How Is Death Presented in the Novels 'of Mice and Men' and 'the Outsiders'

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She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just came along with me out working.” (Steinbeck, 1937)When George explains how Aunt Clara raised Lennie shows how she was a mother to Lennie. Also the fact that he knew her very well and took care of Lennie shows the affection George had toward Aunt Clara. This also emphasizes how George was forced to take care of Lennie.

As the book develops, George and Lennie go work at a ranch, Steinbeck knew exactly how ranches were as he spent his summers working on ranches. This knowledge is reflected in the book. On the ranch George and Lennie meet and old man named Candy who has only one friend, which is his dog, however the smell of it was unbearable for some workers in the ranch, it was so disgusting that they could not sleep, as a consequence, Carlson and other ranch workers wanted to shoot the dog. (“That dog of Candy’s is so god damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stink like hell, too”)(Steinbeck, 1937).This shows how intolerant the workers were. This was a problem for Candy as he was also old. After Carlson shoots the dog, Candy regrets having him kill his dog and says “I ought to of shot that dog myself George.” Showing how as the dog was his only friend, a stranger had no right to shoot him. After Candy’s dog’s death, he then starts thinking about his future as the words Carlson says keep resonating in his head. (I wisht somebody shoot me if I get old and a cripple.”)(Steinbeck, 1937) As a consequence Candy wants to be part of George and Lennie’s dream. (“S’pose I went in with you guys. That’s three hundred and fifty bucks I’d put in.”)(Steinbeck, 1937)This is also very important to him because of the economic crisis there was in that time due to the Great Depression which Steinbeck himself also faced, as the book was written during these difficult times.

Later in the book, Lennie kills Curley’s wife by accident as he did not want her to scream, this is obvious to the readers because he says, “I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble just like George says you will.”(Steinbeck, 1937) This shows how Lennie knows he should not be with Curley’s wife since George warned him not do so, therefore he does whatever is possible in order to make sure that George does not find out about him being with Curley’s wife, causing him to accidentally murder her. The death of Curley’s wife affects the readers as Steinbeck now makes them have a different point of view of her. (“She no longer looks like a tart who need attention; she instead looks like a young, pretty, innocent girl, sleeping tightly.”)(Steinbeck, 1937) Furthermore George accepts he won’t be able to achieve the dream as he says to Candy: “I should of knowed. I guess maybe way back in my head I did, we weren’t going to do her.”(Steinbeck, 1937) This shows the readers how George always knew that as a consequence of Lennie’s chain of mistakes and lack of intelligence they were not ‘going to do her’ meaning they were not going to achieve the humble dream they always desired.

In the last chapter of the book, George is forced to kill Lennie as he wanted to spare him from a painful death on the hands of Curley, for killing his wife. Curley says: “I will shoot him in the guts”(Steinbeck, 1937), emphasizing that Curley not only wants to kill Lennie, but he also wants to torture him. However some readers may think George had no right to kill Lennie, not only because it is a crime, but also because George is not the person who chooses whether Lennie lives or dies based on his accidents. Furthermore this creates a new friendship between George and Slim as Slim invites him for a drink in the last pages of the book. (“Come on George. Me an’ you’ll go in an’ get a drink.”) (Steinbeck, 1937)

Death is a vital theme in the book ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘The Outsiders’. Both are two very different books, however some aspects in regards to ‘death’ are similar, for example: in ‘The Outsiders’, Ponyboy’s parents die and as a consequence he is part of the ‘Greasers’ gang, similarly to ‘Of Mice and Men’ Aunt Clara dies which forces George to take care of Lennie. As the book develops Carlson shoots Candy’s dog which makes him lonely as the dog was his only friend. Furthermore he accepts that he is old and needs to think of his future, therefore he decides to be part of George and Lennie’s dream. Later in the book Lennie kills Curley’s wife, as a result, George accepts they will not be able to achieve the dream and kills Lennie to spare him from a painful death at the hands of Curley. Early in the novel ‘The Outsiders’ Johnny kills Bob, this for some readers might be seen as a hero’s act as he was saving Ponyboy, however Johnny says in the book that he would kill the next Soc that attacked him, therefore it might be seen as an act of vengeance in reagards to past conflicts Johnny had with the ‘Socs’. Later in the book both Dally and Johnny die. Johnny’s death forces Ponyboy to stay innocent and makes Dally rob a grocery store which results in his death, the reader’s response to this is that Johnny was the only thing that Dally really loved. After Dally’s death the readers analyze whether he died a hero or not since he risked going to jail to help Ponyboy and Johnny, however he has always been violent, Hinton leaves this to the reader’s point of view.

Bibliography:

Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of Mice and Men. Penguin Group.

Hinton, S.E. (1967). The Outsiders. Penguin Group.

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