On Binary Oppositions In Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck, one of the greatest American novelists in the twentieth century, published his masterpiece-Of Mice and Men in1937. The book immediately became the bestseller, and then was turned into a play, whichgot a great success. Steinbeck secured the great position in American literary scene because of these. Of Miceand Men is Steinbeck‘s classic literary work. It has great significance and infinite space for interpretation. Itexpresses the profound understanding of the tragedy of the lower people. This thesis intends to indicate the deepstructure of the story in the light of Structuralism; and it also attempts to analyze the binary oppositions betweeneach part, and to understand the real reason for the tragedy of characters in the light of Binary Oppositionsadvocated by Roland Barthes, hoping this new perspective might provide a different angle for the understandingof the novel.The thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter One is an introduction to John Steinbeck‘s life, Steinbeck‘s writings and his Of Mice and Men.Although Of Mice and Men, one of Steinbeck‘s Labor Trilogies, is short and simple in plot, it is still regarded asone of Steinbeck‘s finest works. The chapter also explains the purpose and significance of this study in the end.Chapter Two is the literature review of Of Mice and Men, which focuses on the historical review abroad andat home. It shows the reason for choosing Binary Oppositions as the theoretical perspective.Chapter Three presents the theoretical frame. It includes two divisions: the first one introduces the generalprinciple of literary structuralism, and the second one, binary opposition, to structuralists, is―the relation that isthe most important in structural analysis‖, and governs the structure of a text.Binary oppositions exist substantially in literary works and binarism has become a very important binarymeans in literary criticism. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck employs several pairs of oppositions to enhance itsartistic values. This thesis, based on the theories done by previous scholars, starts from the principle of structurallinguistics, and by analyzing the various pairs of opposing elements, discloses how the binary oppositions aresuccessfully employed to depict the characters, sharpen the conflicts, uncover the theme and intensify thetragedy.Chapter Four is the analysis of Of Mice and Men with binary oppositions to reveal the deep structure in thenovel. Binary oppositions function as the core and the basis of Structuralism. Moreover, Of Mice and Men is anexcellent embodiment of binary oppositions in its characters, images, and its theme, which will be analyzed inthe thesis. These opposed pairs serve as good illustrations of the deep oppositional structure underlying the novel.Chapter Five is the conclusion of the thesis. The author firstly concludes the deep structure of the Of Miceand Men and finds the real reason why the tragedy of the characters is caused. There is a magical force existingbehind the life in addition to the social factors. The force is the destiny, which is so great that human beingsbecome the victims of the power. As a result, the tragedy is not merely social, but also destined.