Lit Circle Summative Journal #2

       “The human heart has ever dreamed of a fairer world than the one it knows.” Carleton Noyes

          The novel my group is doing this week is "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. I have finished the book and so has the rest of my group. This week, we discussed the connection between the novel and the "American" Dream. In the novel, the main characters, George and Lennie, want to own a place and "live of the fatta the lan."(pg. 23).  The author is showing that this is an impossible dream, although still a dream shared by millions.  In a sense, this theme is saying that many of us are living in some kind of a fantasy world rather than facing the harsh reality of our lives.

          The novel is saying that a person always dreams of better life than he or she is in. Most people should agree with this. One of the characters from this novel, George, show what he would do with a better life. George divulges how he will get a better life than the one he‘s already in. He says that by earning sufficient money and living off of the land for a while, he can save enough to buy his own land and start a new life. With that money and land, he can complete his "American" Dream.

          When Lennie, George’s friend, was having a hard time at the ranch in which they worked, George protected him from humiliation. This shows that even though Lenny is a big guy, he doesn't have that much courage. George would tell him to think about the life ahead and the rabbits that he liked to play with. In this novel, a fight arose with Lennie and the bosses son, Curley. Curley was a small man and did not like big people. It is kind of a jealousy thing, as he resents his own small stature, and hates big guys because he feels they don't deserve it. "You got a problem with speaking, boy...why can't you answer when spoken to" (pg. 25) This quote from the novel shows how he pesters Lennie, even though Lennie doesn't want to fight with him(Curley). When Curley’s wife dies, he blames it on Lennie; he decides that Lennie must die to avenge his wife, even though Lennie had nothing to do with it. When George gets wind of this news, he thinks that he should just kill Lennie himself and send him to a better life than he had. All of these themes correspond to the quote at the top of the page. It is really only defining what the American dream is, but it shows the deeper meaning as well.

          I really think that I can further my discussion skills by asking questions about the book and trying to build on the answers given.

Found Poem

Destruction

Maybe he ain’t bright

He damn near killed his partner;

Bucking barley.

“You said I was your cousin, George”.

“Well, that was a lie,

An’ I’m damn glad it was,

If I was a relative of your,

I’d shoot myself”.

Poor bastard

“You gonna give me that mouse,

Or do I have to sock you”.

Crazy fool;

Blubbering like a baby,

Ain’t to be trusted;

Can’t keep a job,

Lost ever’ job [George] ever got.

Gets in trouble,

Does bad things and,

George bails him out.

Ain’t got no money

Nor any money to call his own.

Nowhere to go,

Ain’t that bright,

Jus’ a big guy,

And he lay there,

Quivering.

            For my found poem, I chose the word destruction. In the story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, the only thing being destroyed is the self esteem of Lennie Small, by his friend George Milton. Throughout the story, George becomes increasingly hostile toward Lennie because he is not that bright and screws up every chance they get a real job. “You can’t even keep a job” (pg. 12). This shows that George doesn’t really believe in George and want to help him overcome his clumsiness. Georges anger and irritably toward Lennie comes to a climax at the end of the story when he becomes so frustrated that he kills Lennie. You hadda do it, George, you hadda…I know, I hadda do it” (pg. 107). This shows that George’s friends think that he was really helping Lennie when he killed him, but George felt remorse for his action and regretted his decision. He felt kind of sorry for Lennie, as he was tasked with taking care of him and he failed him. That is what the last quote of the poem is saying. The image connects to the story because it is like Lennie’s mind, destroyed by all of the abusive bombardment through out his life.

Lit Cirlce Summative Journal

          This week for my novel, my group has read until Ch. 12. Our discussion was on the different meanings of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque. We came up with many different ones and worked well together in finding these meanings. We used many examples of symbolism, like when Matt said that when Behm was killed, it was ironic because he was the one of the group who didn't actually want to go to war, but was pressured into it.
          "Lost" is a very powerful word, which can have many meanings. You can be lost in three ways: mentally, emotionally, and physically . It really stands out in the novel, which is about the trials and hardships of a regular group of boys going out to war and how they are forced into maturing by the horrors of war. This generation of boys has been called as the "Lost Generation." Paul Baumer, the protagonist of the book, often wonders what is to become of the young men who, like him matured and  the fear, killing and dying of the front. He says, "We are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficial- I believe we are lost."(pg. 123) This quote is explaining how they feel hopeless like children sometimes feel, but have the experience of the oldest and wisest men, which helps them overcome this and become soulless. He and his fellow men have seen and done such horrible things, that they believe that they cannot be forgiven; never being able to return home, even though they would be heroes, they would not feel like it. This is the same story for any soldier who returns home from war. They are celebrated as heroes by the public, but they do not consider themselves heroes because of the men that they have left behind and the actions they were forced to take to defend themselves.
               After the men lose their strength, at some point, comes the moment when they completely lose themselves to war. Their previous life remains only a faint memory; they are no longer the men they were before. In Chapter 9, Paul Baumer suddenly becomes human again, no stronger or wiser than the average soldier. Here, he is given one last chance to regain the compassion and feelings the war had forced him to lose. When in the ditch, he is forced to watch a man that he stabbed die. This man is meant to be the symbol of the man Paul was before the war. Though Paul himself had killed this man, he still has a chance to gain from him what he can. Baumer cares for this "old life"; he fetches “him water…and uses field dressing to cover his stab wounds…he would give much if he would stay alive,” not because he really wishes to hold on to this life but because “it is hard to lie there and to have to see and hear him” (pg. 220) It is too painful to see this part of him die. After the man’s death, Baumer is convinced that he “must do everything…in order to save” himself (pg. 221). Yet, “by afternoon he is calmer” and, after talking to his comrades, realizes that his emotions were “mere driveling nonsense” (pg. 228). After thus completely cutting his ties to any outside world, Baumer once again assumes his previous soullessness.
          There is no real enemy since the true culprit of wartime horror is war itself. It takes the reader until the end of the novel to understand the true power of such an idea. In the last few lines, the inner battle one fights in a war is linked to the inner battle we fight with life itself. No matter how hard we try, “so long as it is there, life will seek its own way out, heedless of the will that is within” (pg. 295). It is the human plight to unconsciously fight for survival. All Quiet on the Western Front suggests that there are cases where surviving is another form of death.

Glogster Explanation

• the background is blood, which is normally associated with pain
• I chose pictures that related to pain and the pain caused by the war because that is the main theme of the book; that each of these young soldiers became "old" at the end of the war even though they were only 23-24 years old by wars' end. 
• the quotes are from the book, which all describe the pain and suffering felt by the soldiers in the trenches and the horrors they saw  
• the famous quote is at the bottom is saying that in war no soldier escapes the pain of war, be it physical or emotional
• I guess that the overall meaning of this collage is that pain is more than skin deep. It affects the very soul of a person, and can and does change a persons personality from a lighted hearted, happy person to a cold hearted cynic. This pain is also necessary for their growth as it sometimes helps them become more complete human beings who do not doubt themselves and can handle an otherwise devastating event that would destroy any other person. 

Glogster- Pain