What makes a text strong and memorable?The two texts, the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the song Cats in the Cradle by Sandy and Harry Chapin deal with issues concerning personal relationships. These texts are strong and memorable with different aspects of personal relationships such as friendship and loneliness, explored by the characters and the techniques used.Loneliness is a key element in Of Mice and Men. It is demonstrated through three different aspects: sexism, ageism and racism. Curleys wife, being the only woman on the ranch, is endless searching for companionship with other men. Although she is married, she and Curley never appear together in the novel they are always searching for each other. I never get to talk to anyone, Curleys wife repeated sadly. Her loneliness is emphasised by not giving this character a name. Candy is a old man who is lonely after his dog is shot. I aint got no relatives or nothing. I wish somebody could shoot me when Im old and useless. Another lonely character is Crooks, who is the only black man on the ranch. He has his own bunk in a separate room suggests that he is suffering from racial discrimination. He, therefore has a lonely existence. The strong theme of loneliness makes the novel very memorable.Friendship between the two main characters, George and Lennie that also led to the final tragedy is another key element in the novel. George demonstrates protectiveness, patience and pride when it comes to Lennie. The author often emphasise people like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world, yet, the friendship between George and Lennie keep on going because they share a dream of owning their little farm. In the conclusion of the novel where Lennie has to escape the ranch because he has done another bad thing, George realises that moving from ranch to ranch is impossible. Lennie suggests removing himself from the society while George has a solution: to shoot Lennie. It is an obvious mercy killing with Lennies death parallel to the earlier death of Candys dog: George knows that Lennies death is inevitable and finds it appropriate to shoot Lennie himself, putting him out of misery before Curley commits a more brutal murder. The novel ends with Carlson wondering why George is upset, once again demonstrates that other men cannot comprehend the...
