I’m afraid I’m a light reader, not a serious reader. On my bookshelf are so many English literary books and I love them all, since English is not my first language.
However, these days, I feel like I have no talent in critical thinking or analysing texts even if I’m a literature major.
For example, I just finished Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. I just loved the book because it was easy and enjoyable to read, but what I felt was that the character Lennie was terrifying and a thriller itself. I mean, I literally gasped when the texts said he killed Curly’s wife by breaking her neck. And I could see why he had to be killed by George. Didn’t feel anything about that.
When I searched on the google about Of Mice and Men, I knew something was amiss…. everyone was talking about shedding tears when Lennie was killed and all those difficult concept of loneliness and companionship and 1930’s Californian worker’s conditions( this is so valid, as it is an historical context).
Like I’ve said, I love reading books, but have no analysing skills…. It feels hollow. Would it become better if I just… underline important sentences and write my thoughts alongside the texts of the books and re-read again and again?
by Victoria9273
12 Comments
I don’t feel like there is a wrong way to enjoy a book. If you want to do analysis you can but I don’t think you should make yourself if it’s not fun for you.
Lenin’s IS frightening in a real sense because he cannot understand the fragility of life and his own strength. He reacts out of fear which is also frightening. Unpredictable characters (and people) frighten me since they have no boundaries or limits.
I think people see him as a sympathetic character because he doesn’t and can’t understand these things. This assumes that if he could know he would be gentle.
In my opinion George is doing a right and wrong thing by helping him. He’s allowing Lenny control over their situation that he can’t handle. It’s like letting a 2 year old play with kittens. They don’t know.
George seems selfish to me in that by enabling Lenny he also caused the death of the wife. He kills Lenny to keep himself out of trouble.
But both of them are sympathetic characters because of their desperate circumstances. It’s move along, try to work, etc because they don’t have any hope of betterment. Steinbeck himself had tremendous sympathy for lost people like George and Lenny,
The person he clearly has no sympathy for is the rancher who is ugly, crude and vicious.
It’s a very complicated story even though it seems simple. I hope you read it over many times for the different perspectives you can obtain from it.
I think you’ve got good commentary from others, and your response shows you think. You don’t have to think about every book you read the second you read it and some stuff will make more sense at different times in your life when you’ve had different experiences. I love Steinbeck, but what I got out of the Grapes of Wrath when I was 13 was totally different than in my 20s and would be totally different if I read it today.
It’s okay to read it and just get the surface sometimes. You’re enjoying books and that’s the important part. The deeper stuff will percolate in your brain and little ideas about the book will pop up at random times years from now. Your depth of understanding doesn’t have to be linear.
Lennie is a sympathetic character to a lot of readers because he has no ill will. He just wants to enjoy soft and beautiful things in a simple and childlike way. His tragedy is he can’t help but hurt people and animals around him and he doesn’t understand why or how to stop. People see their own children or childhood selves (or perhaps even disabled adults in their lives) in him and his fate is crushing. There is a scary element to the story but I think most readers associate it more as a drama/tragedy
You don’t have to get everything about a book all at once
Lenny is terrifying because he has all the self-control and knowledge of a small and stupid child in a huge, strong, man’s body with grown up urges.
Lenny is a tragic character because he’s a child who has to live in a harsh grown up world he can’t understand with no provision to help or protect him, save George.
Without Lenny to protect George has nothing but himself to care for, in a society that regards him as disposable labour to be exploited ’til the day he dies, so he is just going to drink and spend all his money in the cheaper whorehouse for the sake of the brief warmth of listening to the madam making jokes about her rivals
“However, these days, I feel like I have no talent in critical thinking or analysing texts even if I’m a literature major.”
This is called the “conscious incompetence” stage of learning. Basically when you know enough about something to know you are bad at doing it. Unfortunately, the only way through it is to keep practicing that skill.
Lennie, to me, was tragic because he never meant to cause harm. He never intended or understood the damage he did, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. George knew him, and knew he was not trying to kill, but George also knew no one else would ever see that. They were all each other had, and George had to sacrifice Lennie, which I think was a way of sacrificing the part of himself that was innocent.
Do you have any sort of depression? The way you describe your feelings and being so disconnected to them seems a little different. Have you considered seeing a psychiatrist?
People usually read this book in high school with the guidance of a teacher to spark discussion and thought, etc. So keep that in mind!
It may not be that you lack critical thinking skills, it may just be that you don’t have context of the story. If you don’t know much or anything about life during the Great Depression in America specifically for example, some of the themes are just gonna go over your head.
I remember feeling dumb when an Irish co-worker explained to me that the movie The Banshees of Inishirin was an allegory for the Irish Civil War. But then I realised I wasn’t dumb I was just ignorant of that context of the story because I knew next to nothing about that particular time in history for that specific country.
Sometimes you just don’t know until you know.
New comment because I’m too lazy to edit. Analysis of literature is a skill, a muscle that you exercise. Places where people discuss books are the best place to start building that muscle. If you want to get there, you can. And you can also just read for fun.
Not everyone has the same emotional response to things. Especially if we’re talking different languages and cultures. If you enjoy reading, then read.