Juliana B.

English 10 Honours

Block A

Wednesday, June 21st 2017

How Relationships Help One to Develop – Which Story Shows It Better?

Many authors and poets throughout history have explored the topic of relationships and how they may help one to develop, and each book, poem, or story sheds new light on the subject, but the main question remains: which literary work better shows one’s development through relationships? Although both the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee explore this topic, To Kill A Mockingbird better demonstrates how much relationships positively affect the characters and how Scout and Jem grow through their strong bond with each other. In Of Mice And Men, however, the effect of the lack of relationships on the characters is shown. The novella does not directly demonstrate how bonds with other people may help to strengthen belief and confidence in oneself, as well as build trust in others. Both literary works are set in the 1930’s in the United States of America, and both involve small communities of people, although Of Mice and Men is set mainly on a farm in California while To Kill A Mockingbird involves characters in a small town in Alabama.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout have a unique brother-sister bond. Throughout the book, Scout grows up while having Jem at her side, which shapes her as a person because she sees how Jem changes over time. Scout reads between the lines of what Jem says and does, and interprets it in her own way: “Jem wanted Dill to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything: ‘It’s just that I can’t think of a way to make him come out without him gettin’ us.’ Besides, Jem had his little sister to think of. When he said that, I knew he was afraid” (Lee, 17). Scout understands how scared Jem is through what he says, even though he never directly states that he is afraid. Similarly, Jem also changes throughout the story, thanks to the bond he has with Scout, because he sees a different perspective through her. Having Scout by his side really helps him to develop, even if he never openly admits this and even calls his sister “annoying” at times. For example, when someone fills their special hole in a tree with cement, through trying to comfort Scout, Jem comforts himself: “ […] on the way to school he ran ahead of me and stopped at the tree. Jem was facing me when he looked up, and I saw him go stark white. ‘Scout!’ I ran to him. […] ‘Don’t you cry, now, Scout, don’t you worry –‘ he muttered at me all the way to school” (Lee, 83). Had Scout not been with him through everything, he might not have been able to deal in tough times with the things that happen to him.

Opposite from what To Kill A Mockingbird teaches the reader about one’s development through relationships, Of Mice And Men demonstrates the effect of isolation and loneliness. Steinbeck effectively shows how isolation from society affects a person through the character Crooks: “Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends. Crooks said sharply, ‘You got no right to come in my room. […] Nobody got any right in here but me’” (68). Crooks lives in a small room all by himself and gradually becomes accustomed to loneliness, which makes him hostile towards any visitors. He is not used to friendly people and is wary of anyone that wants to talk to him. Another example of the effect of loneliness on a person is Curley’s wife. Through her we see that when one has no relationships, he or she cannot develop or progress in life. Of course, she is married to Curley, but in the novella, they seem to be very distant from each other and do not want to communicate. They both want more human interaction: “ […] You bindle bums think you’re so damn good. […] -Sat’iday night. Ever’body out doin’ sompin’. Ever’body! An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs – a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep – an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else” (Steinbeck, 78). She complains indirectly about being lonely because she does not have anyone to talk to and nowhere to go on a Saturday night.

These examples show that To Kill A Mockingbird better presents the positive effect that relationships can have on a person because while Of Mice And Men demonstrates how much isolation and loneliness can negatively impact a person, TKAM shows how much friendships and bonds with others can help one to grow. Harper Lee effectively presents to the reader how relationships help a person to develop through a variety of characters, such as Boo Radley, Jem, and Scout: “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives” (373). This perfectly explains the bond Jem and Scout have with Boo Radley, and how much it helped all of them to understand what friendship really is and learn to see things differently. As well, in To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many more characters for other characters to form relationships with, while in Of Mice And Men, the few characters are much more isolated from each other and the rest of the world. They are limited in their choices of friendships and bonds, and which people to interact and not to interact with. “[…] Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other”(Steinbeck, 35). When Slim says this, he gives the reader a new thought on isolation and loneliness, as well as why some people do not form relationships and therefore cannot progress and grow.

In conclusion, To Kill A Mockingbird better demonstrates how much relationships positively affect the characters because the novella Of Mice and Men shows the direct opposite: the effects of isolation and loneliness on a person. The novella, as opposed to To Kill A Mockingbird, does not directly demonstrate how important relationships are in one’s development. The reader sees how, through the bonds between Jem, Scout, and Boo Radley, the characters help each other, but Curley’s wife, as well as Crooks, show the reader what isolation can be and how it may affect people. Both stories, whether directly or indirectly, present the idea that humans cannot develop without relationships with others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOx28jGtBu4

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/211176669998284502/

Two things I thought I did well were the transitions between the evidence and the quotes, as well as explaining how the quotes helped to support the evidence.

Something I would like to improve on is word choice and expanding my vocabulary. Another thing is writing better, more in-depth introductions and conclusions.