Themes in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Themes in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

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In this essay, written about the tragic novel, "Of Mice and Men", I

shall be outlining some of the themes that relate to the

companionship, loneliness and dreams in the story, which are used by

Steinbeck. I shall also be describing some of the events that took

place. The novel itself is about a couple of men, George Milton and

Lennie Small, who travel together. They aren't ordinary men, but ones

with a future and aspirations. Their hopes are to seek new work on a

ranch and to save up enough money to buy their own. This is their

dream.

The relationship that George and Lennie shared, was one of a master

and dog-like companionship, a father and son relationship. In these

comparisons, Lennie, even though he was a lot more powerful, taller

and stronger than George, was the dog or the son. For example George

supplied the necessities of life, for both himself and Lennie (food, a

place to work, sleep, etc.). Lennie was mentally retarded, and so,

this factor highlighted his vulnerability to George, and other people,

as shown later on in the novel. This element made George feel

superior, and, deep down, even Lennie realised that he needed a father

figure to keep him out of trouble, and, in reverse, George knew that

he needed Lennie to protect him. Lennie needed George, because he

taught him certain lessons on how to keep himself out of trouble, for

example, George told Lennie: "if you jus' happen to get in trouble

like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in

the brush." As a form of discipline, George coerced Lennie not to get

into trouble, by threa...

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...sing thing about the ending

though, was the fact that Lennie's death was painless, and that he

died in the imagery of the dream. George and Candy's dreams collapsed

by the absence of Lennie. Candy had only his own death to look forward

to and George had nothing but the life of an old ranch hand to live.

We, as readers, learn that, at the end of the day, the tale has a

great sense of irony, for instance George said that he wanted Lennie

out of his life in chapter 1, but we soon find that George is mentally

lost without Lennie. Another feature to notice was when Candy told

George on page 65, that he wished he'd have shot his own dog himself.

George took this information from Candy as advice, and he shot Lennie

himself. This again is ironic, as it hints that George and Lennie's

relationship was like one of master and dog.