Villegas 1

Raymond Villegas

Prof. Sroka

Dec 18,17

8B

The saddest thing about betrayal is that it mostly doesnt come from your

enemies- Unknown. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, published in 1937, and The

Scarlet Ibis written by James Hurst, published in 1960, shows a betrayal between the

characters in each story, even though the characters in each story were close with each

other. The question here is, was the betrayal in each story a good thing for the

characters? The theme of both stories is betrayal can prevent further suffering. The

theme is developed throughout each story by the character different actions and

thoughts in each different story.

Of Mice and Men and The Scarlet Ibis were published during different time

periods, but both stories share a similar theme. The Scarlet Ibis is about how the

narrator feels, embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk (Hurst)

so he decided to, set out to teach him (Hurst) how to walk. In Of Mice and Men,

George and Lennie are two companions going to a ranch because a Depression-era

employment agency called Murray and Readys gave them, work cards and bus

tickets" (Steinbeck, 3) to go work. Later on in the story, George betrays Lennie by

shooting him, right in the back of the head (Steinbeck, 106). The narrator of The

Scarlet Ibis betrays Doodle because Doodle was a crippled human and the people
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would make fun of him if he let him live. Lennie, on the other hand, was a tall person

with mental disabilities, those disabilities made Lennie get in trouble. In order to stop the

trouble maker, George killed Lennie so Lennie wouldnt cause trouble or get killed by

someone else! Both stories share a similar theme because even though George and the

Narrator betray their friends, they did it for the characters good. In the end, George and

the Narrator killed Lennie and Doodle in order to protect them from further suffering.

Of Mice and Men takes place during the Great Depression. The story is centered

around two companions, George and Lennie. Lennie has many mental disabilities,

which lead to many problems. George has to help Lennie get out of the problems,

leading him to believe that without Lennie itll, save everbody a hell of alot trouble

(Steinbeck, 23). George and Lennie are traveling together to go to their new jobs. Once

George and Lennie arrive to their jobs, they meet a group of people called Slim, Carlson

Crooks, Candy, Whit, and Curley. Curley is always looking for fight, this time it was with

Lennie. He wanted to fight Lennie because Slim was talking about Curley's wife and

Curly got defensive and caught Lennie laughing. Curley went up to Lennie and then his

fist was swinging (Steinbeck, 63). Lennie, reached for it (Steinbeck, 63) just as

George commanded him to do. Lennie looked to George for help because he had

broken all of Curleys hand bones. This problem almost got George and Lennie fired

because Curley is the boss son. Slim saved George and Lennie by convincing Curley

to say it wasnt Lennie who broke his hand. This is only Lennies first problem, later on

the story Lennie meets Curleys wife Curleys wife meets Lennie in the barn, where

coincidentally Lennie had killed his pup. Lennie loves to pet soft things, so Curleys wife
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let Lennie touch her hair to show how soft it is. Lennie rubs a little too rough and

Curleys wife starts to scream, Lennie grabbed her by her neck and tells her to be quiet

because if she gets Lennie in trouble, then he has to suffer through George screaming

at him. Lennie had grabbed her neck to hard, and then she was still, for Lennie had

broken her neck. (Steinbeck, 100) Lennie starts to panic because he has done another

terrible thing, then he remember to, Hide in the brush till [George] comes (Steinbeck,

16) when he does a terrible thing, just as George told him to do. The crew then finds the

dead body and Curley gets furious. George goes to the brush to find Lennie. George

knows Curley is looking for Lennie to get revenge for breaking his hand and for killing

his wife. George calms Lennie and tells him to get on his knees and look into the lake.

George went to talk to Lennie and then he, raised the gun and steadied, and he

brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennies head (Steinbeck, 106) George

had betrayed his friend, Lennie, by shooting him. This betrayal wasnt a bad thing

though, George did it out of love! He knew Curley and his mob were going to put Lennie

in jail, or something else much more worse! So in order to prevent Lennies suffering

and trouble making, George betrayed him by shooting him. This betrayal prevented

further suffering. Therefore, Georges actions of shooting led to the revealing of the

theme.

Even betrayal exists between family. The Scarlet Ibis is about how the Narrator

teaches his crippled brother, Doodle, how to walk because he, was embarrassed at

having a brother of that age who couldn't walk. (Hurst) This embarrassment led to the

author believing that his younger brother, was, from the start, a disappointment.
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(Hurst) ever since he was born because he couldnt walk. The narrator thought that

other kids were going to make fun of him because his brother couldnt walk, so the

narrator, set out to teach him. (Hurst) how to walk. The Narrator didnt do this because

he loved Doodle, he did it because he, was embarrassed at having a brother of that

age who couldn't walk, (Hurst) The Narrator was doing this to prevent further suffering

for him and his brother. If Doodle didnt learn how to walk, then people were going to

tease him and his brother, the Narrator, and they would have to suffer with

embarrassment too. Later on, the Narrator managed to help Doodle how to walk. The

Narrator and Doodle were walking through a forest, where suddenly, it started to rain

hard. The Narrator soon began to run. The narrator knew Doodle couldnt keep up with

him, so thats when the, streak of cruelty within [him] awakened (Hurst) The Narrator

then ran much more faster, leaving [Doodle] far behind with a wall of rain dividing

[them] soon the Narrator, could hear his voice no more. (Hurst) The Narrator had

betrayed Doodle by leaving him to his death in the forest. This was a good thing, he

knew that without Doodle, Doodle and himself wouldnt have to suffer through

embarrassment. Therefore, the betrayal was a method of preventing further suffering.

Although The Scarlet Ibis and Of MIce and Men were different stories, both

stories contain the same theme. They shared the Betrayal can prevent further

suffering theme. This theme was shown throughout each story by Georges and the

Narrators actions. George betrayed Lennie, so Lennie wouldnt suffer jail time or getting

killed. The narrator of The Scarlet Ibis betrayed Doodle so it could prevent

embarrassment for each other. For all those reasons stated, Of Mice and Men and The
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Scarlet Ibis share a similar theme and the theme was revealed through character

actions.

Works Cited

Hurst, James. The Scarlet Ibis. Web. 31 May 2017.

Steinbeck, John, and John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men ; Cannery Row. New York:

Penguin, 1987. Print.