Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

‘Of Mice And Men' by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about.

John Steinbeck's works all include a little piece of himself. The blatant use of his experience in his stories suggests that Steinbeck felt his experiences were so important that he could not help but incorporate them in his works. Steinbeck incorporated his many experiences into his works through events and characters. For instance, his history in marine biology snuck its way into Cannery Row as well as his ranch hand knowledge, and his writings about the war. This use of life experiences in his novels was not meant to be a secret. The use of these familiarities further proves Steinbeck’s life experiences affected his writing in many ways.

‘Of Mice And Men' by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about.

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is centred on the lives of ranch workers in the 1930’s and is one of the most interesting and lasting stories of friendship wherein true friendship is the crux of the story. The story is appropriate as it represents what was happening at the time because there was a Wall Street crash which triggered the Great Depression and as a result directly affected the lives of millions of hard working Americans forcing them to lose their jobs, homes, and money. It was a time of great vulnerability and people were forced to make decisions they may not have normally made; the story expands on the concept of vulnerability; as well as the concept of good and bad in people.

I. John Steinbeck used his personal experiences as a laborer to write many of his novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

One of the main themes John Steinbeck revolves around in his book, Of Mice and Men mainly has to do with loneliness and friendship. Lennie and George, the two main characters, have a strong brotherly bond that goes way back to when they were young. This book really stresses how Lennie and George are very different from the other ranchers. They stick together rather than being independent and solitaire: “With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jacks jus’ because we got no place else to go. (14)”’ They both stick together and support each other while working towards their dream of having their own farm: “… I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you… (14)”’ The other characters don’t have this kind of bond with anyone. Characters such as Candy or even Curley’s wife either lost their best friend or was not allowed to talk to anyone except her husband. These two characters openly share their feelings of loneliness with George and/or Lennie throughout the book, resulting in false hope, lies, and murder…

It is evident that both men share a strong bond because the role George plays in Lennie’s life is his caretaker. His kind nature shines through his loving acts of caring for his mentally disabled friend. Both Lennie and George are migrant workers, and as one acknowledges migrant workers tend to travel alone. However, George took Lennie under his wing and helped him to thrive in the external world. Without his assistance, one is unable to say where and in what condition Lennie would have lived his life. Before his death, Lennie had hallucinated

During the Great Depression, it was not uncommon to become morosely secluded while working. Men would go far away from their families in search of any jobs they could get, with only themselves to confide in; colleagues only filling in the void of friends and family partially. Naturally, John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, written during this period, would reflect this fact as a major aspect of the story. Loneliness would become the sinew of Of Mice and Men, manifested in some of the story’s main characters: Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. These allusions to loneliness are found throughout the book, mimicking the rampant disease of isolation at the time.

During the 1930s in America, many experienced years of harsh depression, where food and work were scarce. Many struggled to survive during this difficult period, and as a result were forced to travel to seek any work they could.

Besides the American Dream, the theme of death plays a major role and is recurring in both texts. From the novel ‘Of mice and men’, both Lennie and Curley’s Wife die. From this we can deduce that they both got killed due to their differences and society looking at them in a different way. Both texts also foreshadow the future deaths from the beginning to the end of the texts, there is hints everywhere. The moment that Curley’s Wife was introduced, an ill feeling overcame the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. At the beginning, George clearly states that Lennie always gets George into trouble. Steinbeck states ‘You do bad things and I got to get you out’. Previously, before George and Lennie arrived at the ranch, Lennie got into trouble by supposedly attacking the only woman in Weed. This also suggests that there will be trouble between Curley’s Wife, who is the only woman on the ranch and Lennie. Connecting ends with ends, this shows that the only two women are insecure. Later on, there was an intimation that she is going to be killed by Lennie as Lennie kills the soft things he likes to ‘pet’ such as the puppy and the mouse. In the novel Curley’s Wife lets him touch her dress, which is soft therefore leading to an inevitable death.

In a society of people all in the same situations how can someone feel so alone. When lives fall apart and people have nothing to hold on to people need each other most, yet are pushed so far from others. The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, follows the storyline of two men who are displaced farm workers during the Great Depression; they travel around and stick by each other’s sides no matter the circumstance. After many jobs they end up on a farm,the farm they hope will be their last stop. The time spent on the farm is filled with blooming friendships and careless quarrels, yet with an abundance of characters and entertainment- many people on the farm feel alone and out of place. Characters such as Crooks and Curley’s wife often come to mind when the subject of loneliness is brought up. Throughout the book using characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife, John Steinbeck demonstrates that humans are immensely impacted by separation from society and it will change the way that people will act and show themselves to others.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliness guys in the world. They got no family...we got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us” (Steinbeck 14). During the Great Depression, much of society is alienated while survival of the fittest prevails. The power of loneliness affects the individual involved as long as the society it is present in continues to harvest the discriminatory ways. During the 1930’s, the Great Depression was at its peak; The stock markets crashed, and a chain reaction caused the unemployment rates to rise to an all time high. Thus, migrant worker became popular because they were always needed on a farm and it was a way for one to find employment. In of Mice and Men, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are all victims of the Great Depression. Candy and Crooks work on the farm, while Curley’s wife is the flirtatious nuisance whose dreams were crushed. The pervasive emotion throughout this novella is loneliness. Loneliness is felt by Candy, Crooks, and and Curley’s wife, whether it’s being represented symbolically as the characters are fighting social devastation, learning to make it alone, or through their actions.

Through his characters, John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, illustrates the way people endure isolation, and the despondency that is found in those lacking a purpose which was commonplace during the Great Depression. One such character is Crooks, who is different from the other ranch hands because he is an African American, and as such, he is forced to live alone. He has a crooked, misshapen spine, which makes him even further of an outcast. He is lonely, and he has shielded himself from the other farmhands in an armor of pessimism and abjection, when in all actuality, he wants to talk to the other workers rather than reading books alone in his room. He feels that “A guy needs somebody to be near him. . . A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody” (72). In this way, Crooks is insinuating his own need for company, and when Lennie and Candy show up in his room, “It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger” (75).

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” (Steinbeck 13). This is said by George Milton in the novella Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men takes place in California during the Great Depression. Loneliness reoccurs several times because people do not stay at a work place long enough to make friends and usually travel alone. Loneliness is the main theme of Of Mice and Men because many characters deal with being lonely in different ways. It affects people who are looked down on because of their gender, race, and ability.

In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck explores the idea of companionship through the people and events that occur in Salinas Valley, CA. Steinbeck shows that people who are different often face judgement, which leads to loneliness. Crooks is a negro man who works on the ranch. Because he is black, he is forced to sleep in the stable, not allowed to go out to town with the other men and he is treated as an outcast. He expresses “‘A guy needs somebody to be near him.’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody” (Steinbeck 36). Crooks proves that when a person is different than most, they are subjected to prejudice. This creates a lonely and hopeless environment for that person.