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 can Steinbeck.The Ostler was written by Wilkie Collins (1824-89), a Victoriannovelist. Collins work became touristy because he wrote plots thatoften included mystery, suspense and crime. His stories always hadextremely hale constructed plots.Collins also reflected the Victorian eras interest in gothic stories.These are stories that contain supernatural or horror themes. Readersat this time enjoyed stories kindred The Ostler and other work byWilkie Collins like The Moonstone and The Woman in White, althoughsometimes the events were a little far-fetched and improb subject.TheOstler supports this, as it is improb sufficient that a hallucination couldin fact come to life.John Steinbeck (1902-68) was born in atomic number 20 and used 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 take aback by the plightof ma ny agricultural workers, whose lives were thrown into disorderduring the first gear in farming. This occurred in California, duringthe 1930s.Steinbecks novella, Of Mice and Men is effective as he was able to recognize in depth the emotions that those who worked hard on the landfelt. He was able to empathise with his characters, as he hadexperienced these hardships himself. This means that readers are ableto sympathise with the workers far more.The book, at the time, was an extremely successful way to playattention to a serious issue. Although the book doesnt dictate therights of workers, nor bombard you with figures, the fact of themen on the ranches is still portrayed effectively. The message stillgets crossways due to Steinbecks excellent use of the emotions andempathy.Both Of Mice and Men and The Ostler begin with journeys in embarrassing circumstances.In The Ostler, the reader first learns of Isaac Scatchard and hisill luck. In fact, Isaac is famous for this and in the fabr ication we aretold of how Isaac had missed out on another job. Isaac had walked to a fully grown manor house to apply for the job of stable hand. However, Isaacarrived at his finish late at night and thought it best to lodgeat an inn.On presenting himself to the gentleman he found thatOnly a solar day before, the stable-helpers place had been given toanother man.As Isaac returns to his mother on the vast journey home,The rain came on and the wind began to rise.This is an example of pathetic fallacy. In this case the change in theatmosphere of the text is one towards darkness, of crowing and evil.