John Steinbeck's novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men allow readers to capture a glimpse of the Great Depression period in the United States. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family of Oklahoma, accompanied by thousands of other farming families, travels across America to pursue a dream found in California. Their dream is to find work and prosper once again thanks to their land. However, they find only disappointment in California, with all the work already done and the poverty just as bad as in Oklahoma. In Of Mice and Men, the two main characters, George and Lennie, build a powerful friendship as they migrate to California for work. Out of love and compassion, George dedicates himself to protecting Lennie from their hard-hearted society, as Lennie suffers from a mental handicap and often gets into trouble. Although the novels are organized into different stylistic forms, Steinbeck uses themes of pursuing the American dream, developing compassion for others, the importance of unification, and mass hardship and suffering in life in both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In both novels, the theme of the American dream is present. In the heart of the Great Depression, Steinbeck's characters have hope and faith to achieve the wealth and opportunity of California, but are never able to achieve what they imagined. They dream of one day making a profit, but the reality is that the long journey to achieve their dream very often goes unrewarded in the end. In Of Mice and Men, when Crooks, the African-American stable boy, was left in the quarters with Lennie, Lennie told him about his fantasy of moving to California and building a farm with George. Crooks sees that in reality “each of them has a little piece of land on their head. And none of them, damn it, ever understands it. ... No one ever gets to heaven and no one gets earth. It's just in their head” (Mice 81). As in Of Mice and Men, the dreams of the farmers in The Grapes of Wrath were distant and unlikely to be achieved, however, the farmers never gave up on their dream of reaching the west. As their hope of achieving their goal diminished, so did their dream of living the perfect farmer's life in California. Another common theme in Steinbeck's two novels is the power and importance of unity. In The Grapes of Wrath, the government and banks deprive families of their land, food, and other assets and force them into a deep state of poverty. Farmers quickly realized that they were helpless when they worked individually to fight the system that held them back. Although they continued to struggle as they worked together, the people found their tasks less distressing when their hardship was shared, and so they banded together and traveled west. Unification was very important to keep the family strong. Whenever a family member left the group, the entire family faced conflict among themselves. Although they continued their journey after a member retired or had to be left behind, the family struggled to get back on track. If they didn't have each other to inspire and motivate each other - especially mom, who always kept the family together - then they would all have suffered much more than they actually did. But he kept the group together through his dominant role as head of the family. She was always the member who brought the family together after a loss when others lost hope. As in TheGrapes of Wrath, the characters of Of Mice and Men, especially George and Lennie, choose to band together to overcome the cruelty of society. Lennie, who suffered from a mild form of mental retardation, recognized the importance of having George in his life when he said, "I made you look after me, and you put me in charge of you, that's why" (Mice 15). Lennie shows that no matter the challenges in life, he and George will always support each other because they need each other. In both works, Steinbeck portrays the theme of compassion in human nature, as the characters often make sacrifices there 'for each other. Of the many relationships in The Grapes of Wrath, be they family bonds, friendships, or simple acquaintances, compassion bonds characters together. Often compassion is shown through sacrifice, which makes relationships even more Strong compassion and love for each other means that an individual must look beyond the differences in others and find the things they have in common to unite. They must also put each other's needs before their own and consider the common benefit rather than pure personal gain. For example, when Ma gives up some of her family's stew for the children in the camp, she becomes very altruistic towards those who seemed desperate for cures. He explained to a distraught woman, “Suppose you were cooking a stew and a bunch of kids were lying around sleeping, what would you do? We didn't have enough, but you can't keep it when they look at you like that” (Grapes 333). Out of compassion for the starving children, Ma's maternal instincts told her to help them, even if it meant she would have to sacrifice her limited food supplies. Similarly, in Of Mice and Men, George sympathizes with Lennie by choosing to help Lennie rather than leave him vulnerable to society's unkindness. George shoots Lennie in the head before the lynch mob comes to torment him, he shows compassion for Lennie's well-being in the future. If George had allowed the mob to take him away, Lennie would have lost in society without George, and would be in more trouble By shooting him, George quickly ends the pain for his best friend However, he sacrifices the life of a loved one, a dilemma he must deal with emotionally. This sacrifice made by George shows great compassion for Lennie's feelings and great courage to have the ability to do something so traumatizing. In both novels, Steinbeck conveys the theme of suffering and living through severe hardship. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family, along with several thousand other poor farming families, suffered the most from being manipulated and exploited by the government. As the government and banks became increasingly greedy and authoritarian towards farmers, they were pushed further into extreme poverty. The farmers resorted to whatever they could get to survive the hunger, pain and anguish. The farmers began to observe that “in the eyes of the people there is failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing anger. In the souls of men the grapes of wrath fill up and... become heavy for the harvest” (Grapes 449). Steinbeck states that as people are repeatedly abused by the power of the bank, they will eventually tire of being mistreated and will desire change. Their tolerance wears thin as the grapes get heavier, metaphorically. The heavy grapes symbolize the burden that civil servants impose on farmers due to their greed. Soon the grapes will be ready to be harvested for the harvest; soon farmers will be ready for a revolution. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is repeatedly tormentedfrom his disability. Because of his compulsion to pet soft objects, he likes to carry animals such as mice and puppies, whether they are alive or dead. He constantly gets into trouble because he doesn't know his own strength and unintentionally kills several animals. Lennie even killed Curley's wife, who allowed him to feel her soft hair. Ultimately, these difficulties led to Lennie's downfall, when the mob came after him for killing Curley's wife. The style and format are exceptionally distinct. He uses the interleaved chapter format throughout the book, alternating between an observation of society as a whole and a detailed description of the Joad family's quest out west. The interleaved style of this book is effective in explaining the context of the Joad family history. As the family travels across America, they are conflicted by the woes of the Great Depression. The novel's extensive chapters provide background and assessment of the rest of the farmers and the government through symbolism and metaphors. However, this style may not be appealing to some readers, as it significantly extends the length of the story and turns reading into a seemingly arduous task to complete. Steinbeck also uses Oklahoma dialect in character dialogue to emphasize the setting and time period. Tom met an Oklahoman in California, who warned him, “Okie means you were from Oklahoma. Now that means you're a dirty son of a bitch. Okie means you're scum. It doesn't mean anything in itself, it's the way they say it” (Uva 264-265). This man shows Tom that "Okie" is just a word, but the way Californians say it gives the word an offensive connotation. The man also speaks in a Southern dialect to emphasize the offense in the term "Okie" because he is an "Okie" too. In Of Mice and Men, the stylistic format used is different from the other book in many ways. This novel is a story told chronologically about George and Lennie, two friends who depend on each other to survive the brutality during the Great Depression. The novel is a relatively short story compared to The Grapes of Wrath because it only focuses on George and Lennie's experiences in a short period of time. The dialogue in this book is effective in telling the story because it creates a more personal perspective for the reader. By telling the story from the characters' point of view, the connection between the author's message and the story is more precise. The author accurately shows the feelings, thoughts, and interactions between the characters through their dialogues instead of often being ambiguous through the narratives. When George tells Lennie, "Don't let him pull you in - but - if that son of a bitch kicks you - let him," (Mice 33) directly shows George's proud but vindictive attitude. . George takes care of Lennie and guides him through the conflict with Curley. This is shown directly through his dialogue, whereas the alternative would have been more ambiguous, indirect, and lengthy. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Although they have very different stylistic formats, The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men have many similar themes. The theme of pursuing the American dream is present in both books, although they all suffer from the misery of living during the Great Depression. During the relationships between the characters, unity is especially important, as is mutual compassion. In the 1930s farmers were repressed by the banks and the government. The two novels reflect on people's ability to unite and the strength in doing so. Citizens, en masse,.