Innocence and Hostility in Romeo and Juliet and Of Mice and Men Essay

One dictionary defines Innocence as Freedom from sin, moral wrong, or guilt through lack of intimacy of evil. Thus whiteness is the state wherein one is, in a sense, nice free from doubt and dread and woe, unmarred by sorrow or the countless ills running rampant in the knowledge domain. Innocence is associated with children and animals and nature. But for offset to occur, Innocence must be kill in order for meet to flourish. This bittersweet transition from child to adult is the natural course of smell one cannot stay innocent forever.Oftentimes, this transition from innocent child to undergo adult occurs in the face of hostility, as in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, where the little lovers, to combat the hatred their families have for one another, sacrifice their love, their purity, and their blend ins. This theme exists as well in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, where George kills Lennie to save him from suffering, and in the doing so, also slays their share fancy of own ing land and creation free men. In Romeo and Juliet, the hostility in the midst of the Capulets and the Montagues creates the conflict that drives the play.This generation-spanning hatred consumes everything it touches it causes the deaths of Mercutio at the hands of Tybalt, and drives Romeo to avenge his friends death by slaying Tybalt in turn. The hostility borne of this act forces Romeo to scat and Juliet to feign death Romeo, consumed by grief, kills himself, and Juliet upon waking to find her husband dead, does the same. We image that the hostility permeates every aspect of the play. Innocence, symbolized by the young lovers, is ultimately slain by the hostility shared between the 2 families.In Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, two farm hands, share a dream to own a piece of land, and in doing so, become free men. George appoints himself caretaker of Lennie, a large, abnormally sound man with the mind of a young child. The hostility that proves the downfall o f these two men stems from Curley, the son of the ranch owner. A man possessed of a short temper and a violent streak, his inhumanty forces his wife to examine the company of other men. She spends time with Lennie.Warned that her presence causes trouble, he attempts to silence her when she creates a scene, and inadvertently kills her, his actions driven by fear concerning the hostility of Curley. Alarmed by his actions, he flees. The slaying of Innocence occurs when George kills Lennie in order to save him from cruel treatment and death at the hands of Curley and the other men. But in slaying Lennie, George also kills their dream of owning land, and being free men, and his own innocence as well. In both these stories hostility drives the conflict, propelling actions onward to the end, where innocence is slain and experience gleaned.In Romeo and Juliet the death of the two lovers causes the families to grow up, and abrogate the hatred and hostility between the two houses. In killi ng themselves the patronage characters also kill the hostility that led them to their deaths, and though innocence dies, tranquility is achieved. In Of Mice and Men, the hostility of Curley does not die what dies is the innocence of a dream and the the innocence of childhood, symbolized by Lennie. George gains experience, he grows up, and in doing so realizes the futility of the dream of being free in the face of the hostility of the landowners, as represented by Curley.And so Innocence is slain, and gives way to experience. Hostility remains in the world to aid in that transition. One cannot be Innocent always, and death and disaster produce lessons one must learn in order to live in the world. Lovers die, as do hopes and dreams, but no matter how sad or heartbreaking the events may be, one always gains lessons, often severe, from these losses. such is life, as reflected in these works.Works CitedShakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Washington DC Washington substantive Pres s, 2004 Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York Penguin, 1978