The Ostler by Wilkie Collins and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck :: English Literature

The Ostler by Wilkie collins and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.The Ostler was pen by Wilkie Collins (1824-89), a Victoriannovelist. Collins work became popular because he wrote plots thatoften included mystery, suspense and crime. His stories always hadextremely well constructed plots.Collins also reflected the Victorian eras interest in gothic stories.These are stories that assume supernatural or horror themes. Readersat this time enjoyed stories like The Ostler and separate work byWilkie Collins like The Moonstone and The Woman in White, althoughsometimes the events were a little far-fetched and improbable.TheOstler supports this, as it is improbable that a hallucination couldin fact come to life.John Steinbeck (1902-68) was born in California and apply the state asthe background to his early stories and novels.Steinbeck, like his characters George and Lennie, had worked on aranch like the one in Of Mice and Men. He was shocked by the plightof many agricultural workers, wh ose lives were thrown into disorderduring the depression in farming. This occurred in California, duringthe 1930s.Steinbecks novella, Of Mice and Men is effective as he was able todescribe in depth the emotions that those who worked hard on the landfelt. He was able to empathize with his characters, as he hadexperienced these hardships himself. This means that readers are ableto trans later(a) with the workers far more.The book, at the time, was an extremely successful way to draw upkeep to a serious issue. Although the book doesnt dictate therights of workers, nor bombard you with figures, the situation of the workforce on the ranches is still portrayed effectively. The message stillgets across due to Steinbecks excellent use of the emotions andempathy.Both Of Mice and Men and The Ostler begin with moves inunpleasant circumstances.In The Ostler, the reader first learns of Isaac Scatchard and hisill luck. In fact, Isaac is famous for this and in the story we aretold of how Isaac had missed out on another job. Isaac had walked to alarge manor house to apply for the job of stable hand. However, Isaacarrived at his destination late at night and thought it best to lodgeat an inn.On presenting himself to the gentleman he found thatOnly a day before, the stable-helpers pasture had been given toanother man.As Isaac returns to his mother on the long journey home,The rain came on and the wind began to rise.This is an example of pathetic fallacy. In this exercise the change in theatmosphere of the text is one towards darkness, of bad and evil.