Analysis Of The Novel ' Of Mice And Men '

The character in Of Mice and Men that is most similar to Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is Curley. Curley and Tom Buchanan have many similarities throughout both books. These shared characteristics stem from one thing both men have an abundance of: privilege. Curley and Tom are easily two characters with the least amount of struggle in The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men.

Achieving “The American Dream” is a great desire for all but rarely does it ever come true (website). Discrimination is a major theme in Of Mice and Men. Most of the characters are discriminated against for various reasons. Another major theme is male friendship. Friendships are symbiotic relationships, where people share their talents and qualities to help each other through life (website). An important additional theme is loneliness and companionship. Most of the characters are lonely for the reason of they are working on a ranch with no companionship. Steinbeck illustrates how the characters respond to discrimination, male friendship, as well as loneliness and companionship.

As a reader, we begin to relate with Curley 's wife when she enters Crook 's residence where Crooks is talking to George and Lennie. She enters the room, pretending to be looking for Curley. The men respond to her negatively and act coldly towards her. She begins to talk about her loneliness and how she does not want to be seen as an item, and live her own life. "...Think I don 't like to talk to somebody ever ' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?"

The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck begins and ends in 1930’s southern California, during the great depression. This book is centered around two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is a short, quick thinking man, and Lennie is pretty much his opposite: huge, clumsy, and mentally ill. The book starts off with George and Lennie walking to a ranch to get work, which they desperately need. Once they get to the ranch, they meet several other folks, most of which suffer from some sort of oppression. There’s a black, a cripple, a woman, and a whole lot of poverty. In Of Mice and Men, oppression is presented as a major issue, one that affects nearly every character in the book to some degree, whether it be through racism, sexism, or ageism.

Author John Steinbeck creates some of the most realistic characters in literature in his novelette Of Mice and Men. George, Lennie, and Curley’s wife are examples of both strength and weakness. In the end, each of them are pushed beyond the limits of what a normal human being should endure. Curley’s wife is a victim in her own life. Her dreams of becoming an actress are crushed, she is lonely, and she is murdered by Lennie.

Curley’s Wife was a subject of Prejudice because she was a woman. During the 1930’s a woman’s place was to be at home raising a family, also women were seen as second class citizens and property of their husbands. Before we meet Curley’s Wife, the reader already has an opinion of her because of what the character Candy calls her- “jail bait”; George calls her a “tramp”. It’s implied that she is a tart and a promiscuous woman; she craves the attention her husband doesn’t give her.

Mistreated because of difference, because of gender, because of race, because of mental ability, mistreated because of “otherness”. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, describes the hard life of working on a ranch during the Great Depression. It is possible that Of Mice and Men is written to inform readers that otherness is when a character is excluded because of their characteristics. However, I believe Steinbeck’s point is much deeper, establishing that otherness is the weak inflicting pain on the weaker because of their shared pain of ostracism. He does this by illustrating the lives of Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife as they all struggle with being oppressed because they do not fit the societal standard or “norm”. Steinbeck pulls our attention to the interactions between each “other”, the characters that don’t fit the “norm”. He wants us to realize the consequences of a norm lead to weakness, starting oppression between the oppressed.

Everyone has dreams, big and small. When one dreams, there is a scent of whimsical hope in the air mixed with the powerful drive for success to obtain their luminous goals. But, many times these luscious dreams end up in grief and pain instead of a promised joy due to the hurdles in life, such as the certain circumstances that society professes or the flaws in a person that restrains them from their aspirations. The writer, John Steinbeck, incorporates this ideology in his novella, Of Mice and Men by creating three pivotal characters. Lennie, Crooks, and George all have schemes that go wrong, and yet hope to illustrate their desires of fulfilling their American Dream and to be prosperous for their own independent purposes.

For example, "Well, you keep your place then N****r, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny," says Curley’s wife to Crooks (81). Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. He had no personality or ego. He said, "Yes, ma'am," and his voice was toneless (81). This quotes shows an enormous amount of negativity and rudeness. After hearing this quote that Curley's wife said to Crooks, the conversation clarifies that she sucks the life out of people because of the loneliness she experiences on the ranch every day. As the only woman in miles of the ranch, she deals with the eight crabby men every day that call her names such as tart and slut. Another example includes Curley’s wife speaking to Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the back of the barn. "Saturday night, ever'body out doin' som'pin'. Ever'body! An' what am I doin'? Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a N****r an' a dum-dum and a lousy old' sheep—an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else," utters Curley’s wife (78). This quote insults Lennie, Crooks, and Candy by calling them very harsh names because of her jealousy from being stuck on a ranch with lousy old men. Her bitterness towards the other men on the ranch causes her to realize that she could have made something of herself. She explains, "I tell you I ain't used to livin' like this. I coulda made somethin' of myself." She said darkly, "Maybe I will yet" (88). Curley's wife explains that she could have acted in Hollywood movies, but her dreams shattered at fifteen years old. Curley's wife says, “If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet" (88). The amount of cruelty and names that Curley's wife gets called throughout the book Of Mice and Men, clearly supports the theme by the bitterness and negativity she shows towards

As Candy, the housekeeper mentions to George, ?Well, I think Curley?s married?a tart.? (p. 14) What the men do not know is that Curley?s wife is just incredibly lonely, once having dreamt to be a star, and marrying Curley after the failure of that dream. She is all alone in the secluded world of the ranch. Having a husband who pays no attention to her, she tries to find someone to talk to among the men in the ranch, dressing provocatively for that reason only. Unfortunately, the combination of misunderstanding and their knowledge of only one type of women ? the kind they encounter at ?cat-houses? ? drives the men away from Curley?s wife.

Discrimination is a problem that plagues those whose qualities are vulnerable. There are many examples of discrimination in the novel, Of Mice and Men. The characters face discrimination in many different ways including racial, age, gender, and disability. Crooks, the black stable buck, is the victim of racial discrimination. Candy, the old swamper, is a victim of the age discrimination. The victim of gender discrimination is Curley's wife because she is a woman. Life of the victims is hard because of the things they have to go through. Lastly, Lennie is mentally handicap so he discriminated against because of that.

From the word ‘soft’ in the sentence “The sun streaks were high on the wall by now, and the light was growing soft” we are reminded of Curlys Wife’s soft velvet hair that Lennie liked and lost control with, taking us back to the seriousness of her death and feeling empathy for her character

John Steinbeck explores the theme of discrimination in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ illustrating the insignificance of some of the characters for being characterized as different. Discrimination is portrayed throughout the novel trough three simple ways: racism, sexism and disability. Racism is a major discrimination throughout the novel for Crooks as he is black. Curley’s wife points out how insignificant crooks is as she says ‘I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ Curley’s wife is threatening to lynch Crooks while talking to him.

The protagonist of the book is George. George is the main character who makes the difficult decisions such as where they worked or other decisions. One of the hardest decisions George had to make is killing his best friend. Some more examples of how George is the protagonist is he would help Lennie decide what to say to people and where to hide if he got into trouble. He also told Lennie that he would do all the talking while they are at the ranch, as well as, not talking to anybody else. Lennie would also need George because he

The novel "of mice and men" if you ask me is a extraordinary novel to read and I recommend it to anyone, one reason why you need to read this novel and not blow it off because you think its bad because people say it is motivating murder being ok, because it isn't, George is Lennie's closest friend he's the only one who's ever been there for him and if he dies he doesn't want him to suffer and be tortured because he's different and he knows now that he is a hazard and 2nd he knows he can't control himself or his own strength. But yes, it isn't right to kill, but he is doing it for everyone's own good including Lennie's by not letting him suffer and 2nd no more people are in danger. Another reason why it's ok to and why you need to read "of mice and men" is Lennie was used to killing things ever