Critical Commentary on "Of Mice and Men" and "Equal Rites"

When comparing John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and Terry Prachett's "Equal Rites" quite a few similarities can be spotted. To start with, both of them have the very distinctive characteristic of introducing the setting first as if it was a character itself. This makes the reader very familiar with the background and the atmosphere is set. The first line of "Equal Rites": "A bass note sounds." Already gives a sense of suspense, which increases …

…it immediately shows who he is "you could tell he was a wizard", no time is wasted, but most importantly it shows how powerful he is : "raindrops were stopping several feet from his head and steaming." His environment is described, giving an idea of who he is, and his peculiar behaviour gives the reader an immediate sense of who he is: "Sometimes, h would stop and throw his heavy staff into the air...........squelchy progression."