Thematic Issues In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.

Imagine if you had almost no money, only had 1 true friend, and one goal that you will do anything to achieve. That's the life of George and Lennie, two farm hands who are about to start working on a ranch in Salinas, California. It seemed like everything was going well for the two of them, or at least they thought it was. Steinbeck argues, throughout Of Mice and Men, that we as humans need to be able to comprehend the fact that the American dream is impossible, so when we fail at that, we won't fall as hard as we might if we had full faith in it, and he develops this stance using diction choices, imagery, and characterization.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot of problems in the novel, Of Mice and Men, which portrays plenty of different social issues within the text and the movie. There were loads of racism, sexism, and ageism presented both in the film and in the book, these issues paved the way to the theme and essence of the overall story. The book Of Mice and Men, is about two different people, Lennie and George. There’s numerous of evidence to show how these three problems are bestowed in the narrative.

In John Steinbeck’s novel, of Mice and Men, there are a multitude of motifs that corresponded with the real life problems they were facing in that day. Reoccurring elements in this narrative include the predatory nature of human existence, corruption of women, loneliness and companionship, and the different kinds of strengths and weaknessses.

When Steinbeck describes the barn at first it was quiet and nature taking its course, but after it had a more darker atmosphere and everything was more sad and depressing. Steinbeck also talked about the horses because no matter what environment they are in they did the same thing they always did. I think the author is trying to portray Lennie as a horse as he put it in that way in chapter 1 and no matter what he does the same mistake over and over again no matter what it is.

The book Of Mice and Men, there are several themes. One of them are consisting of the strong vs weak. Of the many characters, protagonists and antagonists, Lennie and George are some of the most used in the book. Lennie and George are an example of strong vs weak. The strong are the people who strive and don’t give up just because of someone else. The weak are the people that live by the basics of life or just to get by. In some cases, George is the strong one while Lennie is the weaker one, but sometimes it’s vice versa.

Another way, Steinbeck shows How Gorge is a true friend to lennie is through how reliable he is to Lennie. An example of this is Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife in the barn and accidently killed her, by him doing this it made all the workers want to kill him. But instead of them killing Lennie George went off and “pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and lay without Quivering,” (106) This quote shows how Gorge is a true reliable friend because A true friend will do whatever they think is good for you. Just like how George went off and killed lennie, so that way he didn’t have to go through even more hell. This shows readers that

Crooks, the stable buck at the ranch, struggles with a disability he cannot control. “Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger...the boss gives him hell when he’s mad” (20). He is thought to be at the bottom of the food chain by everyone at the ranch. The boss punishes him for everything, even if he has absolutely nothing to do with the problem. It is unfair, but is the predetermined disability given to Crooks. He must struggle to survive because his skin color gives him a disadvantage over the other men at the ranch.

Lennie paced around the room, pounding his fists on any wall he could find. With a sour face, he checked every nook and cranny between the page and the text for something taking on the form of a door. A way to escape.

In the book Of Mice and Men there are three people I feel sorry for, and their names are George, Lennie, and Crooks. First, I feel sorry for George because of the fact that he always has to be around Lennie to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t do any stupid things. For example when George had to ask Lennie to stop drinking water from the river multiple times. (Steinbeck, 3).

In “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck uses literary elements which still appeal to readers today. Throughout the book, Steinbeck tells the story of two homeless farm hands during the Great Depression, named Lennie and George. Lennie, a big dopey man, who doesn’t know the extent of his own strength is lead by George, the smarter of the two, as they travel across California in search of work. During their travels, George and Lennie experience constant discrimination and work only to pursue their dreams. Furthermore, throughout the novella, Steinbeck uses symbolism to show how activities such as discrimination and dreaming are part of the human condition, and have persisted throughout time.

George raised his gun, his hands shook violently two centimeters from Lennie’s head. “I can’t, Lennie, I can’t.” George dropped the gun.

This poem was a reflection of the idea that there will always be a struggle between those with power and the powerless. The importance and emphasis of this theme reappears in various forms, from Lennie’s intellectual disadvantage to Slim’s societal struggle. The powerless idea is relevant to a physically strong man like Lennie because of his mental handicap, but it can also apply to Crooks as a reflection of the division in social class. As portrayed in the meaning of the poem, the powerless constantly struggled to find their inner voice and are both forced into doing something against their will. In the first stanza, George abstained Lennie from keeping a dead mouse in his pocket. When selecting textual evidence, I wanted to revealed George’s

Man vs Man : It is Man vs Man when Curley tries to fight Lennie. Although Lennie didn’t want to fight, he was told to. “He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right.” (30)

Steinbeck’s Literary Elements One thing that makes literature so unique is the different styles authors use to narrate a story. Authors create these styles with literary elements, using them to indirectly convey an idea. These elements, if used properly can attract a reader’s attention and make an enjoyable and suspenseful story. John Steinbeck knew how to apply these elements to make a great book.