The Effectiveness of the Opening Section of Mice and Men by Steinbeck

The Effectiveness of the Opening Section of Mice and Men by Steinbeck

The story is set in California in the 1930's, during the depression in

America. There was little work, no money so everyone was depressed.

There is a place called Soledad a few miles south is the Salinas

River, where we are introduced to George and Lennie. George and Lennie

are itinerant workers which move from ranch to ranch searching for

work. At the ranch they receive a bed which is situated in a bunkhouse

and they are given basic food.

The story opens with the positive scene of a beautiful river bank and

all the nature that surrounds, "golden foothill slopes curve up to the

strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains". Then in the distance there is the

noise of footsteps which makes the animals flee to safety. That's when

two men emerged from the path into the opening by a green pool. Even

in the opening they walk in single file one behind the other, the man

walking in front is described as "small and quick with sharp strong

features." His name is George. He leads the two, so we feel like he is

the one in charge. Behind him is his total opposite, he is described

as a "huge wide man with big shoulders who drags his arms by the side

of him like a bear drags his paws". He is called Lennie. After they

talk next to the pool it becomes obvious that George is the smarter of

the two and that Lennie is actually quite simple.

We start to form opinions of the characters, we are drawn towards

Lennie due to him being described as a bear, which shows his soft and

gentle side but also incorporates power and the tendency to hold on to

things.

The way they speak and look show...

... middle of paper ...

...ers,

which are always alone, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the

loneliest guys in the world" the theme is also continued later in the

story. The theme Friendship is shown all the way through the story, we

are shown that George cares for Lennie but in the end George shoots

Lennie in the back of the head out of friendship because George

realises that this time its different, they cant get away from the law

and that its better to kill Lennie now than, Lennie getting caught by

curly and the rest of the men who would certainly torture and kill

him, he also might of killed another person in the future if he had

not been shot.

We can therefore see how Steinbeck uses this opening scene to

introduce the main characters and their relationship between each

other which will help us understand the rest of the story.