Of Mice and Men

John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was an American author wrote many novels including one of his most famous, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men teaches many lessons about the nature of human existence. Each relationship grows throughout this short story and end with a dramatic experience. All of the characters, including Lennie, George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, admit, at one time or another, to having a profound sense of isolation, seclusion and loneliness.

"Book Review: Of Mice & Men." A Novel Menagerie. Novel Menagerie, 2009. Web. 7 Nov 2011. <http://anovelmenagerie.com/2009/02/18/book-review-of-mice-and-men/>.

In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George have both similarities and differences that are revealed throughout the storyline. These comparisons and contrasts are used to explain their unique friendship and dependency on one another. The story begins with the description of their physical and intellectual differences and establishes their roles of who is the dominant one. The story shares the obstacles that have stood in the way of them obtaining their “American Dream” to own land, even if they if they have different motivations. The story concludes with the difficult choice that George makes to end Lennie’s life himself, out of his love for his friend.

Steinbeck has written of Mice and men in a time period where men travelled alone and rarely sent time with other people. This is reflected in the characters of the novel, who are all lonely however some are lonelier than others. These include Crooks, Candy, Curley and Curley’s wife. They all have the hope of achieving their own dreams, which is the cause of their loneliness.

Slim insults Lennie in front of George. He replies, “‘He ain’t no cuckoo’, said George. ‘He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy. I ain’t so bright neither, or I would be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found’” (39). George feels the need to defend and protect Lennie, even when Lennie is not around. George wants to persuade people into thinking that Lennie is a normal farm worker. George finds a way to convince people Lennie is normal, by comparing his own work on the farm to Lennie’s work. In later chapters, Curley picks a fight with Lennie. George encourages Lennie to fight Curley. After the fight, Lennie is worried about if he will be fired and what George thinks. Lennie looks for comfort in George, he replies, “You don’t need to be scairt no more. You done jus’ what I tol’ you to” (65). George pressures Lennie to fight Curley. At the beginning of the fight, Lennie does not want to hurt Curly. Lennie looks up to George for guidance and protection. This trait of Lennie’s allows George to make all of Lennie's decisions. This event is the turning point in George’s feelings towards

Loneliness is one of many central themes in John Steinbeck’s classic novella, Of Mice and Men. Throughout the story many characters sought after the company and attention of others. Each character has a certain barrier that keeps them isolated from the outside world. Three characters who portray this loneliness throughout the novella are Crooks, Curly’s wife, and Candy. Each having a different wall between them and society.

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.

One of the major themes of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is that having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination, enabling one to strive onward in life with a sense of importance. Three major examples show this idea. The first example is Candy’s loss of his dog and his joining George and Lennie 's dream of owning land. A second example is Crook’s memory of his father’s

The Great Depression took place in the United States in the 1930s. Northern California, Salinas Valley was affected by the Great Depression. Many farmers lost their properties and were forced to find other work. Banks were forced to foreclose on mortgages’ and had to collect debts. Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their families and few belongings, and headed for California. The Great Depression left many people in poverty and caused them to face unpleasant events. This is how life was like for the characters in Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. Mostly all the characters in this novel suffered from loneliness. Some of the men desired to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one

Lennie starts having a conversation to Crooks, but he keeps babbling about the promises to keep their farm a secret. George is basically the brain of Lennie, without him he'll be in trouble.

Two men are never always going to agree on the same things to do. But Robert and Matthew did not agree on everything because Robert didn't know what he was doing half of the time. Matthew wasn't always nice to Robert though, Of Mice and Men Lennie and George for example used ‘I used to tell him to do the stupidest things just so i could get a good laugh out of it.’(Steinbeck 47) But sometimes when you tell someone to do something all the time for so long and try to control them they get a mind of there own after so long of trying to control them. So they start realizing all of the things they can do, and start doing them without someone or anyone else knowing what they do. But then they quickly realize what they've been doing the whole

The act of helping Lennie comes from George’s thoughtfulness that aids Lennie in certain situations. Moreover, George’s care makes others question the compassion he feels for Lennie, for instance, Crooks says “” Well, I never seen one guy take so much so much trouble for another guy”” (Steinbeck 22). Other characters such as Crooks share the pain of loneliness. Crooks race places a part of why he is alone as well as Candy’s relationship with his dog. The deep connection in which George and Lennie have is rare in the novella’s time period and location. The protection that Lennie receives from George demonstrates the sacrifice for life and brotherhood.

He says to Lennie that he reads books all the time, but he also says “Books

Of Mice & Men is an amazing story that readers of all ages should read. This book was written by John Steinbeck in 1937. This is a very good story that all people will love because a lot of people can relate to the characters. This story will make people go through a lot of emotions throughout the story. Readers should feel sorry for George, Curley, and Candy because they are lonely.

Everyone has their mice, or maybe or just a mouse. The unfortunate thing about mice is that you never invited them to pursue you. You never left a trail of crumbs, nor did you leave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in your back pocket for them. Mice feed off your fears, and their small footprints in your mind leave behind residue of all the disappointment you can cause. My mice normally take on three forms, the first being my involved parents. My parents have been very involved in my academics, constantly trying to rearrange my own ideas of “A+ Work”, into something they feel would be correct. So, when one glasses wearing mouse, and a robust salt and pepper bearded mouse crawl onto my keyboard I know that I am worried about whether or not