Of_Mice_and_Men

Critical Essay OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck John Steinbeck’s moving and thought provoking novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, is set in the 1930’s during the US Depression. George and Lennie are two men who experience the hardships of this time first hand while they’re working on a ranch in northern California, having been chased away from their other job. They have a dream to “live off the fatta the land.” This is the only way in which they have a chance of escaping the hard times which they are living through. The outcome of the novel, however, is inevitable as the whole way through the story everything points to just one conclusion. Lennie Small is one of the most intriguing characters in this book. His childlike mind and the fact that he doesn’t realise his own strength are two major factors that lead up to the unavoidable ending of him killing Curley’s wife and his own death. Due to his mental disability he relies completely on George, who can be seen as a father figure to Lennie. He has many childlike qualities which show his innocence as he doesn’t realise the consequences of his own actions, or learn from his mistakes. An early example of this is the way he has an obsession with ‘petting’ soft things. He keeps wild mice as pets but they never last long, because Lennie’s strength and limited mind always lead to him killing them. “I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead.” Not once does Lennie say anything to shows that he blames himself. Although Lennie killing mice isn’t seen as a particularly serious issue, if he had the capability to learn from his mistakes now then the outcome of the novel may have been avoided. A quote that shows an aspect of Lennie’s abnormal behaviour is “Lip quivered and tears started in his eyes.”This is also an example of how he is easily upset and then reacts like a young child. George seems to be the only person who has any control over Lennie, and can calm him down when things get out of hand. Steinbeck uses a lot of similes and phrases which portray Lennie as an animal, “... drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse... Lennie dabbed his big paw in the water...” This shows how Lennie is uncivilised, but not as if he could cause much harm. However it is his unnatural strength that makes him more of a threat. George has seen how easily Lennie accidentally causes trouble. Previously, when they were both in Weed, Lennie was wrongly accused of rape after holding on to a young women’s dress. Lennie, being obsessed with touching soft things, grabbed hold of the women’s dress to feel the soft material. They then both had to flee; George knows it’s just a matter of time before something similar happens again. He warns Lennie, “hide in the brush” next time something bad happens. The character of Curley’s wife also points towards the tragic ending. Right from the beginning she is not trusted by George. Although Lennie, not realising what trouble she could cause, can’t help but be drawn in because of her pretty looks and flirty attitude. Curley’s wife doesn’t have much of a relationship with Curley, he doesn’t spend time with her or listen to her. To Curley, his wife is seen as more of a possession to him. Steinbeck emphasises this by not giving her name. She’s the only women on the ranch and the loneliness this brings and her unhappy marriage mean that she is always trying to get the attention of the other men that work on the ranch. The only way she knows how to do this is by using her good looks to flirt with the guys; the ranch men call her a tart, and can see her giving other guys ‘the eye’. One of the reasons Curley’s wife is chasing after other men is because she knows how much more she could have made of her life. She was so close to being able to making something of herself, and when it was all taken away she hoped that marrying Curley would bring her another chance to get everything she wanted. Curley’s wife didn’t realise until after she’d married Curley that “He ain’t a nice guy”. Towards the end of the novel she tells Lennie “you’re a nice guy”, she is not discouraged by Lennie’s feeble attempts to reject her. Curley’s wife feels she can confide in him as they both have similar problems. For example neither of them are allowed to talk to anyone. For Lennie, this is because of his disability yet this also appeals to Curley’s wife as it means he won’t judge her. Overall I can see why Curley’s wife treats men the way she does and why she gets attached to Lennie, she has close to nothing going for her anymore and it is hard not to feel sorry for her. Of course this, nevertheless, also contributes to the ending. A lot of similarities can be drawn between Candy’s dog and Lennie. To George, Lennie is like a faithful and loyal dog. George has been looking after Lennie ever since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died and therefore, like a child, Lennie will copy or play up around George, because he’s like a farther role model to Lennie. Lennie never doubts that George would always take care of him. George likes it that he has somebody. This stops him being like all the other guys that travel alone from ranch to ranch. George also says “made me seem god damn smart alongside of him.”George obviously likes it that he has someone who will follow without questioning or bettering him. The reason Candy is so reluctant to let his dog be shot is because like George, Candy has had him as a companion for a long time. Carlson makes Candy see how easy it would be to shoot the dog so it wouldn’t suffer. After Candy hears the shot being fired and knows his dog is dead he says “I shouldn’t have let no stranger shoot my dog”. George learned from this, and that is why when the time came for Lennie, George took Candy’s advice and shot Lennie himself. Steinbeck cleverly puts in just after Candy’s dog is shot that Lennie looks at a playing card and says “why is it both end’s the same'” This obviously implies how things will end for Lennie. The dim light toward the end while Lennie is alone in the barn, gives the first signs of an advancing sinister ending. Lennie shows rapidly changing mood swings and lashes out at the already dead dog, “he picked up the pup and hurled it from him”. When Curley’s wife approaches him she’s wearing a red dress and later Lennie touches her soft hair. These two things about Curley’s wife instantly show trouble as it is almost a repeat of Weed. Lennie’s previous trouble there and the dead puppy point to something that Lennie is clearly capable of. However, Lennie cannot be entirely blamed for the outcome of Curley’s wife’s death, as a feature of his animalistic instincts shows us that right at the beginning when he and George first arrived at the ranch, Lennie says “I don’t like this place George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get outta here... It’s mean here.” To this George warned Lennie about Curley’s wife, but his warning was not nearly enough to stop the inevitable ending. Indeed the very title of the book suggests that like Robert Burns’ poem ‘To a Mouse’ the story tells of weak ‘mice’ (like Lennie and Candy)and strong men (such as George and Slim), and it’s also apparent which one will survive. Symbolism is a big part that makes the outcome of this story so anticipated. When we are first introduced to Curley’s wife the novel reads “the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off”. This suggests that she is perhaps blocking their hope and dream from both Lennie and George’s life. Steinbeck also uses animals in a variety of different ways to represent several meanings. For instance Lennie is often described to have animal like behaviour. There is also how Lennie commented on the playing card after Candy’s dog’s death. Whenever humans come into view (at both the beginning and the end) animals dive for cover, signifying that bad things happen around people. In the last chapter we can see that the story has come a full circle. A lot of the imagery at the end of the novel is a repeat of the beginning, “The sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains...” For George and Lennie this beautiful place can be seen as a haven to them. Yet this paradise is lost when the heron swallows the snake, and in this way nature foreshadows Lennie’s death. This proves that there is no escaping from this cycle that never ends, and also confirms that right from the beginning, the deaths of Curley’s wife and Lennie were a tragedy waiting to happen.