Yant 1

Cole Yant
Honors English 9
3 OConnor
11 February 2016

The Several Styles of Steinbeck

In his long career of writing, John Steinbeck uses many different styles in his writing.
One example of this are his two stories Of Mice and Men and Pastures of Heaven, he uses some
very different techniques and characters. In the former, he writes in a classic style, with a few
main characters and a setting, but the latter is different. In Pastures of Heaven, Steinbeck writes
in a series of short chapters about certain people and families in the valley. These are two very
different writing styles. One similarity of the two books are the characters that he writes about. In
Of Mice and Men, he writes about a mentally challenged man by the name of Lennie. This is
comparable to the young girl Hilda Van Deventer in Pastures of Heaven in the fact that they are
both mentally disabled, and treated unfairly. One last difference between the two are the settings.
In Of Mice and Men, the setting is a small farm with a few workers on it, and it details their
conflicts and adventures. In Pastures of Heaven, Steinbeck writes about a peaceful farming
community in a lush valley, and talks about their interactions with each other. The farm is a small
setting that tends to seem more harsh, and the valley is a larger, peaceful setting. Overall, John
Steinbecks flexibility to write using different methods is what made him such a great author.
First, Steinbecks writing styles in these two books are very different. In Of Mice and
Men, he uses classic formatting, with normal chapters, and a flow of events that seem to connect.

Yant 2

However, in Pastures of Heaven, he writes using a different type of writing that talks about
certain people every couple of chapters. Also, instead of a normal plot, he focuses on different
peoples lives every couple chapters, making it seem like he is writing small stories in each
chapter. Another way in which the styles are different is the diction. In Of Mice and Men, the
speech and terms that he use have more slang, giving a feel of a wild ranch. One example of this
is when he writes She watched for a moment, and then she laughed. Baloney! What you think
you're sellin' me? Curley started som'pin' he didn' finish. Caught in a machine- baloney! Why, he
aint give nobody the ol one-two since he got his han bust. Who bust him(Steinbeck 80). In
Pastures of Heaven he writes in a way that makes it seem more civilized, even though they are
both farm settings, like His writing styles in these two novels vary greatly, with very different
aspects and features in them.
Next, John Steinbeck writes about two similar characters when he talks about Lennie and
Hilda Van Deventer. They are both mentally disabled people who could be taken advantage of,
but arent through the pity of the people around them. While Lennie could be taken advantage of
by George, he isnt because George feels sorry for him, and treats him well. Hilda isnt taken
advantage of, and although she could be mistreated by her mother, she gives her a nice house and
a good life, which she ultimately takes herself away from. Lennie is a huge, strong man who
seems to have a mental incapacitator, and Hilda is a small girl who is mentally unstable. While
there is that similarity of the mental illness, it is also different because of the fact that one is a
small girl who thinks she is a big grown-up woman(Steinbeck 70)... while Lennie, a huge man,
has the mind of a little boy. Overall, there are more similarities than differences between these
two characters.

Yant 3

Last, the two settings in his books are very unique. In Of Mice and Men, the setting is a
wild west sort of feel, with a very hard style of life. There is lots of conflict on the ranch, from
the killing of Candys dog to the killing of Curleys wife to the killing of Lennie. One instance of
this is when Steinbeck writes Listen to me, you crazy bastard, he said fiercely. Dont even
take a look at that [lady]. I dont care what she says and what she does. I seen em poison before,
but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be (Steinbeck 32). This
demonstrates a representation of the tough side of things in this time period and location, and the
way the people of this time period treated women. This is what Steinbeck chose to represent the
ranch life. Pastures of Heaven demonstrates the town life, with more town feel, and overall the
easier way of living at this time period. While there are some violent parts, like when Hilda dies,
there is more focus on relationships between people, and the way they interact. This could be
what Steinbeck considered more of a heavenly place, as suggested by the title, and in Of Mice
and Men he thinks of it as the realistic way things were at this time period.
John Steinbeck uses lots of different styles of writing, along with some different
characters and settings. Two of his works that are good examples of this are Of Mice and Men
and Pastures of Heaven. Of Mice and Men is more of a conventional, classic book, with a ranch
setting, and Pastures of Heaven is a very different book, with lots of short stories embedded
inside the book. It involves a wide array of different characters, as well as two fairly different
settings. Overall, Steinbeck uses many different writing styles in order to make his books great.