Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck It has been said that ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck is a novel about two basic needs: The need for companionship, and the need to dream. ‘Of Mice and Men’s’ title comes from the Robert Burns poem ‘To A Mouse’ ‘The best laid schemes o’mice And men Gang aft allay And leave us nought but pain and grief From promised joy’ What this literally means is; no matter how well we plan the future, things will often go wrong. This is very much what the story entails. George & Lennie are two itinerant workers.
George has a dream that one day he will own his own land and he won’t have to travel around in search of work. But Lennie is George’s companion and although large and very strong, he has the mind of a child. Ironically, his name is Lennie Small, the irony being that he is anything but. Lennie dreams that on their ranch he will look after the rabbits and feed them etc. A central feature of the novel is George and Lennie’s unlikely relationship. You would think that because of Lennie immaturity that he is totally reliant on George for work & survival.
but George is equally reliant on Lennie for companionship in the lonely environment of the ranch. George is not the only character seeking companionship. Candy is an old swamper (cleaner) with one hand and only his dog for company. When the rest of the guys gang up on Candy to shoot the old, smelly dog, he replies: “Well, hell.
The Essay on Ranch Hand George Lennie Slim
When George kills Lennie at the end of Of Mice and Men, he does so because Lennie is a pure being, and will only be hurt ... "takes so much trouble for him" (25, 26). Lennie provides companionship for George and is the only person who "gives a hoot in ... He loses his vision - a vision that he shared with Lennie. George and Lennie dream of owning their own "little place" where they "live ...
I had ‘im so long Had him since he was a pup” then, he “Looked for help from face to face” After Carlson shoots the dog, Candy’s only regret is that he didn’t shoot him himself. Also, it is only because of Candy’s offer to join George and Lennie in their dream that becomes a possibility- in their minds, at least. Curley’s wife is another lonely character in the novel. This is seen when she tries to talk to the guys, they want nothing to do with her. She remarks: “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” and “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to no one but Curley” This shows that she isn’t trying to flirt with them, that she really wants company because she is in an unsatisfying relationship with Curley.
A big part of the book is the idea of the ‘American Dream’. Many farm workers dreamed of a better life and of owning their own ranch. America offered an escape from poverty, and offered freedom as well as vast a areas of unused farmland. But by the late 1920’s there was no more land to to be claimed and had been over farmed in places creating what was known as the Dust Bowl.
The Wall St. crash marked the start of the great depression and the economic situation was grim. Everyone looked for work but there was little to be found. This strengthened the dream of people’s own ranch, much like George and Lennie.
Another character who dreams of a better life is Curley’s wife. Throughout the novel the only name she is given is Curley’s wife, showing she is insignificant at the ranch. She only married Curley to get away from living with her mother. She doesn’t even like Curley, as she confides in Lennie; “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” She could have been a movie star and had been treated like a queen, but her Mother stole the letter from the director, so all she can do now is dream of what could have been. A very successful technique in illustrating Steinbeck’s pessimistic views is in the last chapter.
“A watersnake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side, and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.” In this excerpt, I think that the heron, waiting, represents fate, while the watersnake represents George and Lennie, or almost anyone in the book. Words like lanced, plucked and waiting suggest that John Steinbeck’s views on fate striking are that it is sure, and precise.
The Essay on Dreams Man Lennie George Characters
Of Mice and Men, a novel written by John Steinbeck, clearly develops three themes: man s desire to create and seek dreams, man s desire for companionship, and man s responsibility to other members of society. First, a person s want to pursue their dreams is expressed through many of the characters. The primary example of this would be George and Lennie s attempting to earn a stake and purchase a ...
