Key Roles in Of Mice and Men

630 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: critical analysis of "of mice and men"

Just like in of mice and Men, America currently needs a helping hand. People search for a job day after day, but just never seem to gain stable employment. George and Lennie find that getting a job can be just that difficult where they currently wander. When they arrive at the ranch, they meet people who relate to people who

Setting plays a key role in Of Mice and Men, placing the reader in California during the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, jobs rarely popped up, and they quickly filled at the first opportunity. Therefore, it is hard for George and Lennie to land a job, and especially devastating when they get canned. Also, the pay does not allow enough money for George and Lennie to buy the ranch. While they keep trying to save money, they still lack enough to pay to buy the ranch. George and Lennie already lack income that others already received, and the Great Depression made it worse. “The prosperity of the 1920’s was unevenly distributed among the various parts of the American Economy-farmers and unskilled workers were notably excluded.” (Parenthetical Citation) A large amount of migrant workers came to California during this time to find a job, encountering trouble. “These workers were fleeing the ecological disaster of the dust bowl.” (Standing 67) Because of the influx of workers from the Midwest, California’s job market became stagnant; just as terrible as the places workers came from, which deviates from the haven that workers saw the state as. Finally, Lennie and George being on the ranch and not having their own land takes its toll. If they lived alone on their own land, they would need to do much less work and would have to deal with the troubles from Curley and the others on the ranch. Living i...

... middle of paper ...

... in the first place. Another prevalent theme in the story is the theme of isolation and loneliness. For Crooks, his isolation stems from his skin color. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone because they fear Curley’s wrath if they get caught with her. In both cases, they try to seek companionship from the people around them, in which they find more happiness then they would otherwise not receive. Finally, the theme of friendship and loyalty perforates throughout Of Mice and Men. These three themes of dreams, isolation, and innocence relate to today’s society.

When one looks at Of Mice and Men, they can see many similarities to society today. Many people have felt the pain of watching their dreams crumble right in front of their eyes. Of Mice and Men will always be a well renowned book because it relates to so many people all over the world.

Show More
Related

  • Conventions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall the readers may feel sad about the story of the Of Mice and Men because of the three themes that he has used in the novel. The three themes: Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism show the struggle that George and Lennie go through throughout the

    Read More

  • Lennie's Disability In Of Mice And Men

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the late 1920’s, the stock market dropped, leaving thousands of Americans jobless. Many men left their homes and families in search of employment. Two farm workers in California, Lennie Small and George Milton, travel from ranch to ranch searching for work to get them by. In John Steinbeck’s story Of Mice And Men, George and Lennie go through the journey of finding a new job to “get the jack together” and “live off the fatta the lan’.” In with this journey comes obstacles that they may or may not be able to pass through. In Of Mice And Men Steinbeck uses characterization, conflict, and dramatic irony to show how Lennie and George learn to cope with obstacles caused by Lennie’s disability.

    Read More

  • The Futility of Dreams in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    1921 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has a dream they hope to achieve, but dreams are not always possible to attain. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, two ranch hands, George and Lennie, find work in Salinas Valley. Lennie, constantly getting into trouble, inadvertently causes the two of them to be run out of town and thus have to find new work regularly. George and Lennie's search for work in the hope of accomplishing their dream of a small farm of their own displays how futile realizing dreams can be.

    Read More

  • Loneliness, Powerlessness, And Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 3 themes in “Of Mice And Men” are loneliness, powerlessness, and dreams often fail.

    Read More

  • Social Stereotypes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck walks us through the journey of best friends named George and Lennie, who work on a ranch during the Great Depression in California’s Salinas Valley to achieve their goals. Throughout the book, Steinbeck suggest that social hierarchy and classification can lead toward a treatment to lower class workers, different genders and race, and the mentally disabled, when compared to white men workers.

    Read More

  • Disrupted Dreams in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel of mice and men by John Steinbeck is a heartwarming story about two men George and Lennie. George is a small stocky man who prides himself on his ability to be independent, and often taunts Lennie by saying "God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.” (pg12). Lennie on the other hand is a very large childlike man who is very dependent of George. These two have stuck together for a long time and over that time have developed a dream of owning their own ranch. Steinbeck uses a variety of techniques to display the theme “even the best laid themes can go wrong”

    Read More

  • Curley's Wife Loneliness

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    The theme of loneliness is important to the meaning of Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, and the side characters of the novella feel loneliness just as much as the main characters. Crooks has been lonely for a long time, and his secluded nature starts to show. Curley’s Wife is lonely as well because of her feminine nature and marriage with Curley. Loneliness is also evident in Candy, and just as he thinks he has found a home, all his hope of companionship is ripped away. Crooks, Curley’s Wife, and Candy are not like the other characters of this book. All three of them have some feature that sets them apart from the others. Crooks is African American, Curley’s Wife is a woman, and Candy lost his hand. These traits have separated these characters

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book “Of Mice and Men” is important because it teaches people how hard lives are when they are disappointed are they are lonely and it also teaches people how hard it is living in the great depression was. The book taught me that when a person gets disappointed in something they react by changing their personalities or they act in a different way as they usually do. I also learned that when people are disappointed they are usually lonely too.

    Read More

  • Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck in the 1930’s. It possesses many prominent themes that are evident throughout the whole book. One distinct theme is loneliness. John Steinbeck uses many conventions to convey this theme to the reader including characterization, context, foreshadowing and resolution. Through the use of these conventions, readers developed attitude and opinions, which change with modern society and the reader’s context.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Critical Essay

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many critics consider the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, as one of the greatest short works of fiction. I think this was a great novel with amazing detail. It has certain qualities and themes such as these: the importance of relationships, responsibility to others, the nature of home, respect for old age, the difference between right and wrong, and the evil of oppression and abuse. We can learn from these themes and see how we use it in our lives. By using examples from the book as well we can see how this happens more clearly.

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, many people lost their jobs and became very lonely. This was around the time when John Steinbeck released his famous book about these “bindle stiffs”. The book was called, Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is one of the major themes of this novel. Several of the characters in the book are alone. In this novel, John Steinbeck shows how being alone affects different characters. Each is affected in a different way. Throughout the novel, the theme of loneliness is mostly expressed in the important characters of Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Friendship Essay

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book all the men tend to blow their money on pleasures that will not last a whole lifetime. One example would be “ ‘ You know how the hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn about nobody.’ ” (p.39) This piece of evidence from the text shows what most men do when they get their hands on some money. On the other hand George and Lennie have plans to make their lives better. For example “ With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” (p.14) A final example would be “ ‘ Maybe if I give you guys my money, you”ll let me hoe in the garden even after I ain’t no good at it.’ ” (p.60) This piece of evidence shows that some ranch workers on the farm like Candy actually see two people working to make a better for themselves so he wants to join in and change his life for the better. Overall all of the ranch workers see how George and Lennie’s friendship is pushing them to work hard for a better life and it also affects them

    Read More

  • oF MICE AND MEN

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    Of Mice and Men is a novel of defeated hope and harsh reality of the American Dream. However, regardless of how much one may hope and strive to reach it, the American Dream does not always provide complete fulfillment.

    Read More

  • Who's to Blame? Of Mice and Men

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life for ranchers in the 1930’s was very lonely. They have no family, and they do not belong anywhere. They come to the ranch, earn their pay, go into town, waste their money, and start all over again at another ranch. They have nothing to look forward to. But George and Lennie are different; it is not like that for them because they have each other. It was George and Lennie’s dream to own a piece of land and a farm. That dream is long gone. In the story, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley caused the death of his wife and Lennie’s death; Curley also shattered George and Lennie’s dream.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Of Mice And Men

    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.

    Read More

More about Key Roles in Of Mice and Men

Open Document