I'd never thought of it until I was changing a file name from
Carlson to
Crooks an hour or so ago, when I remembered that Sup had commented on Curley's name in his review of his provisional thesis statement, but a lot of Steinbeck's characters in
Of Mice and Men have names or are called by terms beginning with
C:
Candy,
Candy's dog,
Curley,
Curley's wife,
Crooks, and
Carlson.
Do you think this means anything?
This is not the same question as the possibly more relevant one that asks whether Steinbeck gave his characters names that mean something, which is what Sup has been considering in the case of Curley.
Steinbeck, J., (2006).
Of Mice and Men. London: Penguin Books.
After trying to find out on the internet, I got the idea that this same first letter of character's name shows Motif. It is like a pattern that the writer tries to insert his though into the story. Some said that C is from the same sound sea which I guess it might be tear sea because of tension thorough story or see which might be a sign to pay more attention on characters' looks or personalities: Candy a sweet-minded man, Curley a swing-mooded man, and Crook a bent-backed man. These are not convincing enough for me. However, I notice that Slim is not begin with C. It might come from his look that thin and slim. Moreover, I wonder why Candy's dog and Curley's wife are not mentioned their name. Perhaps, Steinbeck intended to skip their name to set them as a thing or a possess which has no right to decide what to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ob,
DeleteI am sure that Steinbeck did have reasons for the names he gave his characters, although I'm not sure how much importance we need attach to that. It seems to me a little like the Soledad question - it's certainly interesting, and perhaps useful, to know that it's a real town in the US, but probably not necessary to enjoy and fully understand the novel. Katie seems to me right that the meaning of the name was likely more important to Steinbeck than the actual location or anything else. The meaning of the Spanish word soledad = "loneliness, solitude" fits too well with the story to be an accident.
I like your motif idea - and a speculation along those lines has occurred to me. But I don't want to state it until after your first drafts of the essays have been written tomorrow or Tuesday evening.
I have no objection to you or others writing down your speculations on this promising idea of a motif running through the novel,perhaps complementing a theme as it goes.
Although this story is not my favorite style, I like this story because I learn a lot of issues from this fiction. For example, I learn an unbalanced growth between mental and physical of Lennie. I match this learning with an unbalanced development of Thailand's society particularly education. I recall the ancient strategy that you should kill your strongest warhouse after your great war in order to prevent your enemy steals and utilizes it by the case of Candy's dog.(This does not mean I agree with this strategy.)
ReplyDeleteI did not intend to crack main characters' names but they come by chance so I think the author provides some clues about his intension. For example, Candy and Candy's dog, in this case, I think the word "Candy" represents "colorful", and Candy's dog does not have its own name because the author wants to present the opposite or contrast meaning; that is, Candy's dog presents its colorful life from the best sheep dog to a misery one; on the other hand, Candy represents a colorless life.
Tomorrow is the last day that we will learn from this fiction. Thank you, the author.
Reference
Steinbeck, J., (2006). Of Mice and Men. London: Penguin Books.