Michael Vazquez

Ms. Aponte
Tech Prep 11
January 20, 2015
Critical Lens Essay
Adlai E. Stevenson once said, "...the truth is often unpopular...". In other
words, people prefer to lie more than they prefer to tell the truth. This statement is
true. There is evidence of this quote in Of Mice And Men, a novel by John Steinbeck,
and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, a novel by Mitch Albom. The authors of
both works use various literary elements and techniques to convey their ideas
about this subject.
Adlai E. Stevenson's words are reflected in Of Mice And Men by John
Steinbeck. This story connects to the quote because throughout the story, George is
constantly lying to Lennie about their future dream of owning land and animals
because he knows the truth would hurt Lennie. In Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
uses setting, conflict, imagery, symbolism, and theme. The setting takes place in
Soledad, California. This supports the quote because it is a very lonely place and in
order for people to stay out of trouble, they have to lie since they have no one to
protect them. Conflict supports the quote because when Lennie kills Curley's wife,
George lies to everyone about where Lennie is to avoid him being killed by the
others on the farm. Imagery helps to better understand the quote because when
George was telling Lennie about their dream at the end, he lies to Lennie instead of
telling Lennie the truth that he was shooting him in the back of the head. The way
symbolism is applied to the quote is when George tells Lennie that they're going to

own land. He uses that as a way to escape the truth of knowing that they aren't
going to be successful. The theme of the story is loneliness. Being that loneliness is
the theme, the characters in the story lie to themselves about what they're going to
do in the future to make themselves feel better.
Adlai E. Stevenson's words are also reflected in The Five People You Meet In
Heaven by Mitch Albom. Albom connects the quote with his novel by using
characterization, theme, symbolism, conflict, and imagery. Mitch Albom's use of
characterization supports Stevenson's quote by speaking about the protagonist,
Eddie, not being happy with his life and where he ended up, so he lies to himself
about who he really is and he doesn't want to let anybody new into his life because
he is scared of the truth and being hurt again. The theme of the story is forgiveness
and letting go of anger. The way this applies to the quote is that Eddie holds on to
his anger for so long and to forgive himself he sacrifices his life to save a little girl.
By doing that, he's finally able to find happiness and peace again and meets five
people who tells him what his purpose in life is. Symbolism is being used by the
little girl in the beginning that Eddie tries to save. In Eddies eyes, the little girl
represents his happiness. He is scared because he doesn't want to find out that he
wasn't able to save her. He goes on throughout the story scared to find out so he
lies to himself until he can prove that she is still alive and he can find that state of
peace and happiness. This also relates to the conflict of the story. Eddie's conflict is
that he goes on being afraid and unable to find peace not knowing if he saves the
little girl or not. Imagery applies to the quote because when Mitch Albom changes to
another one of the "Five People" the sky in heaven changed its hue based on Eddie's
memory of it. When it changes to the little girl, Tala, Eddie lies to himself again
because of how he kills that little girl on accident when he did time in the army.

"...The truth is often unpopular..." is true. In Of Mice and Men uses of setting,
conflict, imagery, setting, and theme prove that people prefer to lie more than they
prefer to tell the truth. The usage of characterization, theme, symbolism, conflict,
and imagery in The Five People You Meet In Heaven also help to support Adlai E.
Stevenson's quote. The reason why people tend to lie instead of tell the truth is
because they look for the easier way out. People lie to avoid certain situations but in
the long run, it's only going to hurt them even more than if they chose to tell the
truth.