, animal inhabited area is frequently interrupted my humans. ‘’a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water.’’ This quote shows that this has been a place humans have to for a long time. The use of the word’s ‘beaten hard’ is associated with a path which has been walked on for many years. This tells the reader that however peaceful the area may be, it has always been trespassed by humans. The animals react in fear due to the sound of footsteps mentioned again. This also suggests that the animals are not used to humans entering their little world and thus they hide away. ‘’The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool.’’ The description of George and Lennie’s entrance indicates that George appears to be in change. ‘’They had walked single file down the path, and even in the open, one stayed behind the other.’’ This shows the reader that there isn’t a close bond of friendship, but more of a leader and a follower, i.e. George being the leader, and Lennie the follower. The description of George and Lennie gives the reader a sense of their characters immediately. ‘’The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.’’ This shows the reader that George is a man of intelligence and means business. Lennie’s description on the other hand is described as someone who is quite the opposite. ‘’Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely.’’ Lennie is described physically with a great use of animal imagery. This adds to the fact that Lennie does lack intelligence. In his description he indicates that Lennie is also someone in need of guidance and cannot think on his own accords which could conclude why George is with him. The beginning of the film is very different compared to the novel. It isn’t shown as peaceful at all. In fact the music used gives a great feeling of intensity and panic. When the piano is included with the rhythm of the violin, it adds a sense of hopelessness. There are notes played on a higher scale of the piano which insist a sense of innocence, however, nothing is suggesting happiness. The opening scene begins on a train with George sitting alone looking very strong in the darkness of the carriage. Although the train is very dark, beams of light shine through from gaps in the wooden walls. The scene is then changed to a much brighter atmosphere with a young woman running in a field in Weed – George and Lennie’s home town. However, music is still very fast and tense which prepares the audience again that this is a sad story. George and Lennie are being chased by men with guns on horseback. It is clear to the audience that George is in charge just by seeing that he is leading the way and telling Lennie what to do. We then see George and Lennie escape, sneaking onto the train and we hear the first convocation between George and Lennie which again indicates that George is in charge as he merely tells him to ‘’shh’’ and ‘’Go to sleep’’. Lennie responds with simple use of the English language which again shows the audience that he has some kind of disability. It’s quite ironic really because Lennie is in a very big character although he cries and depends on George for the majority of things. The incident in Weed is not running in a chronologically compared to the novel as we are introduced to the incident before we actually meet the characters. At the very beginning when we first see George, it is as if the incident in Weed is his memory and he is pondering on it as him and Lennie travel to their destination on the farm in Soledad. In the novel, the readers are introduced to the incident in Weed later on in the novel when George and Slim have a conversation on the Ranch. In the film, the audience is introduced to the Ranch with very country-like music which is fairly happy and uplifting compared to the musical piece the audience are introduced to at the very beginning. In the novel, Curley’s Wife is first mentioned through a conversation with George and Candy. Candy makes it seem like Curley’s Wife is a bit of a flirt before the reader is even introduced to her by saying that even though she is married she’s ‘got the eye’. However, although she isn’t exactly happy being with Curley, she just wants some attention. When the reader is introduced to her she is described wearing very a rather lot of makeup. ‘’She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red.’’ Curley’s Wife wears a lot of red. Red is seen as the most intense colours and is very noticeable. The fact that she wears a lot of red indicates that she wants to be noticed. ‘’She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.’’ As she lives on a farm, she is not really dressed appropriately for the wife of a rancher. However, Curley ignores Curley’s Wife so it is of no surprise that she is wearing things to attract the other men on the farm. Her body language insists that she is very provocative as if she is tempting the men to go after her. ‘She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.’ Lennie is very much attracted to her although George and the other men are not. This kind of suggests that Lennie will have something to with her although not in a sense of sexual nature, but similar to the same incidence in Weed where Lennie was accused of attempting rape towards the girl running away when he was only caught up in stroking her dress that he would not let go. In section four of the novel, there is a part where Curley’s Wife enters looking for Curley although in the film this was left out. Perhaps to ensure that Curley’s Wife was wanted to be seen by Gary Sinise as someone who needed sympathy from the audience. During this part of the novel, Curley’s Wife describes her relationship with Curley. ‘’Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, aint he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guts he don’t like, and he don’t like nobody. Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead with his left twice and then bring in the ol’ right cross?’’ This creates a lot of sympathy towards Curley’s Wife as she is obviously rejected by Curley to the point where she isn’t even properly included. The fact that as the reader, we don’t even know her name also suggests that she is unimportant towards Curley and the other characters. Crooks quickly turns on Curley’s Wife insisting that she leaves, however, she has a lot of power over him considering she’s white and back then, black people were simply just slaves and were resented by a lot of people. Knowing that, Crooks backs down almost to a point where he is leaning against the wall. ‘’Listen Nigger/ You know what I can do to you if you open your trap? †¦ Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’’ This is practically the only time that Curley’s Wife has some kind of power over someone, and because he is treated no better than an animal as he lives next to the barn where all the animals are and not even in a properly built home, more of a shed, suggests that Curley’s Wife only really has power, or a chance to step in on her own accords is towards Crooks. Section five is where Curley’s Wife initially dies due to her trust, and lack of self control in Lennie. Steinbeck has been implying that Curley’s Wife was just really an innocent young woman and all the makeup was just an act for attention. ‘’the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.’’ Again the amount of makeup she had on makes her look as if she were still alive ‘’Now her roughed cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly.’’ In the film, the audience are introduced to her again like in the novel looking for Curley. She is dressed in a pink floral dress unlike in the novel where she is wearing mostly red. However she is wearing red lipstick although her eyes are not heavily made up but it is noticeable that she is wearing eye makeup. It is clear that she is not wearing heels because the sounds of her foot steps are quite bold. Compared to the book she is a lot less provocative but the way she speaks to the men on the farm is very flirtatious and her body language is very suggestive, for example she pushes her chest forward and places her hands on her hips which could insinuate her wanting more than just somebody to talk to, although we know she just wants somebody to talk to. When Curley’s Wife leaves, George’s immediate response is towards Lennie is for him to stay away from her due to the incident in Weed. There are three added scenes featured in the film. These were most likely included to show the audience how Curley’s Wife has no sympathy or consideration from the other men at the barn and how Curley himself treats his wife with little consideration. The barn scene, being the first added scene is where we see George taking a tired out horse back to the barn where he also encounters Curley’s Wife. The way she talks to George is very flirtatious and almost as if she is leading him on, however she then goes on about how she wants somebody to talk to her because Curley himself doesn‘t give her any attention and is undoubtedly trying to better himself compared to the other men, thus why he picks on Lennie, who is a lot taller than him and certainly much more stronger. The second added scene is The Speed Ball Scene where we see Curley punching away at the speed ball. This could have been added to enhance the audiences awareness that he is constantly aggressive and obsessed with fighting. Curley’s Wife is sat levelled above Curley with no body around and is clearly very lonely and extremely bored. With all the men working on the farm in the background, and Curley, although not working himself, is still not giving his wife a second thought. This is a clear indication that Curley’s Wife is isolated on the ranch and I think it emphasises the description given about her dead body in section 5 of the novel where underneath all of the makeup and desperate attempts for some attention, she was merely just a sweet, innocent and lonely girl. The final added scene in the film is The Broken Record Scene. She is wearing no makeup and obviously had been crying and is completely on her own. She vents about what had happened – Curley got aggressive and smashed all of her four records therefore not being able to play them which reminds the audience of Curley‘s violent nature. The reaction is pitiful and it is obvious that nobody taking any consideration for her. Curley’s Wife then runs off saying that if she ran away no one would miss her etc which could be suggesting her death. All of the added scenes help to enhance the audience’s awareness from the beginning of the film that Curley’s Wife should be seen in a very sympathetic perspective and this is not clear in the novel until Steinbeck’s description of her dead body. A very good example of a powerful scene would be the very ending of both the novel and the film. In the novel, Steinbeck sets the scene for the ending which takes place in Salinas River. He describes the surroundings beautifully and authentically just like in the beginning of the novel which creates a very peaceful image for the reader. ‘’The deep green pool of the Salinas River was still in the late afternoon. Already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun.’’ Nevertheless, the peaceful scene is spoiled even before the arrival of Lennie as Steinbeck creates an image that suggests death and readies the reader for what is about to unfold. ‘’A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.’’ As Lennie arrives he begins to have two hallucinations which are not shown in the film. The first hallucination is of his Aunt Clara and through the conversation brought about by Lennie’s imagination, his greatest fears are revealed. George’s reaction to what Lennie has done and the fact that Lennie has no real understanding of the seriousness of what he has done, which enhances his guilt feeling because he knows that he has disappointed George. The conversation then leads on to Aunt Clara making him feel even more guilty because George has done so much for Lennie and all he does is give him grief when George could do so much more without him. Lennie’s second hallucination is of a rabbit. This is could be a symbol of Lennie’s childlike nature and how the only real bad thing he can think of is how George will not allow him to look after the rabbits and the fact that he will now leave him. The conversation with the rabbit could also show how Lennie is very naà ¯ve and is convinced George will not leave him or get mad. The novel and the film are very similar as far as the conversation between George and Lennie are concerned. In the novel, it is prolonged to gradually build up tension for the reader when they realise that George is going to shoot Lennie. When he finally does, it is clear that this has traumatised George and is a very dreadful thing for George to undergo. ‘’George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes.’’ George is comforted by Slim and is taken for a drink. However, the reader is reminded of the ignorance by society as they are blinded by what George has just had to go through, which ends the novel. Then ending of the film is very sad. Lennie is found and comforted by George’s voice and soon by ‘The American Dream’ which is referred to several times throughout the film. The audience are unaware of what is about to happen as when George finally shoots Lennie it is very sudden. The music, played at the beginning of the film is again brought back, which is very touching and adds for a great effect to what has just occurred. Instead of the hallucinations Lennie’s fears are brought into the convocation between him and George and are much shorter than in the novel. In the novel, it begins and ends at the Salinas River where as in the film it begins and ends with George sat on the train. Just like at the beginning, there are flash backs, but this time of George and Lennie together. This indicates that George has spent the majority of his time with Lennie and they had a very brotherly relationship. The flash backs could imply George being deeply upset due to t he fact he has killed his best friend.