Character Review of Of Mice and Men

1154 Words3 Pages

Character Review of Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is a novel set on a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The title of the book is a reference to Robert Burns's poem To a Mouse. (1759 - 96):

The best laid schemes o' mice and men

Gang aft agley [often go wrong]

And leave us nought but grief and pain

For promised joy!

In the book, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck created memorable characters that play out two dramatically realistic, neonaturalist themes: Friendship and Loneliness. "Ending the glitter and excess of the Jazz Age, the catastrophe of the 1929 stock-market crash ushered in the "angry decade" of the 1930s. Many novels of neonaturalism and social protest were written, inspired by the rigors of the Great Depression (World Almanac, n.pg.)" Loneliness is a common trait, shared among all of the main characters of the story. Each seemed to exist alone and without a purpose, except for George Milton and Lennie Small. The characters are so vivid and impressive, that the setting and scene change rarely. The detail given to the main characters creates a history: a peek into each of their lives. But the lives that the characters lead are not so appealing. There was often negative criticism toward the characters, calling them barbaric and subhuman. Critic Mark Van Doren wrote, "All but one of the persons in Mr. Steinbeck's extremely brief novel [Of Mice and Men] are subhuman … Two of them are evil, one of them is dangerous without meaning to be, and all of them are ignorant…(Van Doren, 275)."

Although this could be true of the characters, it is clear that their dreams and shortcomings, as well as the hardships of life during the Great Depression drive th...

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Geismar, Maxwell, "John Steinbeck: Of Wrath of Joy," Writers in Crisis: The American Novel Between Two Wars (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942), 257-258

Steinbeck, John, "Of Mice and Men," Penguin Electronics; ISBN: 1573950009, Software (October 1995)

Van Doren, Mark, "Wrong Number," in The Nation, New York, Vol. 144, No. 10, March 6, 1937

World Almanac, http://newfirstsearch.altip.oclc.org/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessionid=sp03sw15-51163-cezwbcz1- dfpple:entitypagenum=31:0:recno=1:resultset=7:format=FI:next=html/record.html:bad=error/badfetch.html::entitytoprecno=1:entitycurrecno=1:numrecs=1

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545 Words | 2 Pages
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about loneliness and the American Dream. This book takes place during the Great Depression. It was very difficult for people to survive during this time period. A lot of people hardly survived let alone had the necessities they needed to keep relationships healthy. Of Mice of Men has a common theme of disappointment. All the characters struggle with their unaccomplished dreams. The migrant workers, stable buck, swamper, and the other men on the ranch had an unsettled disappointment of where they were at in their lives. George and Lennie, two newcomers to the ranch, aren’t like the other guys. They have each other and they are the not loneliest people in the world. Lennie has a dream though he wants to own a farm with plenty of crops and animals one day. The only problem is his blind curiosity of people and things around him. George wasn’t justified for killing Lennie because Lennie was innocent and never got the chance to find out what he did wrong.
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1108 Words | 3 Pages
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
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Of Mice And Men: Comparing The Movie And The Book
418 Words | 1 Pages
The movie of Of Mice and Men had many differences while still giving the same message that the book was portrayed to have. One of the major differences was that Candy never came into the room when Lennie and Crooks were talking to each other. This was major because Crooks never found out that the plan was true about the little house. In the book after he heard Candy talk about it he wanted to get in on the deal. Also the movie it never showed Lennie have his illusions of his Aunt Carla and the rabbits when he was waiting by the pond.
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The story Of Mice and Men took place during the 1930’s. That time period was very different from today. Race and gender were very important characteristics that determined whether a person had the opportunity to make money. The 1930’s were also a time where people started questioning life and the American culture. Many people like John Steinbeck thought that life was very unfair and questioned whether if life was even worth living. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck demonstrates that mans dream is destined to be destroyed by a cruel reality.
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a great example of 1900’s literature, and a great reflection of the great depression with a tragic end. A lot of themes were displayed in this short story, and developed the plot as the story moved on. Characters in the book are developed mainly through these themes. Arguably the most crucial theme is Nature Vs Nurture, as it drove the climax of the story, and lead to the tragic ending of the book. Lennie Smalls in the story was born with a mental disability, in the times of the great depression, leading to Lennie’s ultimatum, and the theme of Nature vs Nurture.
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The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
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I have been analysing the novella ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck, which was published in 1937. Steinbeck wrote the novel based on his own experiences as a bindle stiff in the 1920’s, around the same time when the great Wall Street crash happened, causing an immense depression in America. Throughout the novel he uses a recurring theme of loneliness in his writing, which may have reflected his own experiences at this time. This is evident in his writing by the way he describes the characters, setting and language in the novel.
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The Characters and Relationships in Chapter One of Of Mice and Men
1056 Words | 3 Pages
The Characters and Relationships in Chapter One of Of Mice and Men We are introduced to the two main characters in chapter one, not by their names, but by their descriptions. Steinbeck compares and contrasts the appearances and mentality of the two characters; they are both described as having similar clothes and they both carry blanket rolls, but otherwise they are more dissimilar than alike. They are dissimilar in size, for example Lennie is 'a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders', while George is 'small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features'. Their difference in intelligence is hinted at when Steinbeck describes their reactions towards the pond; Lennie 'walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms...hung loosely' and he rushes to the pond and starts gulping down water immersing his whole head in the water.
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2756 Words | 6 Pages
Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck. It is set in California during the great depression. The story follows two ranch hands who travel together and are very poor. Throughout the novel we witness many different philosophical references. Many different types of characters from this novel are reused in today’s society. Steinbeck also writes eloquently about the many different emotions, aspirations, and dreams of man.
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1198 Words | 3 Pages
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
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1506 Words | 4 Pages
5.) Crooks- Crooks, the black stable-hand, gets his name from his crooked back. He is isolated from the other men because of the color of his skin. Soon, Crooks becomes fond of Lennie, and even though he claims to have seen countless men following empty dreams of buying their own land, he asks Lennie if he can go with them, because he wants to hoe in the garden.
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637 Words | 2 Pages
Lennie to take care of. The next day George convinces the farm boss to hire
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700 Words | 2 Pages
Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck. This book is an analogy about what it means to be a human. George and Lennie share the ambition to own their own ranch, but they encounter obstacles that stand in the way. Ironically, Lennie will become the greatest obstacle in them achieving their dream. This novel was first published in 1937, which is one of the most important aspects of the book. The reason why it is one of the most important aspects of the book is because one result of the Great Depression was a lack of steady jobs, which increased the amount of nomadic workers. When Steinbeck wrote this novel, ranch hands were beginning to be replaced by machinery and their way of life was disappearing fast.
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