Analysis Of Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

Salinas, California, John Steinbeck dropped out of college and worked as a manual laborer. This was before he achieved success as a writer. John Steinbeck won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for his 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The award winning novel was about the migration of families during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. His book Of Mice and Men was published two years before his award winning novel. That was also when he was recognized as a serious author. After his great success, he served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune during World War II. After the war, Steinbeck continued to write, and he received the Nobel Prize for Literature for his realistic and imaginative writings in 1962. Unfortunately, on December

Has to kill Lennie because of his past actions.

Causes the most conflicts of all the male characters on the ranch.

Stir up problems with the male characters, by flirting with them, even though she has a husband,

Understands the relationship between Lennie and George, and tries to comfort George during his tough times.

Put Candy 's dog to sleep without causing it to suffer. Put question in Candy’s though abut his own death.

Tries to join George and Lennie on their plan to buy their own land.

Offers his life 's savings to George and Lennie to join them in buying their own

The setting then changes to a ranch, where the majority of the story takes place. On that ranch are two major places, the ranch house, where most of the conversations happen, and the barn, which is where the climax of the story takes place. When the story resolutes, the setting comes back to where it started. The story is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The significance of the opening scene is that Steinbeck talks only about natural beauty, and nothing man-made. The beginning is is very peaceful and calm. Most of the context in the opening is relating to George, and his thoughts of his companion, Lennie. The opening also leaves the reader wondering what the two characters are doing in such an environment.

Three symbols in the novel were George and Lennie’s dream farm, Lennie’s pets and rabbits, and Candy’s dog. The dream of saving enough money to buy their own farm shows the impossibility of the American Dream. The rabbits are a symbol of the strong defeating the weak. The death of Candy’s dog foreshadows the decision George had to make at the end of the story. Three motifs in the novel are loneliness, strength and weakness, and the power of women. Men like George rarely have anyone to look to for companionship and protection, and as the novel progresses more and more characters admit to being lonely. Throughout the novel we