Friday, September 21, 2007

Hope

Consider the following quotation from The Shawshank Redemption:
"Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things."

Do you agree with this quotation? Is hope ever not a "good thing"?

Do you think that this quotation is showing truth so far in Of Mice and Men? Use one passage from the novel to support your response.

19 comments:

Bandido said...

Half of me agrees with that and the my other personality that makes me wear dresses and make up on Saturday nights does not. I mean hope isn't good in the case of some guy saying "Man I hope that the cops don't catch after we just drew mustaches on all the paintings in the museum. What Johnny? You did what?! You stole a key chain from the gift shop? Oh my God, why? We are so dead. (starts crying) C'mon man! I don't wanna go to jail I hope we don't I hope you are put away 'cause you are sick man! you are sick."

I mean the isn't the right kind of hoping. If you are some poor hopeless guy like Candy who just lost everything he had then go for the hoping. Have a hope fest. Rent out conferences rooms inside public libraries and speak of hopes but no dreams! Dreams are for bald people who want to go to Disney Land. Anyways Candy had just lost his dog so he needed something to cling onto so he chose the dream of buying that place with George and Lennie. So he hoped for that and all that junk that comes with hoping. And also Curley's wife who I am going to call Audrey since I just watched Breakfast at Tiffany's hoped she was gonna be a big famous movie star like Marilyn Monroe or Ingrid Bergman or Audrey Hepburn or Barbara Stanwyck or Bette Davis or Greta Garbo or Joan Crawford or (insert other classic actress besides Jessica Alba).

So there's a lot of hope swirling around Of Mice and Men even with Curley, he was probably hoping that he wouldn't have to tangle with Lennie again after that little old machine incident if you know what I mean.

But all in all I guess what I'm really trying to say is that there can be false hope like praying to God that I get a pony this Christmas (a blue one if any guy who has extra ponies walking around is reading). Or the real kind of hope where you look in the stars and there's a little twinkle in your eye whenever you think about whatever it is you're hoping for. And then a firend walks in on you looking at the stars and you brush away the tears of joy and you say, "Uhh hey dude. Whazzup? Oh me, just getting all this dirt out of my eye. Man you have a really dirty house."

So in the end when I think about this and all the random stuff goes away sure this book is revolved around hope and ketchup. And of course hope can be a bad thing. Sure black tar heroin is pretty darn good but at times it can be a bad thing. So to conclude hope is like black tar heroin.

rachelf said...

Yes I do agree with that quote, however I also agree with Jason that it isn’t the best thing when you don’t want to get caught by the cops or when you’re hoping for something without doing anything to accomplish it. But in Of Mice and Men I think hope is the best thing they have. George and Lennie don’t have a glamorous lifestyle but they find comfort in their dream, hoping that soon they’ll accomplish it, even when they had doubts. And like Jason said there is other hope in the story, for Curley’s wife and also for Candy and Crooks.

jenniferb said...

I agree with the quotation because it is a good thing to have hope. If you don't hope for something, then what can you look forward to? I agree with Rachel that hope is all that George and Lennie have. They have a dream that helps them through their life. In Of Mice and Men when George and Lennie are in the Bunk house, Lennie asks about their dream because he has hoped that someday their dream will come true.

Maria A. said...

I agree with Jennifer and Rachel because I also think that hope is all Lennie and George have in Of Mice and Men. Especially Lennie, hope is pretty much what he can count on and George for Lennie to look up to. I think that relating to Mice and Men, that there are hope that actually can help and hope that can not really help. For example, hope that can not help could include praying to get something such as an object or a toy for a holiday, and other hope would be helping other people and healing such as , I hope that Lennie realizes that he has a mental illness and realizes that things he is doing is wrong most of the time. Also that Lennie's and Georges dream of having an amazing life style on a barn with lots of bunnies and other furry animals can be accomplished if they really go for it.

Christine said...

I agree with the quote as well as Jason and Rachel. It is definitely difficult for someone to live without hope but when it comes to hoping for something that we consider wrong in our society then that kind of hope is bad. In Of Mice and Men Lennie and George have their dream and they “hope” that their dream will soon come true! Hope is a very important part of the book because just about every character has a story of hope to share with each other. Just like what Jennifer said when Lennie and George were in the bunk house Lennie wanted to hear the story of their dream and he had hope that it would come true soon after Candy wanted to be apart of it as well and had hope for it too.

nathanb said...

I think hope is always a good thing. It gives us a sense of security. Also in the book Of Mice and Men I think the quote is definitely true. If it weren't of hope of have the farm and tending to the rabbits Lennie wouldn't be working at all. I would use a quote but I don't have my book. :D

TabM17 said...

Yes, I agree that hope is a great thing and one of the best things. Like Nathen said, it gives us security and also gives us something to work for and fight for. If we didn't have hope no one would be anywhere. Also hope is belief and without it we'd be nothing.

Erin said...

I agree with everyone that has posted so far... There isn't one way to determine if hope is good or bad. If someone is hoping for something later in life, then it is good because it keeps them going and gives something to look forward to. But If someone has false hope, then that would be bad because they are setteing themselves up for failure and dissapointment. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie and George have good hope towards their own land and their "dream", that keeps them going all the way...until Lennie gets shot :(

KelliL said...

I agree with everyone because hope is a good word and has a good meaning to it. If someone says for example, " I hope I get that huge raise" well then they will have something to look forward to but if it doesn't come true then maybe people will look down on themselves or not feel confident but I still think hope is a good word. In the story, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie hope they get there dream house which makes them keep moving and look forward to everyday.

EmilyL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
hilary l said...

In the story, Of Mice and Men, the main thing that Lennie and George had that kept them going was hope. They believed that someday they would have a house to themselves where they could do whatever they wanted with their lives. Throughout the story Lennie and George talked about their dreams whenever they were feeling down or depressed and when they were reminded of that hope they felt better about where they were and how their life were going. Hope in many cases can be a good thing and hope can encourage people to try hard to do well and hope helps with that.

amandab said...

I agree with this quote to an extent because yes hope can be a wonderful thing because it brings good thoughts to ones mind, and it has a good positive attitude to things and can make the mind wonder off and explore many things. When i start to disagree with the quote is when someone hopes for something and it crashes down then no it's not the best things because when your hopes and crushed then you get hurt and no one likes to be hurt.

TraciAnn said...

I do agree with this quote becasue i do think that we need hope. In the book OF MICE AND MEN george and lennie hope that some day they can get there dream house and have everything they want. This may be a ridiculous dream because they are in the Great Depression right now but in a way the hope of getting this dream house is what helps them keep going and not give up. Which kinda repeats what everyone else said but oh well.

kaseyb said...

I do agree with this quote just like everyone else. I think that if you didn't have hope there would be really nothing to look forward to or even live for. I think hope is a very powerful thing. In the book, "Of Mice and Men," Lennie and George both express hope that one day they will have their own land and live together by themselves.

TylerF said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TylerF said...

Just like most of the class, I, too, agree with this quote. I believe that hope is the one thing in us that we never give up on, we can always rely on, we will never lose faith in, and has NO limits. Hope is the drive that keeps us all going, the gas that fuels our dreams, and without hope we could accomplish nothing. Hope cannot ever fail us, whether you are hoping for good, or bad, it is what you truly want. However, the meaning of true hope can be twisted by hoping for something hurtful or bad. The person “hoping” for that something twisted is the only possible thing that can twist the integrity of hope. For instance, in Of Mice and Men Lennie and George are constantly hoping and dreaming of getting their dream ranch that the two can live on together, however, when Lennie messes up that dream, George in his anger and sudden loss of hope kills Lennie a life-long friend and cousin. In this respect, and this respect only will hope ever be a bad thing, when it gets in the way of someone else’s “ Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness”. Though the small amount of negativity surrounding hope does not even compare to the large amount of incredible rewards that can come from hope.

Allison M. said...

I would say that hope is always a good thing. Hope is what makes us strive for more; it's what makes us want to keep living. If we didn't have hopes and dreams what would be worth living for in life? When life gets you down, hope is what reassures you that it's worth getting up in the morning and starting a new day. It's a reminder that things will get better, and life is worth living for.


I think this quote is definately showing truth so far in Of Mice and Men. Lennie and George may not have much, but they do have hopes and dreams. That is what propels them forward, and it's what keeps hem going strong. They are always talking about their dream, and how they will live of the fat of the land. Lennie hopes for rabbits and happyness. George, I think, just wants to have something that he can call his own. I think without hope they would be lost. Sure, things might not work out, but atleast they have something to dream about and look forward to.

TabM17 said...

I believe in the quote, what would we live for if we didn't have are hopes and goals. We wouldn't make it anymore and with hope we try and conqer and wish for the best.

George and Lennie were driven by there hope. They probably would be in cat houses everynight if they didn't have the hope that one day they would be in a real house leaning off their own land. This hope helped them carry on and not to give up whenever Lennie made a mistake

allie f. said...

I agree with the quote that hope is a good thing and yes it is maybe the best of things. In the book Of Mice and Men hope was the main idea to George and Lennie. They hoped that they would have their own farm with chickens, rabbits and vegetable gardens. Hope is what made George and Lennie happy and something that they could look forward to. Hope is one of the things in life that keeps you going and gives you something to look forward to and to encourage you to do.